A Good Life

There is always joy in the mundane. At times we welcome a change of scene or having a go at something different as they usually bring us new perspectives if we open our mind and our hearts to these novel experiences. In our success-driven society, failing is much frowned upon.The thing is if we allow the fear factor to hold us back from trying new things, we will not evolve. When we fail in something, it means we are doing things, does it not? When you do not succeed in something, it may direct you to something else that might surprise you. Failures humble us but they should not diminish our self- worth, right? Coming across the quote by Neil Gaiman about making mistakes was timely. I so want to rekindle that sense of lightness that I had once possessed ……

There are times we chance upon things or certain people unwittingly, I do not think that they are sheer coincidences. We probably have led ourselves to these serendipitous encounters that may seem like they do not mean anything. Whatever happens has something to do with our intent, consciously or unwittingly. Quite often things only make sense afterwards.

A quote by Steve Jobs comes to mind.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” — Steve Jobs

If you pay attention, life is full of dreamlike moments. At times it can be stranger than fiction hence seemingly extraordinary things that happen to characters in a novel do happen to real people in real life.

When I first read food writings by Ruth Reichl and I had wondered about what it would be like to be a food critic. As I had previously enjoyed reading Ruth Reichl‘s memoirs such as Comfort with Apples and Garlic and Sapphire and also her debut novel Delicious! , I definitely must read her latest novel that is another sumptuous tale of food, family and all things French.The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl is a fiction that talks about art, food, fashion, book people, literary figures and Paris. Shakespeare and Company also features a great deal in it. Such an enchanting read with animated characters in the fiction. As a reader, you feast on the magical moments as you follow its protagonist, Stella St. Vincent in her journey through France in the 1980s.

Stella and her mother, Celia St. Vincent were never close. And they could not be more different. Celia was not one of those mothers who would dote on their children. From the time when Stella was very small, Celia insisted that Stella would call her Celia. ” I was not born to be anyone’s mother,” she explained.

After college, Stella lands a position as a copy editor at Vanguard Press, a small publishing company run by Evelyn Shrifte. She moves to the minuscule studio in the East Thirties. Stella and Celia see little of each other.’ WHEN THE CALL CAME, STELLA had not seen her mother for six months‘.

Stella receives news about her mother’s accidental death through one of the acolytes. The friend wants her to arrange a memorial but Stella refuses to do so. To her admirers, a world without Celia is just too sad but not to Stella.

Stella is far from adventurous as she creates strict routines for her daily life. Celia, on the other hand , a consummate chameleon was many things. She was a personal shopper for the most affluent clients who demanded her attention. These rich women also opened their hearts to Celia and told her their sorrowful lives. That gave her an idea to write a column under a pseudonym for the New York Herald Tribune entitled ‘Have You Heard?”

Celia was capable of showing people exactly what she wanted them to see. Even her closest friends did not know that she repaid their admiration with wry contempt’ privately she referred to them as “the acolytes.” Men adored her too but none of them seemed to ever touch her heart. ‘When Stella asked about her father, Celia would say only that he’d been a handsome man she had met in a bar. ‘

When Celia dies, she leaves a note that says”Go to Paris”. When Celia’s lawyer hands Stella a sealed envelope “For my daughter” written in Celia’s handwriting, Stella has the oddest sensation, as if it has all been a hoax and Celia isn’t really dead. It then dawns upon her that she had harboured a hope that ‘she and Celia might one day get to know each other, maybe even like each other, perhaps become close.’ Now the envelope contains the last communication with her mother. Should she do her mother’s bidding? Was that her mother’s final attempt to turn her into the daughter she wanted her to be?

After her mother’s death, ‘the safe , predictable life she had so carefully forged began to feel hollow. She went through the familiar routines , but they felt different now that Celia was gone.’ One night, her boss, Miss Shrifte finds her working close to midnight, she orders her to take a vacation for at least six weeks. Stella hates change, fears travel but staying in New York with nothing to do would be even worse. She finally takes the plunge and makes the trip of her lifetime. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that perhaps her mother had wanted her to find herself and her answers in France. She might even finally make peace with her mother’s memory.

In Paris, Stella meets Jules Delatour, an elderly and kind art consultant/ collector and his son, Jean-Marie. She becomes fascinated by the life of Victorine -Louise Meurent, who was Édouard Manet’s model and a painter in her own right. She also becomes acquainted with George Whitman, the owner of Shakespeare and Company. As she works in publishing, she knows all about Sylvia Beach, the original proprietor who had opened the bookshop in 1919 and famously published James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922. She also knows about the American literary figures – Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Miller, Baldwin- who had frequented the place but the idea that people actually live and sleep at the bookshop is new to her. They are what George call as Tumbleweeds and George regards her as one. That very idea of sleeping among strangers terrifies her.

Stella’s vacation is becoming more magical. Along the way, she discovers her hidden talents. It all begins with a black frock that she sets her eyes on and the saleslady of the shop has forced upon her. When she puts on the black dress, she looks haughty and she feels giddy and luxurious. After paying for the dress with her traveller’s cheque, she is left with two twenty-dollar checks.The sales lady makes her a real bargain. Stella can buy the dress, wear it and do exactly what the shopkeeper tells her to do. It is a beautiful day. She ‘will walk through Tuileries to the Seine and along the Seine to the Pony des Arts.Cross the bridge and walk up the boulevard Saint-Germain to Les Deux Magots order a glass of Chablis , very cold, and a dozen Belon oysters…..’The saleslady says if she has one single regret the following day ,she can return the dress and get back her every franc. She knows that the real and grounded Stella will return the dress the next day. But for now she will be the carefree young woman who floats through the springtime air, waltzing down the streets of Paris in a gauzy black gown, enjoying the appreciative looks of passersby. The dress is a Dior and it bears the name of the previous owner.

In the past Stella never really cared about food although Celia had cooked regularly for paying guests at their home. Now in Paris, she begins to pay attention to food and discovers her discerning palate for appreciating French cooking and food that is novel to her. She has fallen under the spell of everything that Paris has to offer. She has moved from a person who craves solitude in New York to someone who embraces connections in Paris. She has finally found where she belongs. A home.

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl is about all the good things in life, food, arts, love and friendship. It is a whimsical tale indeed.