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d0nnaw0ng's review against another edition
4.0
Grace was an introvert to begin with but when she got kicked out of music college she became even more closed up. She focus only on bettering her skills. Music was her life. She lives a quiet life making and repairing musical instruments.
Until she met David and have a long distance affair... Grace opened up. She though she found the love of her life. That when his kids are old enough, he'll leave his loveless marriage. Things seem to be going well for them until one day due to his heroic act on the Paris Metro, his instant fame brought out the ugly truth!
A truth that no woman can accept! In an outrage, Grace destroy some musical instruments at her shop including a cello that she entered for a competition!
She was all ready to give up on the competition but with help of her shop clerk (a highly temperamental teenager), Nadia and a long time friend (and charming elderly), Mr. Williams she was able to move forward with hope!
It was great to see Grace go from a naive and easily deceive person to one of confidence! Throughout the first half of the book, I kept struggling with frustration at her naive behavior and simple mindset. I was also having trouble with the constant descriptions of music making. it was too much for me.
The other characters tugged at my heart. I LOVE Mr. Williams! He always have other people's best interest at heart! It was fun to look deeper into Nadia's thought process as a teenager. Overall, it was a pleasant read minus the frustration at the beginning!
Until she met David and have a long distance affair... Grace opened up. She though she found the love of her life. That when his kids are old enough, he'll leave his loveless marriage. Things seem to be going well for them until one day due to his heroic act on the Paris Metro, his instant fame brought out the ugly truth!
A truth that no woman can accept! In an outrage, Grace destroy some musical instruments at her shop including a cello that she entered for a competition!
She was all ready to give up on the competition but with help of her shop clerk (a highly temperamental teenager), Nadia and a long time friend (and charming elderly), Mr. Williams she was able to move forward with hope!
It was great to see Grace go from a naive and easily deceive person to one of confidence! Throughout the first half of the book, I kept struggling with frustration at her naive behavior and simple mindset. I was also having trouble with the constant descriptions of music making. it was too much for me.
The other characters tugged at my heart. I LOVE Mr. Williams! He always have other people's best interest at heart! It was fun to look deeper into Nadia's thought process as a teenager. Overall, it was a pleasant read minus the frustration at the beginning!
apalu's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
dianef's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
krixikat's review against another edition
3.0
The summary of the book stating that it ‘meets’ Eleanor Oliphant seems misleading. In the sense of character development, sure. Grace does start out not being able to play her cello because of people that have influenced her past which she must overcome. I felt a lot of this book and the situations presented were predictable in their outcome.
kaitburesh's review against another edition
2.0
The main character in this was simply put - a disaster. As the "other woman" in a marriage, she finds herself absolutely devastated when the man she is in love with has multiple affairs and, quite literally, nearly ruins her life's work and her next strongest relationship as a result. Not for me.
themadmadmadeline's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh- there was a lot of drama in this and definitely not in a good way. Just so dramatic and not well fleshed; the main character, Grace, is all over the place. The only things I liked were the descriptions of Paris and Europe. Otherwise, this was not great.
niharikaaaaaa9's review against another edition
3.0
It was predictable. The story flowed exactly how you would expect from reading the summary. The characters themselves weren't interesting enough to save the story - by the end of the book I didn't care what happened, I just wanted to be done.
susannareads's review against another edition
4.0
I went into this expecting a light, frothy love story, and was pleasantly surprised to find more thoughtfulness than I anticipated. The story really hooked me about halfway through, and I finished the second half of the book in just a day because I couldn't put it down. A lovely story of forgiveness and starting over with clearly drawn characters you can't help but root for.
lemeilleurs's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book in one day. That should be a testament in and of itself to how great this book was. It's such a refreshing read. There's love, heartbreak, hard work, and healing. Are there sad moments in this book? Definitely, but Harris picks all the pieces back up (literally and figuratively) to craft an enchanting story. I see this book as two parts to one story. The first part is whimsical: Grace and David live two lives, together and apart. Within the first few pages we learn that David is married, but loved Grace more than anything in the world. We see their life together in Paris, romantic and seemingly perfect. Then when the couple goes their separate ways, Grace manages a store where she makes stringed instruments: violins, violas, cellos. We slowly learn about her damaged past and tremendous musical abilities. Part two of the book is all about healing and learning to love again. The way music weaves in and out of Grace's life is beautifully written and portrayed. This book had a JoJo Moyes feel to it, just a lot less depressing. In fact, Goodbye, Paris, was more inspirational than everything. Perseverance, friends, love. The perfect recipe for an amazing read.
mnboyer's review against another edition
5.0
Note: Book of the Month, August 2018
In this novel, we are introduced to Grace Atherton, a middle-aged woman who works repairing/making instruments (and she is a gifted former-cellist). Grace is dating a man named David who, ugh, is married with a wife and children. Unfortunately, Grace has accepted that she is the "other woman" and most of her fantasies involve the day when David leaves his wife and they can be a true couple that just meanders around the house together without all of the hiding and secrets. Now--before you judge Grace--it is important to know that it is rather clear that David and his wife have a clear understanding that David has another woman on the side. While I'm sure the wife wasn't happy with this arrangement originally, she will later tell Grace that she actually finds this arrangement suitable. Thus, it is important to note that Grace is not knowingly harming the wife, but is rather actually just harming her own psyche.
While on a weekend tryst, a woman feints and falls into the railway tracks. David acts quickly and risks his own life to save the woman (it makes you like David a little). Rather than be a 'hero,' David flees with Grace before a swarm of people can congratulate him on saving the woman. This backfires because eventually there are photos all over the media wondering who this mystery man is. As you can guess, David has been 'caught' in the public eye cheating on his wife. This causes problems at home for him, but more importantly leaves Grace alone wondering where her life went wrong.
