The Paper Palace
A Novel
By Miranda Cowley Heller
Riverhead Books
An Imprint of Penguin Random House L.L.C.
New York
2021
386 pages
ISBN 976-0-593-32982-5
(Hardcover)
This novel of fiction is set in Cape Cod where a family summers every year. Their cabin home is picturesque with endearing landscapes where one could become one with nature; they have nicknamed it The Paper Palace. *No spoilers will be given* *This book comes with a trigger warning* Scenes of sexual nature, rape, and incest are mentioned.
The main character Elle Bishop returns to the cabin as a 50-year-old woman and married with her own children. She narrates and relives her story as she takes us, the readers, on the long and winding path of memorable events that took place in her life as she comes to age and adulthood. The author, Heller is clever as she intertwines the two narratives of the present and the trail of “one day in the past”.
Ms. Heller weaves this story poetically and her characters are deep thus, leading the reader to enthusiastically keep turning the pages.
Elle unwinds her memoir before us, and while some readers may have felt some scenes to be overly gratuitous; I felt that perhaps it may have been truly necessary. We, readers, felt the acrid sorrow after the unwanted sexual encounters, rape, and memories of the familial abuse situation; they are layers and layers of dizzying circumstances. They are profound and horrible. Ms. Heller’s story was written to ask the reader to feel deeply with each and every choice that Elle makes; whether flawed or not.
This is a deep and emotionally driven story. Elle will even be forced to make a decision to stay with her husband or with the boy she grew up with. As adults, they all reminisce of adolescence of summers spent together, or of times when relationships were new and fumbling in an effort to really get to know the other.
The ending may keep you guessing, or wondering of the significance of the symbolism placed on the front porch of the cabin for the reader to ponder. Many things are true to this novel, the travel through trauma and life-altering tragedy, along with this author’s prolific writing leads to a drama-filled page-turner that I had a hard time putting down. The vivid writing alone garners 5***** from me and it is also the reason this was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Choice and an optioned soon-to-be miniseries on HBO.
Miranda Cowley Heller grew up in NY and is a Harvard grad. She became a book editor and ghostwriter only to finally land as a senior VP and head of a drama series on HBO currently. She oversaw and developed the likes of shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, and Big Love. This is Ms. Heller’s debut novel.
Her novel can be purchased widely where ever books are sold.
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