To say it’s been a chaotic and unnerving ten weeks here in the United States is an understatement. My husband and I have battled a fair amount of anxiety, and we’ve had to throttle back at times on all our current events consumption.
Enter Love and the Downfall of Society by Melinda Copp–for me, a lovely and much-needed escape into Belle Epoque Paris.
I’d meant to read this book sooner, but now I’m glad I picked it up when I did. I needed this historical romance, refreshingly set in a time and place that isn’t the most common in this genre, and it was a delightful treat I got to enjoy on my birthday.
The setting and situation sucked me right in. Charlotte, a young aspiring author from a village in Normandy, has just moved into a boardinghouse in 1901 Paris so she can pursue her literary dreams in the City of Lights.
The initial chapters open with our female main character and her housemates out socializing in Montmartre, where Charlotte happens to meet an elegant, well-read, and kind aristocrat named Antoine. Friendship and love ensue, but there is a major obstacle in their path—their difference in class, as Charlotte is from a proletarian family of bookshop owners, and Antoine has promised his grief-stricken parents he will honor tradition and marry within his own social circle.
Charlotte’s life is delicious—she has friends, freedom, adventure, literary endeavors, and romance (which includes a nice level of spice). The story reminded me a little of Sex and the City, Belle Epoque style, and I ate it up. I just wanted to be another character in the book, living with these gals and partying at the Moulin Rouge.
The author also does a good job reinvigorating that age-old struggle for women—be true to themselves, or conform to maintain esteem and respectability. In other words, that struggle to be fully human in the face of stodgy attitudes and societal pressure.
It’s her love interest’s struggle, too, but Antoine’s personal reputation and social credibility are never at risk the way Charlotte’s are.
Copp’s storytelling once again struck me with how unfair that was—and, arguably, still is.
As for the male main character, I like Antoine. He is far from perfect, and that’s a good thing. He’s sweet, masculine, and real. The episode with the horse during his grand gesture was particularly enjoyable, and I appreciate how it happened naturally and reluctantly. He didn’t plan a terribly melodramatic move to prove his love, yet he is brought low, figuratively-speaking, and properly humbled. I appreciated that because the climax might have felt unearned, otherwise.
This is a gratifying book for fans of historical romance, and Copp has a lovely, clean style. I adored it all! It was a great palette cleanser after reading the dark political satire in Alternative Liberties.
I’m looking forward to Copp’s next book in this series, Complications in Paris.
This next one is all about Diane, an American and one of Charlotte’s housemates from Love and the Downfall. The plots of these books delightfully overlap, so much so that Diane’s love interest in Complications is a friend of Antoine’s! I’m also excited to read Copp’s short story featuring Louise, which the author offers in her newsletter subscription. Though a minor character in Love and the Downfall, Louise is quite surprising and ends up playing a key role in the plot. I adore how Copp is interweaving all these characters’ narratives in this elegant and glamorous world. I wonder, might Nadine, the actress, get her own book?
As always, don’t hesitate to share any book recommendations. I read across genres and am always eager to add to my To-Be-Read (TBR) pile. Right now, I’m especially looking to add some monster romances since I’ve stumbled into writing one of those myself.
See you next week, when I plan to describe an interesting literary experiment I just conducted.
XOXO,
Jenn
Jennifer Shaw 