The Paris Novel
Ruth Reichl
Random House, 2024, $29
As an omnipresence in food, literature, and pop culture, it’s hard to believe that Ruth Reichl is an actual person, and not a marvelous fictional character who has come to life on the page and screen. But, of course she’s real, and has just published her second work of fiction—The Paris Novel, the noun distinguishing it from her numerous delightful memoirs. In any case, if you’re looking for the perfect summer read, redolent with Parisian scenes, food, and eccentric characters, you’ve found it.
Reichl’s resume is rich: She part-owned a restaurant in California in the `70s, wrote restaurant reviews and edited New West magazine, was the food critic at the New York Times for most of the `90s, edited Gourmet magazine, and has been a regular judge on TV’s “Top Chef.” I follow her Substack entries and Instagram feed, which entertainingly ranges from photos of haute cuisine to a partial shot of a bear in the backyard of her Columbia County home. She has published books her entire career, remaining relevant as media outlets have shifted from the page to screens small and larger. And she was just awarded the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award in June.
The Paris Novel follows Stella, a young copy editor content with her daily routine in New York. Her distant and egotistical mother dies and in her will bequeaths her a plane ticket to Paris and a small chunk of money. Stella never knew who her father was. In Paris, a seemingly random stop into a dress shop (and the aggressive sales tactics of the shopkeeper) puts Stella, Cinderella-style, into a vintage Dior dress for a night. The shop owner even tells her where to eat (the iconic brasserie Les Deux Magots) and what museum to visit (Jeu de Paume). Thus, a chain of events unfolds involving an older art expert (Jules) and her discovery of Shakespeare & Company, the legendary bookstore whose proprietor, George (and his irrepressible young daughter Lucie), hosts “tumbleweeds,” or roving writers needing temporary shelter in exchange for work.
In due time, Stella finds her groove in Paris (sorry, Terry McMillan). After initial wariness she befriends Jules, her good fairy and local guide, and becomes acquainted with Jules’s son and his demanding and scheming wife. Stella previously cared little for food, and Jules introduces her to proper French cuisine and wine. At the museum, while impressed by Manet’s Olympia, Stella is fascinated by the backstory of the painting’s model, Victorine, a painter who had the misfortune of being female and thus ignored. Stella goes in search of these lost paintings, along the way identifying someone who might be her own father.
The storyline is engaging—mousse-light; somewhat predictable, but with twists enough. Reichl blends historic characters and locales with fictional ones amid the fabulousness of Paris and points south. She alludes to real restaurants and dishes that clearly made an impression on her, such as Robert et Louise and L ‘Ami Louis; oysters, ortolans, and foie gras-scented lentils. Robert Olney, a real respected food writer, is enlisted as a conduit in Stella’s reluctant search for her father. (In her memoirs, Reichl’s mother played an outsized role in her upbringing, so frugal that she would somehow find ways to cook with spoiled food. In this novel, coincidence or not, Stella displays resentment toward her selfish mother, and becomes acquainted with father figures who provide guidance and material support.)
Stella had been content, if complacent, in gray New York, but her obligatory trip to Paris is like a film blossoming from black and white into technicolor. She eventually learns to cook, and cook well, possessing excellent instincts and remarkable taste buds. (This is somewhat heavily noted, as several characters quickly notice her powers of culinary observation in flowery prose.) This acquired skill coincides with a fuller appreciation of life, with food, art, and friends and family providing a newfound richness. Elements of Reichl’s own amazing career, touching on so many facets of food, may have seeped into the character of Stella. Regardless, Reichl is a champion of cuisine and superb food raconteur worthy of depiction in an entertaining volume—just like The Paris Novel.
This article appears in July 2024.
