French Exit by Patrick deWitt| Published August 28th 2018 by Ecco| 256 Pages | Goodreads
PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION
“… A brilliant and darkly comic novel about a wealthy widow and her adult son who flee New York for Paris in the wake of scandal and financial disintegration”
REVIEW
I learned about FRENCH EXIT through Buzz Books (Publishers Lunch). If you are not familiar with them, Buzz Books issues monthly publications where they list by category most books coming out that month, and also include a list of book excerpts from the list.
I read the first chapter and was drawn by the writing and sharp dialogue. After living a comfortable and wealthy lifestyle, Frances Price and her son, Malcolm, find themselves completely broke and without a home.
Thanks to Frances’ lifelong friend, Joan, they will be able to move into her Paris apartment and avoid homelessness. Along with their cat, Small Frank, they embark on a transatlantic ship and head to their new residence.
What follows is a humorous and amusing journey. I loved the dialogue, witticisms, and absurd scenes. The beginning was strong but I felt by the end the story had lost a bit of its footing. Still, the strength of the novel lies in its characters.
Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it to readers of contemporary fiction.
BOOK SOURCE AND FORMAT
Loan from Miami-Dade’s Overdrive library, audiobook
This sounds like a nice story. I will add it to my ever growing TBR and see if my library has it on Overdrive.
Several book friends have read other books by this author and enjoyed them. Nice to know you liked it!