The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis

 "There are times for holding on in this life and times for letting go. You must learn to know the difference."  

                  -Maman's advice to Soline, from the novel

January 11, 2022

There are SO many quote-worthy passages in this book, I had trouble choosing one! The one I settled on is repeated a number of times in the novel.

This story has two female protagonists of different nationalities and backgrounds whose lives intersect in a rather amazing way. Aurora "Rory" Purcell is a young aspiring artist in Boston, despairing of ever seeing her fiancé again. (He has been kidnapped in South Sudan.) Soline Roussel is an older woman, one of a long line of bridal designers, first of Paris and later transplanted in Boston as a result of the Nazi occupation of France and her work in the Resistance. 

Rory finds an abandoned building which seems to "call her name." Feeling it is the perfect setting for fulfillment of her dream to open an art gallery for unknown artists, she seeks out the owner who happens to be Soline. In fact, the building had been Soline's bridal shop called L'Aiguille Enchantee, The Charmed Needle, and had been greatly damaged by fire. Thus, the two women are connected and, in spite of their age difference, become close. Flashbacks provide the reader with Soline's story starting in Paris and giving insight into Rory's rocky relationship with her mother. As the story continues, we find both women have suffered losses and are able to find comfort in their friendship. 

Soline's chapters begin with quotes from her Maman, Esmee Roussel, La Sorciere de la Robe, or the Dress Witch. I thought many of these were profound, such as the one at the start of my post. Another I really liked was: "Every soul creates an echo. Like a fingerprint or signature that becomes infused in the things around us. Who we are. Where we belong. What we're meant to bring to the world. No two echoes are alike. They are ours and ours alone. But they're incomplete---one half of a perfect whole. Like a mirror without a reflection. And so each echo is constantly seeking its other half, to complete itself." A rather lovely thought.

Esmee's bridal creations were believed to bring lasting joy and love to select couples, so she called herself le gardien des fins heureuses, the keeper of happy endings----thus, the title. Esmee worked la magie and it seems Soline inherited it along with her mother's skill.

I am giving The Keeper of Happy Endings a 5 rating. I enjoyed it very much.

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May 19, 2022

I enjoyed this novel so much, I suggested it as a 2022 book club selection. Fifteen of our group met today to discuss the book. After looking over the discussion questions, I found I did not remember the "happy ending" of the book, so I started rereading around chapter 40. I still found it interesting.

Our group's average rating was 3.9 with only one person finding nothing much to like about it. She felt all the characters were portrayed as victims. A few of our folks agreed there were a LOT of coincidences, some difficult to believe. A number of us agreed that after having read a couple of pretty intense memoirs, we needed something a bit more "fluffy." We decided with so much romance, references to art and bridal gown design, it probably qualifies as "chick lit."