Review: The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

Bookseller Laurent Letellier finds an abandoned  handbag sitting on top of a trash bin.  Its contents full, Laurent knows it wasn't intentionally left behind.  As he examines the contents inside, he discovers a wealth of information about the owner. Everything except her name.

The item most interesting to him is a red notebook. Inside, the owner has jotted down her dreams, her wishes, her fears. Captivated with just this information, Laurent becomes even more determined to discover the owner's identity.. At his daughter's prodding, Laurent delves deeper into the woman's life, finding himself an uninvited, yet captivated witness to her most personal details.

Laure is a gilder who spends her days crafting the most beautiful of pieces with gold-leafing.  well aware of her own hopes and fears, she struggles to find happiness. Upon walking home one evening, she becomes a victim of a purse-snatching. Wounded, everything she held dear torn from her hands, she is forced to beg for kindness to find a place to sleep in the hotel directly across from her apartment.  She sleeps, but doesn't awaken; a head injury sends her into a deep coma.

Upon awakening, she learns from friends of a man who showed up at the perfect moment, a bit of salvation so desperately needed. He cared for her cat in her absence, returned her bag full of precious mementos. This act of kindness compels her to search for him when she is released.

Two strangers, brought together by one horrific incident. Their fates, and futures, forever changed.

Sometimes, a reader comes across a book that captivates them so intensely that they feel lost the moment they turn the last pages.  This title is that book for me.  While brief in page count, it is filled to the brim with beauty and intensity, mixed with humor, mystery, and a touch of classic romance, that together create a truly monumental read.

This novel so expertly captures the very essence of two compassionate individuals.  Two strangers, both searching for something missing (both physically and emotionally) in their lives.  What this author captures and shares in his prose is simple in scope, yet complex in its beauty.

Laurent only recently succumbed to his passion to open a bookstore.

An existence devoted to reading would have been his ultimate fulfilment, but it had not been given to him…up until the day he had started to feel , dimly at first, then more clearly, that the man he had become was the absolute opposite of what he really was…the weight turned into an anguish which was succeeded by the intolerable idea that he was wasting his life – or even that he has already wasted it

This decision to change his life, to chase after his dreams, describes the very core of Laurent’s character. His passion for life, for love. His ability to comprehend the world and the opportunities we are granted in a way many others never see, or take for granted:

…we can pass right by something very important: love, a job, moving to another city or another country.  Or another life.  ‘Pass by’ and at the same time ‘so close’ that sometimes, while in that state of melancholy that is akin to hypnosis, we can, in spite of everything, manage to grab little fragments of what might have been.  Like catching snatches of a far-off radio frequency.  The message is obscure, yet by listening carefully you can still catch snipets of the soundtrack of the life that never was.

I could go on endlessly about the beauty contained within this novel, but I shall stop, instead focusing my passion on sharing this book with the world.  A book that will astound readers with its simple, quiet yet intense, beauty. One I guarantee you will cherish, as I have, endlessly.  Highly, highly recommended.