Laure is returning from work carrying her beautiful, expensive new purse. She is looking forward to a relaxing evening before the fire with her cat beside her, perhaps a glass of wine... And suddenly a robber seizes her purse, shoves her when she tries to fight back, knocking her out. She awakens, bloody, disoriented, unable to get into her apartment, with no money, no phone, no keys... She makes her way to a hotel, which unwillingly lets her in for a night, and subsides into a coma.The next day, the owner of a bookshop sees the beautiful purse sitting atop a trash bin. He takes it, looks inside to find the name of the owner, and finds a notebook, a dry cleaning stub, a set of keys...and nothing else. The owner must have been mugged. Laurent is a kindly man, and he knows the probable value of the purse. The story follows his attempts to glean information about the owner that will allow him to return the purse. And in sifting through the evidence, he finds himself falling in love.There is more to the story than that. It is a charming, skillful peeling back of layers or, if you like, adding layer of fine layer of growing understanding, appreciation, wonder and courage. Antoine Laurain is a master of conveying emotions and backstory in subtle touches. How the characters came to be who and where they are... How a kind act turns into a good deed performed for love.At its very basic level, you could call this a detective story, with Laurent, the bookseller, trying to make whole the victim of the mugging/purse-snatching and using whatever clues he can find. The subtle, deliciously handled love story is a bonus. And let me mention the presence of a teen-aged girl in this story that was particularly delightful, a cross between Audrey Hepburn and Genghis Khan.The story was originally written in French. I have not read it in its original language (tempted, though...) but this English translation flows beautifully, captures the essentially Parisian 'feel' of the story. There were no jarring notes. It is a keeper for me. Five stars.