It could be back at music school where a real dick of a teacher pushed her beyond her limits--and, sadly, she leaves the school. It could be when she decided to try to make a phantom family with David even though he hasn't officially left his wife. And of course... at a later date David admits to having another mistress on the side (and there have clearly been many over the years).
Luckily, Grace has befriended a teen named Nadia who is very blunt and helps Grace overcome some of her issues. Another friend, Mr. Williams, also pushes Grace to finish making a cello in order to enter it in an international contest. Mr. Williams is an amazing 86-year-old homosexual who knows about being the "other" person because his long time lover was actually married to a woman (again, she knows her husband is a homosexual and the relationship is mutually beneficial, and they do love each other in certain ways) and thus he helps Grace understand there are different types of "other." Having to have a beard because of the times and society's inability to accept that two men love one another is VERY different from just being another mistress in a long line of mistresses.
Eventually, Grace begins to understand that she has to do things that are beneficial to her future. Throughout the novel we learn that David has done several very, very tragic things to keep Grace in his life while also controlling every aspect of the relationship. Grace has given up too much for him, and needs to do things for her. Like... enter the competition. And, then, decide if she wants to stay with David on new terms or if she wants to move on to a different relationship (when it comes along, as there's not another love interest of anything like that).
It is a feel-good type of book by the time you're finished. Everything ends rather happily for Grace, Mr. Williams, and Nadia. Even some of the minor characters (like an old boyfriend of Grace's) have ended up with happy endings. While many may feel like the endings are all "too perfect" and in some sense a little unrealistic--you'll see the gift Nadia gets from Mr. Williams--this book pretty much promises (by its comparison to [a:Jojo Moyes|281810|Jojo Moyes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400624880p2/281810.jpg]) that there is going to be a happy ending for everyone. And even though there was a moment I wanted to say "Wait wait wait..." when everyone was getting a different happy ending, I realized this is *exactly* why I picked this book in the first place. I wanted happy.
If you like stories that start with characters living complex lives that need to sort their issues out, and then by the end they do sort their issues out, and it ends happily, then I think you'll like this book. I think it is better than just being compared to other authors and novels. This really does mark itself as something "new" from a "new" voice and I really do hope to see more work from Anstey Harris soon. She's won me over!
In this novel, we are introduced to Grace Atherton, a middle-aged woman who works repairing/making instruments (and she is a gifted former-cellist). Grace is dating a man named David who, ugh, is married with a wife and children. Unfortunately, Grace has accepted that she is the "other woman" and most of her fantasies involve the day when David leaves his wife and they can be a true couple that just meanders around the house together without all of the hiding and secrets. Now--before you judge Grace--it is important to know that it is rather clear that David and his wife have a clear understanding that David has another woman on the side. While I'm sure the wife wasn't happy with this arrangement originally, she will later tell Grace that she actually finds this arrangement suitable. Thus, it is important to note that Grace is not knowingly harming the wife, but is rather actually just harming her own psyche.
While on a weekend tryst, a woman feints and falls into the railway tracks. David acts quickly and risks his own life to save the woman (it makes you like David a little). Rather than be a 'hero,' David flees with Grace before a swarm of people can congratulate him on saving the woman. This backfires because eventually there are photos all over the media wondering who this mystery man is. As you can guess, David has been 'caught' in the public eye cheating on his wife. This causes problems at home for him, but more importantly leaves Grace alone wondering where her life went wrong.
It could be back at music school where a real dick of a teacher pushed her beyond her limits--and, sadly, she leaves the school. It could be when she decided to try to make a phantom family with David even though he hasn't officially left his wife. And of course... at a later date David admits to having another mistress on the side (and there have clearly been many over the years).
Luckily, Grace has befriended a teen named Nadia who is very blunt and helps Grace overcome some of her issues. Another friend, Mr. Williams, also pushes Grace to finish making a cello in order to enter it in an international contest. Mr. Williams is an amazing 86-year-old homosexual who knows about being the "other" person because his long time lover was actually married to a woman (again, she knows her husband is a homosexual and the relationship is mutually beneficial, and they do love each other in certain ways) and thus he helps Grace understand there are different types of "other." Having to have a beard because of the times and society's inability to accept that two men love one another is VERY different from just being another mistress in a long line of mistresses.
Eventually, Grace begins to understand that she has to do things that are beneficial to her future. Throughout the novel we learn that David has done several very, very tragic things to keep Grace in his life while also controlling every aspect of the relationship. Grace has given up too much for him, and needs to do things for her. Like... enter the competition. And, then, decide if she wants to stay with David on new terms or if she wants to move on to a different relationship (when it comes along, as there's not another love interest of anything like that).
It is a feel-good type of book by the time you're finished. Everything ends rather happily for Grace, Mr. Williams, and Nadia. Even some of the minor characters (like an old boyfriend of Grace's) have ended up with happy endings. While many may feel like the endings are all "too perfect" and in some sense a little unrealistic--you'll see the gift Nadia gets from Mr. Williams--this book pretty much promises (by its comparison to [a:Jojo Moyes|281810|Jojo Moyes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400624880p2/281810.jpg]) that there is going to be a happy ending for everyone. And even though there was a moment I wanted to say "Wait wait wait..." when everyone was getting a different happy ending, I realized this is *exactly* why I picked this book in the first place. I wanted happy.
If you like stories that start with characters living complex lives that need to sort their issues out, and then by the end they do sort their issues out, and it ends happily, then I think you'll like this book. I think it is better than just being compared to other authors and novels. This really does mark itself as something "new" from a "new" voice and I really do hope to see more work from Anstey Harris soon. She's won me over!