The Paper Palace: A Novel by Miranda Cowley Heller
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Web ID: 14352476Descriptive and beautiful writing
I bought this book after hearing all the hype about it. The writing style is talented, the details impeccable. The story is a long one, but involves many complicated relationships and situations. My main thought as to not give it 5 stars is that almost every character is unlikable.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
An impressive, well-told debut novel.
4.5★s The Paper Palace is the first novel by American author, Miranda Cowley Heller. In her early-fifties, Elle Bishop has sex with Jonas, the man she has known since she was eleven years old, against the wall of her mother’s vacation cottage in the Back Woods of Massachusetts, while her husband drowses inside. What has led to this shocking betrayal of her happy marriage, and how will it affect all their lives from here on in? Cowley Heller gives the reader a narrative that describes one August day in 2018 interspersed with incidents from the preceding seventy years that reveals a cast of quite a few not-particularly-likeable characters doing, or being subjected to, sometimes ordinary, sometimes disappointing or disgusting things. And if that narrative is anything to go by, the protagonist has an unenviable childhood with parents who could be described as the polar opposite of helicopter parents, parents with a revolving door of partners, which might partially explain the puzzling choices she sometimes makes. Her mother, Wallace says “Divorce is good for children. Unhappy people are always more interesting.” There is a large cast of characters of whom to keep track, and readers should be aware that there is copious use of expletives and some explicit sexual description. As the narrative flips between timelines, similar or related incidents echo within adjacent passages. Some of Cowley Heller’s descriptive prose is marvellous: “… all of a sudden his body slumps, as if the sharp blade of discovery has de-boned him” and parts of the dialogue are blackly funny. The ambiguous ending will likely irritate some. An impressive, well-told debut novel.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Still haven’t finished it
I bought this over a year ago and it’s like pulling teeth out to pick it up to finish
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Engrossing read
I was immediately drawn into this beautifully written, emotional, and sometimes funny novel. I liked the main character, Elle; her sister, Anna; and her mother, Wallace (strange name for a woman, though). The author describes the family's summer place in detail, and I could imagine it perfectly. Elle has a wonderful and handsome British husband, whom you have to like (except for his cigarette habit). Their kids are funny and likable. Despite her seemingly happy family life, Elle reunites one summer with a lover (the "love of her life"), whom she met as a child. They share a major secret, which only intensifies their bond. The only problem I had with the book is that Elle's divorced parents have had so many other partners since the divorce. Trying to follow each couple's names, children's names, dates they were with Elle's parents, etc., gets a bit confusing. Nevertheless, it is not a deterrent to finishing this well-told tale. Elle makes a hard choice at the end of the novel, and it's left to the readers to think what they may.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Readable, But Frustrating
I just finished this book, and it left me feeling very agitated. Did I miss something? Did I actually know what was going to happen? So I turned to reviews and summaries to see if anyone else felt what I felt, and I think in conclusion, I feel very manipulated, and not in a good way. Sometimes it is good to "fall into" a work of fiction and be swept away. There were times when I felt this author had beautiful writing, especially when describing the beauty of the nature. And then she just flips it--she is crass and vulgar. As beautiful as some of her writing is, at other times I was revolted by her descriptions and language. Her characters were, I thought, unlikeable. I could not relate to them. There may be people out there in the world as horrible as Elle's mother (or the mother before her), but it just isn't something I could relate to. I felt that way about most of the characters. The other problem I had with her writing, i.e. the narration by Elle, is her perfect description of Jonas. Never anything negative, always perfect, smart, handsome. So I worried about the reliability of Elle's narration, and how that was foreshadowing the outcome. But the ending, the ending wanted me to throw the book across the room. It is ambiguous, but not enough for you not to assume you know what happens. So when I was left with this ending, I was really irritated, because it was the ending that I was expecting, but didn't want, and the author didn't have the courage to make it clear. I didn't appreciate the coyness of it all. The author manipulated us, she meant to (I read in an interview that she said it was unintentional. Bull). The unreliability of the narration, the unlikeability of the characters, makes me want to give this book a 2 rating, but as I said, it was a page turner, and sometimes her writing is beautiful. I warn anyone reading this book that you may very well end up as unhappy as I am with it, but readers are subjective, and they may love it as in some of the reviews I have read. If someone was to flat out ask me if it is a must-read, I would say that i don't recommend it.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Couldn’t put it down
I finished this book in 3 days. It was a great read right from the start. A lot of people are frustrated with the ending but I was really satisfied with it!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Trashy book do not waste your time!
Marital cheating to an extreme, adults having sex with children, parents cussing at their children and children cussing at their parents. Very disappointed in Reese for even approving this awful book.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not the ending I was hoping for
The book flips back & forth from present to the past every other chapter. It kinda annoyed me because the present or past would be start to heat up then she would switch to the opposite time frame. Additionally, the ending really left the readers hanging. Disappointed in this book & would not recommend.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com