If this is your introduction into the world of Ruth Reichl, you are in for a sumptuous treat. Her books, whether memoir or fiction, bring the senses alive. This book is a modern-day fairy tale. The reader is transported to a world of taste, smell, and an insider’s look of a Paris we all wish we could magically inhabit.

As in many fairy tales, this one begins with a damaging mother and a traumatic experience. Stella is born to a strident mother who neglected her except when it suited her. Even worse, she never intervened to keep her daughter safe. To counteract the uncertainty in her life, Stella carved out dependable routines to survive the trauma of her childhood. After her mother’s death, adult Stella structured a life she could control as a copy editor. 

When her estranged mother died, Stella’s inheritance could only be used to travel to Paris. Stella may not have had the courage to take this trip if not for her boss who demanded she take substantial time off from work to grieve her mother. Stella is not one to seek adventure but what else can she do during the time she won’t be working? So… off she goes.

At first, she constructs a life similar to the one she lived in New York, and conducts herself the way she’s always lived. She maps out days and develops a comfortable routine. But something happens to change all that. One afternoon she goes into a vintage shop on the Place des Vosges and emerges wearing a couture dress. The owner gives her instructions of where to go. At her first stop, the Cafes des Deux Magots, she tastes her first oysters and meets an 80 year old art collector who takes her under his wing and introduces her to a life she could never imagine. 

She experiences amazing food, lives in the legendary Shakespeare & Company Bookstore and is befriended by George Whitman, its eccentric owner, his young daughter, Lucie and the others who live in the shop. She meets famous writers, restauranteurs, and art collectors. The once reticent Stella also goes on a mission to find the lost paintings of Manet’s model, Victorine Meurent, who she learns is a painter in her own right. 

The characters Stella meets along the way are people we’d all like as friends and they encourage her to be open to life in a way she never has before. While there are no real surprises as to how life will unfold for this once solitary woman, it is a delight to take the trip with her. I don’t think there is a single character she meets that I wouldn’t like to have in my own life.

I would highly recommend taking this trip with Stella. It is a reminder in these difficult times we are living in, that a good meal, meeting a generous stranger, or trying something new, can make a significant difference in your life.