Elle Bishop the main protagonist heads out for a swim during her stay at her holiday home in Cape Cod. As she takes her swim she remembers the events from the day before, her passionate encounter with someone who is not her husband whilst her husband, children and mother are inside having dinner. This holiday home holds a lot of memories for Elle, her childhood, her first love, deaths, secrets, and regrets but the someone who she has the passionate encounter holds these secrets, shares these secrets and over the course of the novel we see this unravel. From the day she is born to the present day we see these secrets unravel and begin to decipher what secrets The Paper Palace holds.
This was so friking good. I felt like at the start it was a little slow and hard to get into… but once you do… let me tell you it is hard to put down. It explores really heavy topics, so it definitely is not an easy read but how the author has written this story through the back stories, and the different segments (when she meets Peter, Jonas etc) but over the course of the novel it is told in one day it is just beautiful. The characters were so well written, I cried at Anna’s storyline but also how different her childhood was compared to Elle’s. Was it the age difference? I don’t know but I found Elle to be more optimistic to be more hopeful when it came to moments like their father and her mother’s boyfriends whereas Anna- I don’t want to say cynical but- was cynical. I loved Peter’s character and I found it interesting because I thought the ‘affair’ would be that Elle wasn’t happy with Peter and their marriage, but it was the opposite they have a really good relationship, would I go further to even say content maybe, but Jonas was…is a childhood sweetheart who holds more than love, their connection is unreal. The love triangle was really interesting to see and how the couples work together. Gina is portrayed as a friend but is insecure because of the shared history between Elle and Jonas, the inside jokes, and the chemistry- one scene that stayed with me was the BBQ and how we see Gina’s insecurity get the better of her. I loved Anna and Elle’s relationship from childhood their sisterhood bond (I kept comparing it to my own childhood I had with my sisters) and how they evolved over the years. And at the end of the novel when we find out what happened to Anna (I kind of had an inkling because Elle talked about her in the past tense) but it BROKE me! I loved Peter’s relationship with Elle’s mother Wallace their banter and their love was amazing.
I think Heller explored dysfunctional families really well and how she questions do a place shape you. What the Palace meant to the different characters, the back story, and the making of The Paper Palace. I loved reading the back stories of Elle’s childhood, her relationship with her parents, her father’s multiple girlfriends, and the story of being babysat by the other people because their father’s girlfriend didn’t want to look after them. It is a book that explores taboo subjects such as incest and rape and the effects it has on the victims, I found it harrowing and really well written, it also explores the effects of repressed emotions and not talking about stuff that has a physical, emotional impact. Conrad’s death and what he has done (you got the vibes from the start he was that type) and his sister’s story, Elle’s guilt and lie that she said Leo had done it and her mother’s reaction to the breakup.
It explores morality so well. I just could not put this book down it was incredible. It was intoxicating such a deeply emotional love story, exploring forbidden love a childhood tragedy, a love triangle. It was sharp, dry but utterly addictive. This will stay with me for a long time and I can’t wait to re-read it.
I loved the epigraph and how it was used in the novel as well so moving.
‘We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laugher
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest song are those that tell of saddest thought. – Percy Bysshe Shelley. ‘To a Skylark’.
Some of my fave quotes.
‘The shit always builds up but surviving is the key’.
‘Knowledge can be power, but it can also be poison’
‘The waiting begins early, I think. The lies begin early. But so do dreams and hopes and stories.’
‘Does letting go mean losing everything you have, or does it mean gaining everything you never had.’
Highly recommend this seductive, addictive novel it is so good. When you get a chance pick this up.
See this review and others on Goodreads- Fiz|فيز (The United Kingdom)’s review of The Paper Palace | Goodreads
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