In this enthralling international bestseller, two girls live inconspicuous lives in the center of an elegant Paris apartment building. It is only when a stranger moves into their building--and sees through the girls' disguises--that Paloma and Rene discover their kindred spirits.

Reviews

This late addition to HighBridge Audio's catalog, whose 2006 print edition topped France's best sellers lists, is alternately narrated by a 54-year-old Parisian concierge and a precocious 12-year-old girl residing in the building where he works. Though the novel starts slowly, it eventually transforms into a beautiful love story that quietly takes on classism and the meaning of life in one fell swoop. The readings by Barbara Rosenblat (www.barbararosenblat.com) and Cassandra Morris (Elsewhere) add life and realism. For fans of the work of Alice Sebold, Pablo Neruda, and Paulo Coelho. [The New York Times best-selling Europa Editions pb was recommended "for public libraries where literature in translation is in demand and for academic libraries to complement their French collections," LJ 6/15/08.-Ed.]-Terry Ann Lawler, Phoenix P.L. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

This audio version of the surprise French bestseller hits the mark as both performance and story. The leisurely pace of the novel, which explores the upstairs-downstairs goings-on of a posh Parisian apartment building, lends itself well to audio, and those who might have been tempted to skip through the novel's more laborious philosophical passages (the author is a professor of philosophy) will savor these ruminations when read aloud. Tony Award-winning actress Barbara Rosenblat positively embodies the concierge, Renee Michel, who deliberately hides her radiant intelligence from the upper-crust residents of 7 rue de Grenelle, and the performance of Cassandra Morris as the precocious girl who recognizes Renee as a kindred spirit is nothing short of a revelation. Morris's voice, inflection and timbre all conspire to make the performance entirely believable. A Europa paperback. (June) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

?The formula that made more than half a million readers in France fall in love with this book has, among other ingredients: intelligent humor, fine sentiments, an excellent literary and philosophical backdrop, good taste, sophistication and substance.?
?"La Repubblica"

?Enthusiastically recommended for anyone who loves books that grow quietly and then blossom suddenly.?
?"Marie Claire" (France)

?An exquisite book in the form of a philosophical fable that has enchanted hundreds of thousands of readers.?
?"Elle" (Italy)

?Nobody ever imagined that this tender, funny book with a philosophical vein would have enjoyed such incredible success. For some, it is part "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder, part "Monsieur Malaussene" by Daniel Pennac. While for others it resembles a written version of the film Amelie. Either way, readers are responding in vast numbers.?
?"Le Monde"