Book Review of Dear Paris by Janice MacLeod

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UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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Book stats:

304 pages, published in March 2021 (I received an Advanced Copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:

Books about Paris * Memoirs/Travelogues * Books about the expat experience

TRAVEL INSPIRATION:

With a title like Dear Paris, I suspect you have already figured out that the main travel inspiration is, in fact, Paris. A few other cities dispersed around Europe and North America also make a brief showing but there is no mistaking the main course as anything other than Paris herself.

Dear Paris will remind those who have visited Paris what it is like to see the city for the first time, to take in its wonders through all the senses, to be mesmerized and drunk on its history and on its hidden secrets. For those who have never been but wish to go, you will find yourself salivating over the pages and making note of the city’s best spot for hot chocolate and the author’s favorite haunts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Janice MacLeod

Janice MacLeod is Canadian artist and writer, and this is her third book. Her life story is central to all three of her books. After working in the United States and Canada as a copywriter and associate creative director in the realm of advertising, MacLeod was ready for a break. She created a plan. She saved up funds. She embarked on a two-year trip to Europe and never looked back. After arriving in Paris, she soon met her future husband-to-be, a Polish butcher.

Finding herself inspired by the artistry that is Paris and ultimately realizing that returning to a regular career was not appealing, MacLeod created a unique business. In the era of emails, she set up an Etsy shop where she would send personalized letters in the mail to customers around the world. Each would be accompanied by a hand-created piece of art inspired by her explorations of Paris (and elsewhere). This year, 2020, is her 10th and final year of writing these artistic letters.

As MacLeod’s audience grew over the years, she has published several books detailing aspects of her time in Paris. They are Paris Letters (2014) and A Paris Year (2017). Now, Dear Paris joins them.

REVIEW OF dear paris BY janice macleod

Dear Paris swept me off of my home-bound feet (in this, the era of COVID). It delivered me - no postage required - to my first and only trip to Paris, circa April 2019. I fell in love all over again - with Paris, with the intrinsic beauty of a hand-written letter, and with MacLeod's artful rendering of her experiences, which feel both universal and authentically personal.

But first, I need to explain the unique format (genre?) of this book. At its core, Dear Paris is perhaps best categorized as epistolary, illustrated travelogue pulled together as a 'best of' MacLeod's deocrative letters that first gained her a broader audience. The book is a compilation of 140 of these letters that span from 2012-2020. The book is formatted (assuming no change from the advanced reading copy to the point at which it is published) as first a page with a type-written letter, enhanced with quotes that range from literary to pop culture inspired, then the following page is a colorful copy of the original letter, which was hand-painted and hand-written by the author. The following page moves on to the next letter, etc. While the author's handwriting is very legible, having the typed pages makes it easier to read the contents of each letter before turning the page for the more visual experience.

I read the entire book in about two days, not because I intended to, but because every time I said, okay just one more letter, I realized I had already turned the page to the next one, and I had to find out what it said. Just as personal mail delivered to our physical mailboxes can be such a treat, reading each of these letters was similarly alluring and addictive.

MacLeod’s voice through the letters reflected someone in awe of her new surroundings and looking to explore them to their fullest. As a fellow North American, I find myself similarly enchanted by the history of buildings that date back so far. I found several of MacLeod’s letters echoing thoughts that I had in Paris as I reflected on the history and on its long-dead residents of note. Her sense of wonder was refreshing while maintaining a sardonic, self-aware element that prevented the musings from treading on saccharine territory. At one point, she shared that her husband (Polish-born), in response to her waxing poetic about the beautiful old cities of Europe, reacted as a person born of the middle-class, who knew that there was much more to the cities than tourist-level beauty, and what followed was her exploration of what she saw when she looked for tell-tale signs of city life. Paris’ economic troubles and the yellow vest protests, which were in full swing during my own visit, are covered as well.

But mostly, this charming book reflects the grandeur of the day-to-day of Paris life: of the city’s cultural traditions, of a pursuit for the best baguette, of secrets of macarons. Speaking of which, I never had a macaron when I was in Paris, and after seeing the beautiful paintings of them in this book, I feel that that alone is reason to return. Raison d'être, perhaps, as the French would say.