The Girl Who Reads on the Métro

A Novel

De: Christine Féret-Fleury

Narrado por: Stephanie Racine

"Narrator Stephanie Racine instills an enthusiastic tone of wonder at the transformative quality of books in this tale with a beautiful dreamlike quality." (AudioFile magazine)

For fans of Amélie and The Little Paris Bookshop, a modern fairytale about a French woman whose life is turned upside down when she meets a reclusive bookseller and his young daughter.

Juliette leads a perfectly ordinary life in Paris, working a slow office job, dating a string of not-quite-right men, and fighting off melancholy. The only bright spots in her day are her métro rides across the city and the stories she dreams up about the strangers reading books across from her: the old lady, the math student, the amateur ornithologist, the woman in love, the girl who always tears up at page 247.

One morning, avoiding the office for as long as she can, Juliette finds herself on a new block, in front of a rusty gate wedged open with a book. Unable to resist, Juliette walks through, into the bizarre and enchanting lives of Soliman and his young daughter, Zaide. Before she realizes entirely what is happening, Juliette agrees to become a passeur, Soliman’s name for the booksellers he hires to take stacks of used books out of his store and into the world, using their imagination and intuition to match books with readers. Suddenly, Juliette’s daydreaming becomes her reality, and when Soliman asks her to move in to their store to take care of Zaide while he goes away, she has to decide if she is ready to throw herself headfirst into this new life.

Big-hearted, funny, and gloriously zany, The Girl Who Reads on the Métro is a delayed coming-of-age story about a young woman who dares to change her life, and a celebration of the power of books to unite us all.

“With a cast of characters reminiscent of the French film Amélie, Féret-Fleury creates a world that is delightful and enchanting.... Light and sweet as a bonbon, this little confection of a book is delicious.” (Kirkus Reviews)

©2019 Christine Féret-Fleury (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

good idea, didn't deliver

it's such a short book, I thought I'm going to enjoy it giving that I liked the title and cover, the synopsis seemed good and I love Paris, but I'm disappointed with it. it was boring, flat and though it has great quotes, the story felt empty.

Not what was promised.

Not much depth in the story development nor the characters. Also caricatured. Did anyone say it’s more like a fantasy?

This one's a sleeper.

This one could not hold my interest. I kept stopping to listen to another book and then would go back to it hoping it would get better. If it's any indication, I listened to 3 other books and am still trying to finish it.