What do you think?
Rate this book
Le Divorce
Diane Johnson, two-time finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, a noted observer of our times, has written a sparkling contemporary novel on Americans abroad that is hilariously insightful.
When California girl Isabel Walker, film school dropout, comes to visit her stepsister Roxy in Paris, she arrives on the day that Roxy's French husband, Charles-Henri de Persand, has left her for another woman. Roxy is distraught and pregnant. Charles-Henri's powerful and prestigious French family is counseling patience and acceptance, Isabel is soon caught up in the romantic intrigue: and Roxy's parents are just as soon on their way to France to lend their daughter support. Add to all of this a contretemps over a painting belonging to the Walkers but given by Roxy as a wedding gift to her husband, which turns out to be extremely valuable. It is, as the French say, a situation.
It is also the basis for a comedy of manners that looks with delicious wit at cultures and carnal desires in collision; at the absurd way in which love can lead us toward grand tragedy or, at least, toward jealous crimes of the heart. Le Divorceis a literary French treat, served with exquisite prose, superb plotting and much fun.
Audio CD
First published April 30, 1996
140 people are currently reading
2309 people want to read
About the author
Diane Johnson
129 books186 followersDiane Johnson is an American novelist and essayist whose satirical novels often feature American heroines living in contemporary France. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Persian Nights in 1988.
In addition to her literary works, she is also known for writing the screenplay of the 1980 film The Shining together with its director and producer Stanley Kubrick.
In addition to her literary works, she is also known for writing the screenplay of the 1980 film The Shining together with its director and producer Stanley Kubrick.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 442 reviews
January 2, 2021
The amount of negative reviews for this book, which is perfect, has both enraged me and confirmed my suspicion that Goodreads Don't Know Shit.
November 9, 2017
Oo la-la. Silly Americans in an even sillier Old World. France is still the place where you can pretend that you are better than everyone else on the planet! And here I thought Argentinians on vacay where a pain in the ass. Manners & style are evidently as relevant today as ever.
September 2, 2008
One thing Le Divorce is definitely not: chick lit. There are abundant moments of spot-on satire and genuine poignance in this novel about American step-sisters Roxeanne and Isabel Walker adrift in Paris during the divorce of the former from her estranged French husband, Charles-Henri, who has himself fallen in love with a Yugoslavian woman. Le Divorce itself is set during the run-up to the Yugoslav civil wars of the 1990s, and a minor character is a local pundit actively engaged in criticizing France's role in the dispute.
Most of what engages in Le Divorce is in the Walker sisters' complicated and shifting relationship with Roxeanne's lively and sophisticated family of French in-laws, the Persands. The Persands' intimidating bourgeois perfection—the right clothes, the right cheeses, the right opinions—masks a cold and clannish condescension towards the non-French and especially the American. There is a substantial subplot regarding the fate, in the divorce, of a painting Roxeanne brought to Paris as a wedding gift to her husband, now believed to be a genuine De La Tour and of considerable value.
Roxeanne continues to love her adopted family and country blindly, even despite the alarming developments in the second act of the book, even as it is clear that her marriage with Charles-Henri has come to an end.
Le Divorce is a far from perfect novel. It is told in first-person from the view of the younger sister, Isabel, who learns of much of the drama second-hand because she is American and does not learn French until the end. I kept waiting for all the events of the second act of the book, some of them very exciting, to finally arouse Isabel from her southern California-bred apathy and make her feel something strongly for an extended period of time—sisterly indignation, crass gloating, even patriotism—but this never happens. Isabel never quite has the heart to make the case for herself—and by extension Americans—as someone to root for, and she portrays her sister as lovely but a little dim. Consequently, as I assume most divorcees feel, at the end I was not quite sure what it all had meant, but I was glad that it was over.
Most of what engages in Le Divorce is in the Walker sisters' complicated and shifting relationship with Roxeanne's lively and sophisticated family of French in-laws, the Persands. The Persands' intimidating bourgeois perfection—the right clothes, the right cheeses, the right opinions—masks a cold and clannish condescension towards the non-French and especially the American. There is a substantial subplot regarding the fate, in the divorce, of a painting Roxeanne brought to Paris as a wedding gift to her husband, now believed to be a genuine De La Tour and of considerable value.
Roxeanne continues to love her adopted family and country blindly, even despite the alarming developments in the second act of the book, even as it is clear that her marriage with Charles-Henri has come to an end.
