From Marc Levy, the most-read French author alive today, comes a modern-day love story between a famous actress hiding in Paris and a bestselling writer lying to himself. They knew their friendship was going to be complicated, but love—and the City of Lights—just might find a way.
On the big screen, Mia plays a woman in love. But in real life, she’s an actress in need of a break from her real-life philandering husband—the megastar who plays her romantic interest in the movies. So she heads across the English Channel to hide in Paris behind a new haircut, fake eyeglasses, and a waitressing job at her best friend’s restaurant.
Paul is an American author hoping to recapture the fame of his first novel. When his best friend surreptitiously sets him up with Mia through a dating website, Paul and Mia’s relationship status is “complicated.”
Even though everything about Paris seems to be nudging them together, the two lonely ex-pats resist, concocting increasingly far-fetched strategies to stay “just friends.” A feat easier said than done, as fate has other plans in store. Is true love waiting for them in a postscript?
This one took me a bit to get into and I never got really fully immersed in it. I think my problem was that I didn't really like either of the main characters. It ended well enough and had some interesting plot twists that I enjoyed.
The characters were just not very likable and a bit self-involved. Mia is an actress whose marriage is falling apart, so she's fled her life and is basically hiding out in Paris with her best friend and restaurant owner. Paul is an author who left his family and friends behind to live in Paris (something I never fully understood the reason for). Through an online dating profile, they end up on a date - Paul tricked by his friends (who are concerned for him) and Mia basically having assumed the identity of her friend.
What follows is sort of a friendship and sort of a courtship - as much as it can be when one is married and lying about who they are while the other thinks they are in love with someone else. Paul bothered me a lot less than Mia, he's at least honest and really is a good person I think. Mia's selfishness and lying was frustrating - because she seems to keep falling back on those patterns rather than growing out of them.
I don't regret reading P.S. from Paris - it has some good moments and some humor - but I don't really think it was my kind of book. I'd hesitate to read more from Marc Levy, even though his writing was good and the plot was ultimately interesting.
