The House in Paris Review

The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen (269 pages)
My Rating: 4 Stars
Date Read: 1 March 2016

Synopsis:

One of Elizabeth Bowen’s most artful and psychologically acute novels, The House in Paris is a timeless masterpiece of nuance and construction, and represents the very best of Bowen’s celebrated work.

When eleven-year-old Henrietta arrives at the Fishers’ well-appointed house in Paris, she is prepared to spend her day between trains looked after by an old friend of her grandmother’s. Little does Henrietta know what fascinations the Fisher house itself contains–along with secrets that have the potential to topple a marriage and redeem the life of a peculiar young boy. By the time Henrietta leaves the house that evening, she is in possession of the kind of grave knowledge that is usually reserved only for adults.

“Her most atmospheric book…very eerie and richly descriptive.”–Daily Telegraph (London)

“Bowen has flashes of the authentic Jamesian subtlety…. Strikingly terse and original.”–The Christian Science Monitor

“A compelling story, inspired with a deep insight into human nature.”–Times Literary Supplement (London)

My Review:

For a more contemporary fiction feel to the book, I actually enjoyed it.

This was a slower book than I normally pick up. I had to read it for one of my classes, but it was pretty interesting. It was cool to be able to see the overlapping instances from chapter to chapter and even be able to see those same kind of overlaps in the past and present sections.

The characters didn't have anything particularly likable to them, but they were so well written that I didn't care that I didn't overly like them as people.