Le Divorce is a far from perfect novel. It is told in first-person from the view of the younger sister, Isabel, who learns of much of the drama second-hand because she is American and does not learn French until the end. I kept waiting for all the events of the second act of the book, some of them very exciting, to finally arouse Isabel from her southern California-bred apathy and make her feel something strongly for an extended period of time—sisterly indignation, crass gloating, even patriotism—but this never happens. Isabel never quite has the heart to make the case for herself—and by extension Americans—as someone to root for, and she portrays her sister as lovely but a little dim. Consequently, as I assume most divorcees feel, at the end I was not quite sure what it all had meant, but I was glad that it was over.
October 25, 2011
Qualifications
I haven't seen the film of this book, and now I don't know whether I want to. It depends on what aspect of the novel it relates to best.
Diane Johnson is actually a serious writer, rather than a popular fiction or chick-lit author (as Stephanie points out in her review).
Off to a Good Start
The first half is pretty serious, setting up the characters, giving you a feel for Paris. In that sense, it's like a sophisticated travel guide.
Creeping Scepticism
But for much of the time, you have started to ask the question: she's got everything lined up, when is she going to get on with it?
Well, she does, in her time, but unfortunately I felt that was when the wheels started to fall off.
Author, What Were You Drinking?
Instead of remaining within a fairly realistic narrative, everything went very melodramatic.
I had started to find these characters quite believable, then they started to do stupid, farcical things to each other.
Not as a result of normal personal and family stresses, more like someone had spiked everybody's drinks and it had now become one long strange trip.
It's not as if these characters are Deadheads, they're normal people.
Don't Do Me Like That
I think they were good enough characters to deserve a little more respect from their creator.
They must have been really pissed when she revealed what she had in store for them.
I hope this was just a lapse of taste, because I have already bought some of the other books in the series.
I haven't seen the film of this book, and now I don't know whether I want to. It depends on what aspect of the novel it relates to best.
Diane Johnson is actually a serious writer, rather than a popular fiction or chick-lit author (as Stephanie points out in her review).
Off to a Good Start
The first half is pretty serious, setting up the characters, giving you a feel for Paris. In that sense, it's like a sophisticated travel guide.
Creeping Scepticism
But for much of the time, you have started to ask the question: she's got everything lined up, when is she going to get on with it?
Well, she does, in her time, but unfortunately I felt that was when the wheels started to fall off.
Author, What Were You Drinking?
Instead of remaining within a fairly realistic narrative, everything went very melodramatic.
I had started to find these characters quite believable, then they started to do stupid, farcical things to each other.
Not as a result of normal personal and family stresses, more like someone had spiked everybody's drinks and it had now become one long strange trip.
It's not as if these characters are Deadheads, they're normal people.
Don't Do Me Like That
I think they were good enough characters to deserve a little more respect from their creator.
They must have been really pissed when she revealed what she had in store for them.
I hope this was just a lapse of taste, because I have already bought some of the other books in the series.
March 14, 2007
Le Dissapointment
January 12, 2011
This book is rich in generalized but witty observations about French culture from an American perspective. I picked up the book because I had heard could learn from Johnson's treatment of the French, and I did enjoy it in some respects. Ultimately, though, the narrative is superficial, as are all the characters, and while I had plenty of laughs while reading this, I experienced little intellectual stimulation or fulfillment and outright frustration and disgust at the over-the-top final conclusion.
The entire premise of the book seems to be a binary analysis - a compare/contrast exercise (in America we do this. In France they do that). Unfortunately, there were several problems along the way. One is that to Isabel Walker, the narrator, "America" seems to equate to "Santa Barbara," which is where she's from. As I'm from New York, many of the American observations didn't "ring true" to me. Another is that while the novel has a far reach in terms of subject matter and content, it is all skimmed along the surface, nothing is penetrated in any kind of depth. The story is fast-moving, which pulls you along, but when you put the book down, you realize how little has actually happened. Isabel's insecurities, desires, and ability to exasperate and frustrate her family are all referenced but not set up, foreshadowed, realized or even fully explored. There are completely unnecessary characters who are introduced and not followed up on, until they're needed and dropped back on the page for unnecessary plot twists. The recurring discussion of the Bosnian War, intended to illustrate Isabel's new "life of the mind" while living in France, is superficial and chatty.
There are unfinished and unrealized spots throughout the book: for instance, why does Gennie, the 3-year-old, never act out or assert herself in the entire 300 pages, despite the stress and distress of her mother and aunt? She simply goes to the creche and comes back and every once in a while holds someone's hand. This book very nearly but not completely evokes the world of its imagining.While some aspects of Isabel's affair with an older man are sensitively handled, the family drama of both her family and her sister's in-laws successfully portrayed as reducing each character to a contextualized puppet, and the literary tradition of American women corrupted by European men effectively utilized, the over-the-top plot twists at the end ruined any previous enjoyment of the book I had experienced. Here are the worst aspects of the book exponentially increased.
