Lisette's Paris notebook by Catherine Bateson
Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781760293635
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Paris. Romance. Art. Fashion. When
eighteen year old Lisette hits Paris for the summer holidays before
going to uni in Melbourne, she is aware that she is doing something
her mother always dreamed of doing. Mum has arranged that she stay
with Madame Christophe, a clairvoyant she met online and Lisette
will take French lessons to improve her language skills as well as
gain an appreciation of the arts and fashion, touring art galleries
and haute couture. From the start the reader is aware of some
tension between Lisette and her mother who raised her after her
artist lover abandoned her and fled to Wales.
With misgivings Lisette goes along to French lessons in her vintage
punk and Doc Martins, only to be challenged by much she sees and
hears.
Her great-grandmother was the proud owner of a Chanel jacket and
with a seamstress mother, fashion is part of her makeup.
But she does not reckon with the men she meets and readers will
laugh out loud as I did, when Lisette consents to being a model for
one of the art students at her French class, and then has a worrying
time trying to work out what to wear to disrobe.
But try as she might, this man is not for her and accidentally
meeting an Englishman in the park, begins to fall in love.
This funny, absorbing coming of age novel, full of references to
Paris, fashion, art galleries and food will fascinate teenage girls
yearning like Lisette to try all that Paris offers.
Paris invades every page: its sights and sounds, colours, fashion,
architecture and people are the thread of the novel, making every
reader want to go and capture the essence of the city, while those
who have been will wish to return.
Lisette has some real choices to make, but is always aware of her
return ticket to Australia and the looming departure date. Finding
that her dead father left her money, allows her to make a decision
that had been impossible and in ringing his widow, finds common
ground with the woman she has never met. Middle secondary girls will
love Lisette, seeing Paris through her eyes, looking at her options
as she becomes more involved with Hugo who must return to England.
Bateson has again produced a wonderfully entertaining story of a
young girl in an unfamiliar situation, potent with choices,
impelling the readers to ponder what choice they would make.
Lisette is surrounded by beautifully written characters that will
endear the reader to Lisette and her friends. Hugo is an enigma but
adorable, Madam Christophe magnificent with her tarot cards and
scarves, Fabienne stunning with her stilettos, Anders and Gabi ooze
early warning signals, while the girls Lisette meets give her
courage. All of her experiences encourage her to take her own path,
to find her own way, to be herself. And she does.
Fran Knight