The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publish Date: October 2, 2012
Pages: 256
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1250012883

Paris, France: 1860’s.  Hundreds of houses are being razed, whole neighbourhoods reduced to ashes.  By order of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussman has set into motion a series of large-scale renovations that will permanently alter the face of old Paris, molding it into a “modern city.”  The reforms will erase generations of history – but in the midst of turmoil, one woman will take a stand.

Rose Bazelet is determined to fight against the destruction of her family home until the very end; as others flee, she stakes her claim in the basement of the old house on Rue Childebert, ignoring the sounds of change that come closer and closer each day.  Attempting to overcome the loneliness of her daily life, she begins to write letters to Armand, her beloved late husband.  And as she delves into the ritual of remembering, Rose is forced to come to terms with a secret that has been buried deep in her heart for thirty years.  Tatiana de Rosney’s The House I Loved is both a poignant story of one woman’s indelible strength, and an ode to Paris, where houses harbour the joys and sorrows of their inhabitants, and the secrets endure in the very walls.

My Thoughts
de Rosnay’s description of Paris, of the house, and the life at this crucial time in French history is very vivid.  The telling of the story through letters to her late husband was well-chosen instead of Rose just telling the story directly to the reader.  The other characters in the story fell a bit flat and the storyline moved along rather slow however, the history of Paris was enough to keep me engaged.  I would recommend The House I Loved however it is not in the same category as her previous novel Sarah’s Key.

**When the secret she has had buried deep for thirty years is revealed you don’t realize it until the story is over**

My Rating: «««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.