This could have been a sensitive book about a family experiencing a divorce and the complications international marriages bring to divorce proceedings, but instead, in the last scenes, it turns into a pseudo-thriller with unbelievable events written rather poorly. I felt shoddy craftmanship coming into play here - while the book was lurching along, making up for in some spots what it lacked in others, by the end, the skill to finish strong seemed to be lacking, and cheap tricks were used instead.
The entire premise of the book seems to be a binary analysis - a compare/contrast exercise (in America we do this. In France they do that). Unfortunately, there were several problems along the way. One is that to Isabel Walker, the narrator, "America" seems to equate to "Santa Barbara," which is where she's from. As I'm from New York, many of the American observations didn't "ring true" to me. Another is that while the novel has a far reach in terms of subject matter and content, it is all skimmed along the surface, nothing is penetrated in any kind of depth. The story is fast-moving, which pulls you along, but when you put the book down, you realize how little has actually happened. Isabel's insecurities, desires, and ability to exasperate and frustrate her family are all referenced but not set up, foreshadowed, realized or even fully explored. There are completely unnecessary characters who are introduced and not followed up on, until they're needed and dropped back on the page for unnecessary plot twists. The recurring discussion of the Bosnian War, intended to illustrate Isabel's new "life of the mind" while living in France, is superficial and chatty.
There are unfinished and unrealized spots throughout the book: for instance, why does Gennie, the 3-year-old, never act out or assert herself in the entire 300 pages, despite the stress and distress of her mother and aunt? She simply goes to the creche and comes back and every once in a while holds someone's hand. This book very nearly but not completely evokes the world of its imagining.While some aspects of Isabel's affair with an older man are sensitively handled, the family drama of both her family and her sister's in-laws successfully portrayed as reducing each character to a contextualized puppet, and the literary tradition of American women corrupted by European men effectively utilized, the over-the-top plot twists at the end ruined any previous enjoyment of the book I had experienced. Here are the worst aspects of the book exponentially increased.
This could have been a sensitive book about a family experiencing a divorce and the complications international marriages bring to divorce proceedings, but instead, in the last scenes, it turns into a pseudo-thriller with unbelievable events written rather poorly. I felt shoddy craftmanship coming into play here - while the book was lurching along, making up for in some spots what it lacked in others, by the end, the skill to finish strong seemed to be lacking, and cheap tricks were used instead.
February 1, 2008
In Francine Prose's book called Reading Like a Writer, Diane Johnson was praised for her astute narrative powers. So I took note, put this book on my TBR list, and months later found it at the library. I admit that when I saw the two blond babes on the paperback cover, I was less inclined to read it. But I took the plunge, and wow, am I glad I did.
I am so impressed by the display of cultural assumptions and expectations, around a simple plot: Isabel Walker goes from college film student with no prospects to stay with her pregnant step-sister Roxanne in Paris, whose husband, Charles-Henri has just left for another woman. There are plot twists, but the French and American cultural differences and similarities are the best part of this book. This is the first Diane Johnson I have read, but I will definitely read her again.
It just goes to show that old saw about not telling a book by its cover.
I am so impressed by the display of cultural assumptions and expectations, around a simple plot: Isabel Walker goes from college film student with no prospects to stay with her pregnant step-sister Roxanne in Paris, whose husband, Charles-Henri has just left for another woman. There are plot twists, but the French and American cultural differences and similarities are the best part of this book. This is the first Diane Johnson I have read, but I will definitely read her again.
It just goes to show that old saw about not telling a book by its cover.
July 25, 2015
My thoughts are mixed. At times I liked it. I thought it reasonably well written. I enjoyed reading about Paris and the two sisters and all that came with that. However, at times I struggled. It seemed to lack a real plot. It read more like someone's diary. I kept waiting for it to go somewhere and it really never did.
It was described as chick lit but it was much too sad and foreboding for that description. Some of the topics that were touched on are rarely discussed in chick lit, which I have to say I liked because it challenged my thinking more than I expected it to. The ending came out of nowhere and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. I have no idea why the author took the book in that direction but it didn't seem to work in my opinion.
I saw the movie after reading the book. I felt the same about it as I did the book.
It was described as chick lit but it was much too sad and foreboding for that description. Some of the topics that were touched on are rarely discussed in chick lit, which I have to say I liked because it challenged my thinking more than I expected it to. The ending came out of nowhere and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. I have no idea why the author took the book in that direction but it didn't seem to work in my opinion.
