It took me 6 weeks, but I finally finished another book! I loved Tatiana de Rosnay's Sarah's Key, so when I saw she had written a new book, The House I Loved, I snatched it up. Of course, it didn't hurt the cover alone was GORGEOUS. I'm a sucker for book covers, and this one had my name written all over it.
De Rosnay's latest work is set in 1860s Paris and chronicles one woman's resistance to Baron Haussman's large scale renovation of the City of Lights. As a history major (with an emphasis on Europe post-Revolution) I've studied Haussman from an analytical point of view. I've read about his many accomplishments and his glorious modernization of the new Paris. But I never thought about how it affected those who lost homes or livelihoods. The House I Loved personalizes one woman's journey of love, tragedy, and connection to a home that would soon become a vestige of the past.
