The Paper Palace

Author: Miranda Cowley Heller
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2021
Pages: 400
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: It is a perfect July morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at "The Paper Palace" - the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out of the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she has always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn't forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity.

Review: I liked the execution of this novel better than the story. Lots of flashbacks, but they worked to tell the present-day story. There were elements of the story I liked. The author brought the Cape Code area to life, as well as the paper palace itself. It as an interesting cast of characters, but I had no trouble keeping them all straight. 

The final flash from the past to present was surprising and satisfyingly done. This book also gave me the ending I wanted.

The Paper Palace is full of possible triggers, but it kept me turning pages.