288 pages | 23rd April, 2024 | Fiction | Women's Fiction; Literary Fiction; Historical Fiction
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Saveur, Food & Wine, Bookreporter, The Charlotte Observer
A “mouthwatering” (The New York Times) adventure through the food, art, and fashion scenes of 1980s Paris—from the bestselling author of Save Me the Plums and Delicious!
Stella reached for an oyster, tipped her head, and tossed it back. It was cool and slippery, the flavor so briny it was like diving into the ocean. Oysters, she thought. Where have they been all my life?
When her estranged mother dies, Stella is left with an unusual inheritance: a one-way plane ticket and a note reading “Go to Paris.” Stella is hardly cut out for adventure; a traumatic childhood has kept her confined to the strict routines of her comfort zone. But when her boss encourages her to take time off, Stella resigns herself to honoring her mother’s last wishes.
Alone in a foreign city, Stella falls into old habits, living cautiously and frugally. Then she stumbles across a vintage store, where she tries on a fabulous Dior dress. The shopkeeper insists that this dress was meant for Stella and for the first time in her life Stella does something impulsive. She buys the dress—and embarks on an adventure.
Her first stop: the iconic brasserie Les Deux Magots, where Stella tastes her first oysters and then meets an octogenarian art collector who decides to take her under his wing. As Jules introduces Stella to a veritable who’s who of the Paris literary, art, and culinary worlds, she begins to understand what it might mean to live a larger life.
As weeks—and many decadent meals—go by, Stella ends up living as a “tumbleweed” at famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery in a Manet painting, and discovers a passion for food that may be connected to her past. A feast for the senses, this novel is a testament to living deliciously, taking chances, and finding your true home.
“[E]nticing… Reichl keeps the wine— and mouthwatering prose—flowing…”
The New York Times
“Stella decamps to the City of Light—and pungent goat cheese, chilled wine, garlicky snails—in this giddy, escapist confection from Ruth Reichl, food writer par excellence.”
Vanity Fair, “14 Books We Can’t Stop Thinking About This Month”
“A delicious feast for the senses, taking the reader on an enchanting journey through the city of love, and following Stella’s adventure into a bolder, more beautiful life.”
Oprah Daily
Ruth Reichl is the New York Times bestselling author of five memoirs, the novel Delicious!, and the cookbook My Kitchen Year. She was editor in chief of Gourmet magazine and previously served as restaurant critic for The New York Times, as well as food editor and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. She has been honored with six James Beard Awards. In 2024, she received the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award.
US: Random House
Audio: PRHA
Bulgaria: Kragozor
Hungary: Open Books
Israel: Am Oved
Romania: Humanitas
Russia: Sindbad
Serbia: Laguna
Sweden: Printz
UK: Magpie
Magnolia Mae Films (“The Dig”, “Philomena”), with Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg (“Ratatouille”) attached to write