I saw the movie after reading the book. I felt the same about it as I did the book.
Read
May 8, 2008I found the narrator's chattiness incredibly irritating, "chick lit meets travel writing" poorly disguised as a comedy of manners. Despite all its reminders to the reader of its literary ambitions, the effort does not succeed and comes off as pretentious and overly ambitious instead. Perhaps I'd think differently of this book were I 16 and not 26, but as it is, I dared to open its pages after social and literary maturity struck.
April 2, 2025
DNF'd @ p. 52
I tried with Le Divorce by Diane Johnson, but I quickly realized that I just wasn't interested in sitting through all 309 pages of this book.
I tried with Le Divorce by Diane Johnson, but I quickly realized that I just wasn't interested in sitting through all 309 pages of this book.
February 8, 2020
At first impression this book fascinated me, as the narrator's experience of Paris overlaps broadly with my own. It's the small details and the spark of recognition they ignite - for instance, there's nothing like listening to a French person speak your own (American) language with, to be sure, a French accent, but add to that the disorienting British filter that they picked up when they were learning English. (Which language *is* this?) Cheers to the author for making those essential trivialities hit home.
As I got deeper into Le Divorce, though, I started to notice that the narrator and I had drawn very different conclusions from the same city. One often hears the French stereotyped as snobs, and the book seems to agree - in fact, the narrator seems to enjoy applying stereotypes to people, and to her credit, she does it in a juicy way. In my own experience I came away with a different feeling. The French I met weren't snobs; they just lived by a different set of cultural rules. Let's not forget, it's the visitor's job to understand.
Then I realized that while the French characters in Le Divorce have their faults - big ones - the narrator is the one who's being snobbish. Her vague disdain tricks you for a while. You think it's coming from what you're looking at; then you realize it's actually in the lens you're looking through. Isabel lumps people into groups, is put off by the French, gets annoyed by her sister, and maintains a habit of looking down on herself. It's subtle, but it pervades the book.
A few other critiques: contradictions are frequent. "Roxy loves going to flea markets." Two pages later: "Roxy despises flea markets." Is it one or the other, Isabel, or both? I must add that the narrative takes every opportunity to muse off on detours with the aimlessness of daily living. When Carl was lending me the book, he said, "It's kind of just... life." It follows the same circles of interest and non-interest that characterize the mundane. Some things build the story, others don't. I won't fault it for that - being too real - still, the story could have hung together better. And while it's an interesting concept, I'm getting sick of hearing about "the mysterious toxins of pregnancy."
Nevertheless, Le Divorce is an interesting read. I was happy to plug on through to the end, and I couldn't put it down at the climax. It would have been nice to have seen an answer to the question we started with: What is Isabel going to do with her life? I left our heroine feeling that she's a step or two closer to knowing who she wants to be; that's about all we get. She'll probably keep living abroad, growing into the person she's started to become in France, defining herself. Probably without the monsieur.
Final impression? I still can't explain why we needed to ponder the ethics of foie gras and the feeding of geese in the *last paragraph,* right in the middle of all those poignant questions we were being left with. Not sure how that helps to tie everything together. Not sure I'm supposed to ask.
As I got deeper into Le Divorce, though, I started to notice that the narrator and I had drawn very different conclusions from the same city. One often hears the French stereotyped as snobs, and the book seems to agree - in fact, the narrator seems to enjoy applying stereotypes to people, and to her credit, she does it in a juicy way. In my own experience I came away with a different feeling. The French I met weren't snobs; they just lived by a different set of cultural rules. Let's not forget, it's the visitor's job to understand.
Then I realized that while the French characters in Le Divorce have their faults - big ones - the narrator is the one who's being snobbish. Her vague disdain tricks you for a while. You think it's coming from what you're looking at; then you realize it's actually in the lens you're looking through. Isabel lumps people into groups, is put off by the French, gets annoyed by her sister, and maintains a habit of looking down on herself. It's subtle, but it pervades the book.
A few other critiques: contradictions are frequent. "Roxy loves going to flea markets." Two pages later: "Roxy despises flea markets." Is it one or the other, Isabel, or both? I must add that the narrative takes every opportunity to muse off on detours with the aimlessness of daily living. When Carl was lending me the book, he said, "It's kind of just... life." It follows the same circles of interest and non-interest that characterize the mundane. Some things build the story, others don't. I won't fault it for that - being too real - still, the story could have hung together better. And while it's an interesting concept, I'm getting sick of hearing about "the mysterious toxins of pregnancy."
