Paris By The Book by Liam Callanan

Leah and her two young daughters are distraught when Robert loving husband and father, goes missing. Assuming he is off writing even though he left no note and no clue to his whereabouts, they continue to feel his absence and his presence. Leah feels in her gut that Robert is ok and has left clues for them to find him - the biggest being plane tickets to Paris. She packs up the family and leaves Wisconsin for the unknown in Paris. Days turn into weeks and a strange transformation takes place - they all want to stay. A sudden acquisition of an English bookshop, total immersion in the French language and customs and voila' - they become Parisians. The search for Robert manifests itself in subtle ways- the back of a man's head, a laugh, a message in a book and in more serious ways like the
discovery of a manuscript. The story is so touching and utterly heartbreaking at the same time. You want them to give up the search but just like they are powerless to do so you look for clues with each turn of the page. This is a book best read under grey skies, sipping a cafe au lait while wearing a silk scarf and sunglasses to hide the sudden tear. The magic of Paris is infectious as is this book.