Goodbye, Paris - Book Review

The protagonist of Anstey Harris' Goodbye, Paris is Grace, a woman waiting for her life to happen. An unfortunate incident years ago left her with the passion and talent to play the cello but the inability to perform so that others can hear. Instead, she works in a shop building instruments for other people. She's in love with another woman's man, but he's still taken, so she waits, accepting brief meet-ups in his Paris apartment and thinking about what their life will be like when he's all hers.

But then one night changes everything. A butterfly effect of events that open Grace's eyes to the way things really are and the people in her life whom she can really trust and call her friends. With the help of her shop employee Nadia and an elegant older gentleman customer, Grace learns how to find her own future.

When I first picked up a free ARC of this book at BookExpo, I thought it might be a lighthearted read, something good for summer. It was much deeper than I expected! It even made me cry at times. I suppose that's what I get for judging a book by its cover.

Set in three lovely locations of Paris, England, and Cremona, Italy, the reader gets to travel with Grace and really root for this character as she travels through one of life's roughest patches.

Goodbye, Paris is published by Touchstone and will be on bookstore shelves August 7, 2018. I received a free advance review copy at BookExpo America.