Katie J's Reviews > Lost and Found in Paris

** spoiler alert ** I was ready to enjoy this book, since I liked The Sweeney Sisters and I love books set in Paris. But, ugh, this novel is a slog of a slow plot, insufferable name dropping and false humility. The main character Joan, describes herself as an “average” child of a great artist and stunning model mom, yet she looks like the mom, attended Smith, and is effortlessly elegant. The author tries to write Joan (named after Joan of Arc, no less) as modest and relatable, but that is contradicted when every character in her orbit finds her perfect. (Take, for example, her Pasadena friends who are glad to learn she has a “flaw,” which is her husband cheating on her and thus not HER actual flaw).

The novel vacillates between her glamorous childhood and modern day Paris trip to recover from her sudden divorce. Joan is a woman who “knows” to dab on Le Mer and wrap herself in layers of cashmere while flying business class from Pasadena to Paris. Joan wears all black and stays in an exclusive hotel in ISL. Joan rues that she missed out on a high society lifestyle she “should have had” in her 20s. (Oh, the entitlement!) Joan’s friends are wealthy and fabulous and will do anything to help her. As for the plot? She is unexpectedly on a boring “treasure hunt” in Paris that takes her to a variety of high-class locations, including an expensive salon for a blowout and a chic art gallery for her rich lover to purchase trendy art. Her lover says she looks beautiful and smells good, to which Joan replies, “I know.” 🤨

Reading each pretentious word was a miserable experience, especially when the plot is as slow as her still-gorgeous mother’s aging process.