5 French summer book reviews for some easy light reading

Eleanore of Avignon – Elizabeth DeLozier

I loved this book! I’m a fan of medieval historical fiction and this was right up my alley. It’s about a young woman named after Eleanor of Aquitaine, but definitely not so powerful. She’s a healer who studies plants and eventually manages to be trained as a doctor by the physician to the pope himself. The plague arrives and this changes her life in numerous ways. The characters were well developed and it was an enjoyable read.

Whenever I read a book set in a time period when women were not allowed to do much of anything other than look pretty, it makes me sad. I can’t help thinking of all of the wasted potential that we have as a species. By writing off the talents and abilities of 50% of the population due to their sex, how many amazing people have we condemned to lives of mediocrity when they could have done great things? As a summer book, this gets 3 out of 5 stars – because it’s a great book, but maybe not light enough for beach reading.

The Paris Widow – Kimberly Belle

This book is a more modern novel, taking place in current-day Paris. It’s more of a thriller/crime novel. It starts with a tragedy (not a spoiler, as you can tell by the title) but then what happens is quite the shock. It turns out that the Paris widow didn’t know her husband as well as she thought she did.

As a summer book, I give this one 4 out of 5 stars – it’s fast but easy to follow, and you could easily lose yourself in it on a flight to Paris or wherever you might be traveling this summer.

Resurrection – Danielle Steel

Do you remember the days when Danielle Steel ruled the world of romance novels? These books were EVERYWHERE and they were huge best-sellers. Honestly, I had totally forgotten that she existed and was surprised to find a new book by her. While the book wasn’t bad, it wasn’t my favorite novel in this summer book review. It involves a marriage that is falling apart with a dash of Covid lockdowns.

My biggest complaint is that it was very predictable. But for summer reading, maybe that’s OK – you don’t want to have to focus too much on plot twists or anything confusing, so this might be the perfect light beach read – so as a summer book, this is a 5 out of 5.

A Short walk through a wide world – Douglas Westerbeke

While this book starts in Paris, it definitely doesn’t stay there for long. The heroine is a young girl who for unknown reasons is unable to stay in any one place more than a few days, so she is forced to continually wander throughout the world. She does visit parts of France as well as many other places. It is a fun read but it also keeps you guessing until the end – and when the end does come, everything is tied together nicely.

This is one of those books that makes you think – what would I do if I had to continuously wander? Where would I go? Would anyone be willing to go with me, or is that too much to ask of a loved one? As a summer book, this is maybe a 2 out of 5 if you want to read mindlessly, but 5 out of 5 if you have a long flight and want to keep your mind occupied.

The French winemaker’s daughter – Loretta Ellsworth

Another book that I really liked, even though it was a tiny bit unbelievable. It’s hard to explain what is unbelievable without giving away spoilers, so I will just say that it involves how the Jews in France were treated during the war. It alternates between 1942 and 1990, so if you enjoy that sort of storytelling you’ll enjoy this book. You can also learn quite a bit about winemaking as it’s one of the big themes of the book. For a summer book, I’d give this 4 stars – the story is easy to follow, but given the subject matter it might be a bit depressing.