THE RED NOTEBOOK is a sweet surprise. Touching and
uplifting, written by a French author in translation to
English. Antoine Laurain is a charming story teller and
this is a delightful fairy tale for grownups that I love.
Laurent Letellier, a Paris bookstore owner. is ready for
his
morning walk. He glances at the window of his shop, Le
Cahier Rouge. He smiles, proudly at the sign that reads,
"Books We Love and Must Read." Now it is time to go and
have his coffee.
He is walking to his favorite cafe, when
he sees a taupe colored ladies handbag atop a trash bin
and
stops to pick it up. Inside is no money, or phone
contact
information. Just random things he will examine closely
when
he takes it back to his apartment. After closer
examination, he is intrigued with the small notebook in
which
the owner has written private thoughts, fears and dreams.
Intrigued, Laurent decides to try his best to find out who
she is? Can he locate her in Paris, the City of Millions?
This is a puzzle and one Laurent wants to solve.
Laure Valadier is in the hospital, in a mild form of coma
from a hit on the head as she was mugged and her handbag
stolen. Her co-worker William, pretends to be her
brother,
visits her and gives the pertinent information that the
hospital needs to treat her. She is a gilder, applying
gold leaf to "an old picture frame or to the dome of Les
Invalides." He knows where Laure lives, she has a cat,
Belphegor, that she adores, she is a widow with no
family,
and he needs to help her.
William takes care of Belphegor and is at Laure's
apartment
feeding him his duck flavored food
when the doorbell rings and it is Laurent. They have a
drink, get acquainted, and when William tells Laurent he
has
to leave for Berlin for a few days and is worried about
where
to keep the cat, Laurent offers to take care of Belphegor.
THE RED NOTEBOOK is a touching story about a puzzle and
the patience and
dedication to putting all of the pieces
together. Laurents, with the creative meddling of his
feisty
15 year old daughter, Chloe, persue each and every clue
from items within the handbag. When they have it solved,
what a joyful finale. This is a bonbon without the
calories. Antoine Laurain goes to the top of my list of
new
and extraordinary authors to watch and savor.
Heroic bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street. There's nothing in the bag to indicate who it belongs to, although there's all sorts of other things in it. Laurent feels a strong impulse to find the owner and tries to puzzle together who she might be from the contents of the bag. Especially a red notebook with her jottings, which really makes him want to meet her. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions? The Red Notebook has already been sold in twelve different languages. French TV is making a film of The President's Hat and the movie rights of The Red Notebook have been sold to UGC.