Paris Was the Place

Summary

From acclaimed authorSusan Conley comes a novel that gives us a luminous emotional portrait of ayoung woman living abroad in Paris in the 1980s and trying to make sense of thechaotic world around her as she learns the true meaning of family.

When Willie Pears agrees to teach at a Parisian centerfor immigrant girls who have requested French asylum, she has no idea it willutterly change her life. She has lived in Paris for six months, surrounded bythe most important people in her life: her beloved brother, Luke; her funny andwise college roommate, Sara; and Sara’s do-gooder husband, Rajiv. And now thereis Macon Ventri, a passionate, dedicated attorney for the detained girls.Theirs is a meeting of both hearts and minds—but not without its problems. AsWillie becomes more involved with the immigrant girls who touch her soul, thelines between teaching and mothering are blurred. She is especially drawnto Gita, a young Indian girl who is determined to be free. Ultimately, Williewill make a decision with potentially dire consequences to both herrelationship with Macon and the future of the center. Meanwhile, Luke is takenwith a serious, as-yet-unnamed illness, and Willie will come to understand thepower of unconditional love while facing the dark days of his death.

Conley haswritten a piercing, deeply humane novel that explores the connections betweenfamily and friends and reaffirms the strength of the ties that bind.