Review: Paris, Rue des Martyrs

Here is a feel-good book for you. It is the kind which simply falls into place at the end, where stories come together.

It is, as it reflects the idea of Paris, a story of artists. Each in their own discipline, but artists nonetheless.

The stories are difficult to remember at first: Names, stories, backgrounds, there seems to be a lot going on, a little like a bustling street where each person rushes past you and you take in very little, but if you stop and take your time, you notice little details, and you get to know more about them.

Cecile is propelled into a life she could never have imagined for herself, into a situation she never thought possible. A romance, love, lust, that’s something she doesn’t have in her marriage.

Andre is difficult to like. He seems arrogant, an entitled actor who does not accept he is not at the heart of the acting scene any more. Even meeting his son does not change his attitude. But one of my favourite scenes involves him. Him, and Mira.

Mira comes to Paris last to start and joins the scene at Rue des Martyrs. She is hoping to start a new life in Paris.

And then there is Rafael. The story starts with him, and he is the one I related to least, but he comes to Paris on a quest: to find his birth mother.

As you would expect, the paths of our protagonists cross and become entangled. It is a story which will simply make you feel good. Like it reduces the metropolitan city of Paris to a little artists quarter, is reduces your worries of the day to the protagonists lives.

Paris, Rue des Martyrs, by Adria J. Cimino

First published December 2014

ISBN: 0692335072

ISBN13: 9780692335079