Author: Miranda Cowley Heller
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Genre: Fiction, Modern & Contemporary Fiction, General Fiction
Year of release: 2021
Release Date 2nd July 2021
Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
TW Child Abuse, Rape, Death of a child, Terminal Illness
AU RPP $32.99
Synopsis
Before anyone else is awake, on a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the glorious freshwater pond below ‘The Paper Palace’ — the gently decaying summer camp in the back woods of Cape Cod where her family has spent every summer for generations. As she passes the house, Elle glances through the screen porch at the uncleared table from the dinner the previous evening, empty wine glasses, candle wax on the tablecloth, echoes of laughter of family and friends. Then she dives beneath the surface of the freezing water to the shocking memory of the sudden passionate encounter she had the night before, up against the wall behind the house, as her husband and mother chatted to the guests inside.
So begins a story that unfolds over twenty-four hours and across fifty years, as decades of family legacies, love, lies, secrets, and one unspeakable incident in her childhood lead Elle to the precipice of a life-changing decision. Over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the world she has made with her much-loved husband, Peter, and the life she imagined would be hers with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives.
Review
Wife and mother Elle Bishop is spending another summer at The Paper Palace, a summer camp her great Grandfather built many years before is now falling to pieces, but Elle still views it as the haven it once was. Secluded in the backwoods of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, The Place where she first met Jonas, The Paper Palace where Elle Bishop’s life changed forever the place where she must now decide to stay on the path she’s currently on or will she finally get the opportunity to discover what might have been, what could have been?
A Reese Witherspoon pick that everyone was talking about and not always in a positive light, I was curious to see what all the fuss was about, whilst I know many who have read or plan to read this book. I can at least now say I don’t plan to read this again but am overall pleased to have read it.
“If I could fly backward, I would,” I said. To the safety of branches, to the time when my heart raced for him like a hummingbird’s, 1,200 beats per second. And he said, as he always did, “I know.”
― Miranda Cowley Heller, The Paper Palace
The time shift was a standout element for me when reading this book. 1950’s, 70’s present-day I really appreciated the descriptive writing given to the locations of Cape Cod, New York, and London where they were bought to life for this reader. I found the length of the story made me feel as if I got to see Elle grow and develop into a three-dimensional person, rather than appear to remain in a stand still throughout the novel.
Elle Bishop makes for an interesting narrator, I found myself drawn to her at first and was really interested in the story she had to tell but the further the story progressed I found myself connecting to her and sympathising with her situation at times in the book, thanks to author Miranda Cowley Heller skilled writing my opinions of Elle changed throughout a book for the better; at times my heart broke for her and her experiences, but I found myself not always sympathetic to her choices.
Wallace Bishop was the most memorable character in The Paper Palace in my opinion, she had the ability to say what so many people think; she must be one of the best and most realistic mother characters I have read.
“Brits always insist on acting as if weather doesn’t exist. It starts pouring rain and they just turn their collars up.”
― Miranda Cowley Heller, The Paper Palace
Whilst reading The Paper Palace I as the reader felt I needed to see some improvements.
I believe the time shift worked well in this novel, but I am at a loss as to why there weren’t multiple perspectives used to detail the main characters points of view, especially given the book is sectioned into five books or Parts this was a little confusing and dare I say pointless as it didn’t provide much of a back story for minor characters nor add much in the way of a change in perspective.
I seek out character-based books often so having multiple characters doesn’t usually bother me, but due to the expansive time period of 50 years, this book covers I did find myself getting a little deer in the headlights with the number of characters the reader meets throughout this book personally I would’ve liked a list to familiarise myself with.
Without any spoilers I will say the ending completely collapsed for this reader after having such a descriptive read it was disappointing to feel like that was it. It felt like characters just completely disappeared which only left me asking more questions rather than having answers.
The earlier chapters set in the ’50s 60’s and 70 really draw me in, so I found that part of the story moved quite quickly but the closer we were to reaching the present-day period the harder it was to focus and get to the end. The plot itself is quite slow but that works well for The Paper Palace I strongly believe this book would’ve suffered had it been a faster-paced book.
Books like The Paper Palace don’t come around very often I found the human behavior elements flaws, trauma, and life events very appealing.
Stepparents, siblings, abuse, and death are memorable sub-plots here I believe even though they make for uncomfortable reading at times throughout this read; I think they helped the story stand out; they were all touched upon explored with a great deal of care and respect in this reviewers’ opinion.
Friends to lovers was a trope heavily relied upon to tell this story it worked well. I could believe in this friendship; this trope doesn’t always impress me.
I recommend this book to a mature audience who are fans of the Modern & Contemporary Fiction genre if you like books surrounding family then this book is worth investigating.