Let me begin with a warning. This book is not the Christian fiction I usually review on this blog. There is a smattering of foul language and several reference to sex (as well as a couple of scenes). But there is also a journey. One that not only takes you along the rivers from Paris to the southern wine countries but also of the heart. Of grieving. Of letting go and living again.

Jean Perdu has lived the last twenty-one years behind walls. His literary apethacary, a bookshop housed on a boat in the Seine, has remained moored to the same spot. As he prescribes books to his customers, he has yet to find the cure for himself. Living, feeling, is too hard so he creates a shell around his life and protects his heart. When a woman, Catherine, moves in across the hall, Jean gives her a table out of the room that has been concealed by a bookcase for two decades. In that table is a note that will change his life. A note from the love of his life. A note he has feared reading. A note that leads him on a journey toward healing, toward loving, toward friendships, and toward adventure.

The Little Paris Bookshop is a fast read as you travel with Jean and his companions (two cats, a young author just starting out in life) and meet the characters—and I mean that in multiple ways in some cases—they come across. With references to literature sprinkled throughout the book, readers will enjoy it. Jean’s story is one of grief, one of heartache and sorrow, but one that proves there is healing and hope on the other side. Even if it takes a while to get there.

****Blogging for Books provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.