CAPTURING PARIS

Author: Katharine Davis ISBN: 0312340982 5/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

Married for twenty-five years, American expats Annie and Wesley Reed are living an elegant, sophisticated life in Paris. Their apartment is filled with food, wine, and accomplished friends. But when Wesley loses his job and a sexy, mysterious woman enters their lives, suddenly the sights, smells, and sounds of Paris may never be the same.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

The title, CAPTURING PARIS, refers to the book of photographs and poetry that the main character, Annie Reed, is working on during the book. Annie is a midlife, part-time poet living in Paris with her unemployed lawyer husband, Wesley. Their daughter has moved far away, and her husband has become bitter and unhappy without a job. A new friend comes into their lives, stressing the fracture points in an already unsettled marital situation.

Annie, a naïve, pampered woman, is trying to put herself and her creative life first as her husband is being increasingly controlling and unpleasant. She escapes into her friendship with Daphne, and the opportunities that the woman presents. She even tries to continue the friendship despite the warning she receives from Daphne's old boyfriend and the sexual pass that the unstable Daphne makes at her.

Eventually, the marriage reaches the breakup point. Wesley leaves for the U.S. and Annie has to figure out who she really wants to be in the next part of her life. She thinks she can't be a poet without Paris, but can she be happy without her family?

I found CAPTURING PARIS to be pleasant enough with its descriptions of the joys of the expat life in France, but Annie's struggles and life just seemed too easy, somehow. I guess I prefer my fictional characters to be more complex. In the end, all compromise is complete and we're back at the comfort point. Has there really been growth anywhere?

Heather Hiestand