Reviews

Paul by Daisy Lafarge

katebirdie's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

tessareadsbookies's review

4.0

This book made me feel uneasy. Made me despise the subtle ways men can exert manipulative power over women. I felt drowned by the emotions and the intensity of the relationships in this book. I also related to the feeling of needing to be approved by a man. So good, so complex. I felt great about the ending

clariseng's review against another edition

4.0

This was very painful to read, most of all because I know that this story is the story of a lot of girls all over the world and throughout history. This story is mostly fiction, but it is just all too familiar. Paul reminded me of everything I hate about men, about every evil their sex tries to pass off as something else— as charm, as vulnerability, as eccentricity. I feel for the main character Frances who is powerless in the predatory Paul’s ability to hypnotise and then stifle until she is voiceless and immobile. I wish I could rescue her. I finished the book absolutely disgusted, murderous.

mdarceyhall's review against another edition

3.0

This was largely a disappointing read. I can appreciate subtlety and slow burns, but I also need a text to have some flicker, some sign of life. This lacks a pulse in a few ways. One, I struggled to feel much tension. The protagonist, Frances, lacks a personality and her supposed "personal scandal" backstory is weakly developed and just plain odd. And, her supposed attraction to Paul isn't developed. She herself can't articulate her attraction to him and, as the reader, I certainly couldn't see any inkling of chemistry. Paul is trash. He's old and not particularly attractive and says pseudo-intellectual shit. I kept waiting for the intensity the book jacket promised to build, yet it never came. Second, there were some strange plot choices that didn't make sense to me or feel natural. I won't mention them to avoid any spoilers, but Frances literally deciding she can no longer speak (without any clear reason why) to represent her metaphorically losing her voice just felt cheap and silly. I really wish the author would have explored the Gauguin inspiration more, as that was the most interesting thing about this.

joanna_blemont's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Deeply disturbing. I felt so much disgust and negativity towards Paul and Paul-like men.

I did wonder how much more Frances could take. It might have been worthwhile exploring her past in more detail. We never get to understand the roots of her passivity and her mental health struggles. As the reader, you were expected to accept this as is.

As a francophone, it was easy to imagine the people and landscapes described. I guess, however, that the 'coquine' reveal never was one.

Beautiful descriptions of place and nature.

halloweve's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

teainthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia

blackbearbookclub's review against another edition

4.25

Paul is truly the worst. The book is great though. 

erinbarton's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

3.0

the writing is mostly good but has some very heavy-handed metaphors, and some side characters have less presence than they deserve. frances is at face value an interesting main character (a self-taught french speaker, recent degree in french medieval history, immediately coming out of a relationship with her professor), however on the page is so passive with unclear motivations and desires. she is seemingly put off by paul from the beginning but engages in a relationship with him anyway. 

the strongest part of this novel for me was the setting, the descriptions of nature and the constant heat made this very immersive to the south of france and the farms frances is working at.

while the ending did take me by surprise, the character of paul was always off from the beginning for me - never alluring or charming in any way and didn’t seem to have any chemistry between him and frances, nor seemed to have much status with other characters either. 

retrospectively, there are hints to paul’s paedophilia throughout the novel ie the subjects of his photographs are young naked children, his conversation with the local village girl in which he is overly friendly and encouraging, his pet name for frances being a nickname reserved for young girls misbehaving. i’ve never heard of the real-life character in which this is based on and so i was very much surprised by the reveal, however this was very hastily explained with some questions left unanswered. 

chrissssty's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.5

An unsettling story of a coercive relationship between a 21 and 44 year old

(who unsurprisingly is revealed to be a paedophile, after which Frances finally thinks to leave him)

The writing drew me in and made me feel just as gaslit and unsettled as the narrator. I loved the story of Malmot (and Mireille in particular) but I didn’t get much out of it overall.

I would’ve loved for more dialogue from supporting characters but I suppose the point is that Paul is an overwhelming influential voice throughout.

Based loosely on an imagined alternative living of Paul Gauguin (I think!) - one for art historians.