2019 Book Review #2: The Rain Watcher

One of my very fave authors is this French one and man can she write a work of fiction!

I've read 4 of her 5 works of fiction.  My fave was Sarah's Key and this one is my 2nd fave.

STORY SUMMARY

Linden Malegarde is in his late 30s and lives with his partner Sacha in San Francisco.  His parents, Lauren (in her 60s) and Paul Malegarde (about to turn 70) still live in his childhood home known as Venozan in the countryside of France.  His sister Tilia lives in London with her daughter (from her first marriage) Mistral (a teenager) and her 2nd husband Colin (who is an alcoholic).

The entire family, minus Sacha and Colin, per Lauren's request, are meeting together in Paris at a hotel, to celebrate the 70th birthday of Paul.

However, on the evening of his birthday dinner, in the middle of him giving a little family speech, he has a horrible stroke.  It leaves him in the hospital, unable to communicate verbally.  In fact, for most of that weekend, he is in a coma.

Paul has always been  the quiet head of the family.  He's an internationally known arborist who has always been obsessed with his trees, has always had a rather difficult relationship with his son, and does not know that Linden is gay.

Lauren, who is American born, is so set on the weekend being a success.

Tilia has always seemed so confident but Linden has never felt comfortable in his own skin, especially around his family.  He has always felt like an American in France, and a Frenchman in the United States.  However, Lindon is also internationally known....as a brilliant photographer.  But even so, he feels like he has disappointed his parents.

The entire family's secrets and fears begin to loosen as Paris...that glorious "City of Lights" faces a natural disaster:  the Seine is about to spill over and Paris faces a horrible flood much like the historic one in 1910.

Every member of the family will need to fight to keep the unity going against these tragic circumstances.

MY THOUGHTS

This book is deep and thought provoking regarding family ties and family issues.

I love the author's character development, as always, and I love the main themes of love and redemption.

The book begins in a journal style and the reader soon realizes that the author is Paul when he was younger, writing about an experience he had in his parents orchard when he was just 4 years old.  I don't want to reveal what he witnessed as I don't want to ruin the story for you.  But the book is divided into parts with each part being one long chapter.  Before each part, the story from the journal continues.  It is ended by Linden finding a treasure box with the writings in it.  And that is how the reader learns of the ending and of what Paul, as a very young child, remembers and why the linden tree is so important to him.

This book touches on the topics of homosexuality but in a very well done manner and not crass at all.  It touches on alcoholism, divorce, re-marriage, adultery,  and finding one's way in the world.  It also touches on the father-son relationship and on forgiveness.

There are a lot of descriptive scenes regarding the flood of Paris and it's different from her other books because she sets them in some kind of historical event. (ex. World War II in Sarah's Key).  This one is set in the present but is similar to an historic event....things going on in Paris are based on the flood of 1910.

This book is a gem.  I highly recommend it.

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature content in some spots).

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.