A Paris Apartment

By: Michelle Gable

Narrated by: Erin Moon, Saskia Maarleveld

Where Moulin Rouge meets The Paris Wife lies The Paris Apartment, a rich and colorful work by debut author Michelle Gable. When her boss tells her about the discoveries in a cramped, decrepit apartment in the ninth arrondissement, Sotheby' s continental furniture specialist April Vaught does not hear "dust" or "rats" or "shuttered for 70 years". She hears Paris. She hears escape. She cannot board the plane fast enough.

When she arrives, April quickly learns the apartment is more than just some rich hoarder' s repository. Beneath the dust and cobwebs and stale perfumed air is a literal goldmine - and not just in terms of actual dollars. First, there' s a portrait painted by one of the masters of the Belle Epoque. Then there are letters and diaries and a thousand indications the woman who lived there was more than a renowned courtesan with enviable décolletage. Suddenly it's no longer about the bureau plats and Louis-style armchairs that will fetch millions at auction. It' s about a life.

Two lives, actually. With the help of a salty Parisian solicitor and hundreds of private documents, April tries to uncover the secrets buried in the apartment. As she digs her fingers into one woman' s life, April can' t help but take a deeper look into her own. When two things she left bubbling back in the states begin to boil over, the problems she thought she had suddenly look quaint, more ancient than the shuttered flat. April starts to wonder if in this apartment, in this life, she' ll ever find what she' s looking for.

©2014 Michelle Gable (P)2014 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"With its well-developed, memorable characters and the author's skillful transitioning between story lines, finding similarities in the lives of two women decades apart, this stunning and fascinating debut will capture the interest of a wide audience but particularly those interested in stories about women behind famous men like Melanie Benjamin's The Aviator's Wife and Nancy Horan's Under the Wide and Starry Sky. Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)

Not Bad Overall

There are two parallel stories that touch each other. I didn’t care for the 19th century diaries because I didn’t find the characters likable. The present day story is not bad. As others have said, the narrator’s fake French accent was annoying, but not so bad as to make me abandon the book.

Seemingly pointless

I gave it midway through chapter 25 to show some sort of reason for caring about any of the characters. I had to turn it off. While the journal passages from the past are of some interest, the modern day characters and their storyline lack in every way. The author is quite keen to stereotype “ugly Americans” in Paris frequently, which is more gratuitous than relevant to any part of the story. This book could have been good with its premise, but instead, it is pointless and tedious.

Lovely, but disappointing to me.

April stayed with her husband who is mostly absent from the book, except to be an asshole. It is unrealistic that the protagonist should find herself in love with a man one day and then not in love a few days later. It cheapened the emotions that the author took 60 chapters to build. Disappointing.

At first it was hard to capture,but it all came

At first it was hard to capture but it all came out and it was definitely not what I was expecting. I won't give it away but, I do love the storyline and content. It is definitely worth the credit. It does leave you lacking for more storyline with these characters that is now established. Come on Novel #2, there is more story to tell.

Pretty interesting story, terrible narration

The narrator has the worst voice and accents, definitely distracted from the story. Would not listen to this narrator again.