About Books #81: Summer at the Little French Café

You know that feeling of being in France for the summer, walking by the beach, visiting the loveliest, quaintest little town? That’s Summer at the Little French Café for you – and it’s time to dream away with it!

The story

In the beautiful village of Chamillon lies the Café Belle Vie, where you’ll always find croissants and friends when you need them the most – and where Elle is hoping to uncover the truth about her past…

Thirty-year-old Elle Matheson has decided it’s finally time to find the mother who gave her up as a baby. With a faded postcard from the Café Belle Vie in hand – one of the very few things she has from her mother – she heads straight to the Île de Ré to begin her search.

With only the postcard and the ivory shawl she was wrapped in as clues, finding her mum is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, even with the help of friendly – and gorgeous – café-owner Charlie. And since Elle hasn’t exactly told her younger sister what she’s up to, the little white lies about where she is are starting to add up…

But Elle is really starting to feel at home on the beautiful island. The locals are welcoming, the café is homely, and Charlie is always there with a helping hand, a listening ear, and a pain au chocolat.

Is Elle about to discover not just where she came from – but where she belongs?

If you like this book, you might also like this delicious romance!

The opinion

I mean – we all know that any description that ends with a question like that? It can only have “yes” as its answer. And of course – so does Summer at the Little French Café. But what a lovely road it was to that yes!

Quite often, in books like this, time will jump ahead of itself – not so in this one. Elle stays on the island for only a week, and Karen Clarke really uses that week to paint, not only the journey Elle goes on, but a lovely picture of the island itself. I mean, honestly, I was all but ready to pack my bags and take the long weekend there!

Elle’s journey is really where it’s at, though. The concept of going out to find who your real mother is, seems utterly terrifying to me. And in truth, it does stress Elle to the extent that she experience some blabber mouth as well. But it’s the way she makes friends, is so respectful for the women whom she thinks might be her mother, … that really made me like her as a character.

The other thing I really liked about this book? The variety of characters. Elle’s sister and best friend are darlings, Henry is just something else, Charlie is a doll… Dolly is the best – and I really just want to read the first book about the little French café, as well.

The rating: 3/5

As I said before, the author really takes her time to tell this story. Because of that, Summer at the Little French Café feels like the perfect book to read on a lazy Sunday. The kind of story, maybe, to read with some French press coffee and a freshly baked croissant? 🙂 (Goodreads)

-Saar