The Elegance of the Hedgehog

I originally picked up The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery in a bookstore when I was traveling in CA. I didn't buy it then, but I was intrigued by the first two chapters I had read and had it on my "to read" list.

I finally purchased it at the Brookline Booksmith a few weeks ago and finished it quickly.

The novel is set in a apartment building in Paris. Madame Michel (Renee) is the concierge for the building who pretends to be dumb and uncultured because that is what she believes her tenants expect from their concierge. However, beneath the facade lies an intelligent woman who loves books, movies and art. She is fond of Tolstoy, so much so that her cat is named Leo after the author.

Paloma is a 12-year-old tenant of the building who has decided that she will commit suicide because she is dismayed by the adults she is surrounded by and what life has to offer. She is too smart for her age and pretends, like Madame Michel, to be dumber than she is. She despises her pretentious older sister and her mentally unstable mother. But she sets out to record interesting things about the world in her journal before she dies.

Renee's and Paloma's worlds intersect with the arrival of Karkuru Ozu the new tenant in the building. Kakuru sees through the facades of both and draws them out.

At times the novel felt a bit clumsy with long soliloquies on philosophy, but by the end I was glad I had stuck with it to see the transformation of Renee and the change in Paloma's view on life.

In the end, this is a tragedy, so be prepared for the non-Hollywood ending.

A Story of a Marriage

You MUST read this....

They have a segment on NPR of this name, and I'm stealing it for the book I just finished. A Story of a Marriage by Adam Sean Greer is amazing.


It is one of the best books I have read in a long time and while I don't want to give too much away, I will say it is full of surprises. It is a wonderful story of Pearlie and Holland Cook shortly after World War II. It chronicles their marriage and is touching in so many ways.