13, Rue Therese
The box that author Elena Mauli Shapiro inherited contains more than just mementos of Louise Brunet’s life; it contains a story. Not knowing Louise beyond the photos and letters in the box, Shapiro creates one of her own. The fictional Louise is wildly in love with her cousin, but married instead to a staid jeweler. She teaches piano and entertains herself by giving false confessions to the parish priest while contemplating real things worthy of confession with the attractive new neighbor downstairs.
The novel flits through time, from one artifact to another, as each is pulled from the box. Postcards, photos, handkerchiefs, gloves, coins, letters, all gorgeously scanned onto the pages from the real-life counterparts in the author’s collection. Each shows another relationship in Louise Brunet’s fictional life. Her cousin, dead in the mud of the Western Front. Her father, crushed by a secret that pushed his daughter away. Her piano student, talented beyond Louise’s teaching abilities. Her neighbor, wishing for the boldness of a fighter pilot.
Despite the nonlinear narrative, the author never loses control of her story. Early 20th-century Paris is crisp, and the characters are charged with the restlessness and uncertainty of the interwar years. I thoroughly enjoyed Louise’s story, but the ending, coming in a poetic rush, left me breathless and rereading to be sure I didn’t miss anything. This is a novel to be savored, not skimmed. Recommended.