Nevertheless, Le Divorce is an interesting read. I was happy to plug on through to the end, and I couldn't put it down at the climax. It would have been nice to have seen an answer to the question we started with: What is Isabel going to do with her life? I left our heroine feeling that she's a step or two closer to knowing who she wants to be; that's about all we get. She'll probably keep living abroad, growing into the person she's started to become in France, defining herself. Probably without the monsieur.
Final impression? I still can't explain why we needed to ponder the ethics of foie gras and the feeding of geese in the *last paragraph,* right in the middle of all those poignant questions we were being left with. Not sure how that helps to tie everything together. Not sure I'm supposed to ask.
February 1, 2009
Given the art on the cover of this book, and that it was made into a movie staring Kate Hudson, I always assumed this book was chick-lit. Then I discovered that the author has been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize and I thought I better take a closer look. The reality is that this falls somewhere in the middle of mindless relationship nonsense and worthwhile literature. It is certainly better written than most chick-lit, and the dialogue between the characters is believable. The book features an American, Isabel, who travels to France to be with her pregnant step-sister Roxanne. Roxanne has recently been dumped by her Parisian husband for a a Yugoslavian mistress. In the middle of the divorce is a painting whose ownership comes in to question. There is a great deal of focus on the differences among Americans, Parisians, and the British. The book started out promising - I figured it would be a lot about the marriage and being an ex pat in Paris, but after about 150 pages, I completely lost interest. I found the characters boring despite the potential for complex inter-relationships, and the plot twists became too unbelievable in a way that I did not find satirical or humorous. I am surprised that this book won a National Book Award, and feel like I need to read more reviews on-line to find out the secret meaning I clearly missed.
March 17, 2018
Read this because it was on a "must read" list in a book by Francine Prose. I liked the premise - a younger sister going to Paris to help out her pregnant older sister as well as to find some meaning in her life. At first it was quite enjoyable - a bit of light yet intelligent reading- but the tone changed dramatically to the point where it became depressing. Then it changed again and again and after awhile I didn't much care about any character. Or the melodramatic storyline either
August 15, 2007
I kept waiting for this book to go somewhere and when it finally did, the story just fell apart. The last third did not hold together well and seemed hastily tacked on in order to wrap up the novel. It's a quick read, but there are better ones out there.
April 29, 2018
I found this book to be pretentious and shallow. Parts of it were beautifully written, but the plot meandered all over the place and nothing was resolved at the end. All the characters were selfish and unlikable and their motivations were not clear to me.
September 30, 2007
This book completely lacked character depth and was completely plot driven. Johnson gave herself a wonderful opportunity to explore the cultural differences between Americans and Frenchmen, but totally missed the mark by creating too many characters with too many questionable plot lines. She assumes the reader understands French (which not everyone does), and her passages in French are not always accompanied by contextual clues as to the meaning.
Finally, her character is visiting France, having grown up in Santa Barbara, California. Johnson could have at least looked at a map of Santa Barbara to get some street names correct. Her descriptions of Santa Barbara are not accurate, and these inaccuracies destroy the credibility of not only her story, but her painfully shallow main character, Isabel.
What a shame! Santa Barbara and Paris are two of the most beautiful cities in the world, with great potential for sights and smells and tastes to leap from the pages into the reader's mind. Instead, Johnson chose to create a shallow, trite story lacking depth, compassion, and credibility.
Finally, her character is visiting France, having grown up in Santa Barbara, California. Johnson could have at least looked at a map of Santa Barbara to get some street names correct. Her descriptions of Santa Barbara are not accurate, and these inaccuracies destroy the credibility of not only her story, but her painfully shallow main character, Isabel.
What a shame! Santa Barbara and Paris are two of the most beautiful cities in the world, with great potential for sights and smells and tastes to leap from the pages into the reader's mind. Instead, Johnson chose to create a shallow, trite story lacking depth, compassion, and credibility.
June 14, 2010
I read the whole book, but honestly, I don't really see this as much of a story. It's definitely lacking intrigue, and the questions I developed as a reader were never answered anyway. I'm not sure if some parts, like Isabel taking photos and noticing them at a stall in the flea market, were supposed to be foreshadowing or not because while there seems to have been a burglary ring, no one really is ever sure who's been involved. I can't even ruin the ending becuase I feel there isn't an ending by the last page of the book.
While I didn't really care too much about the characters, I have no idea where they are headed. Will Roxy remain in France? Who knows?! Will Isabel return to California? She doesn't even know. We're told the rest of the family goes back to the United States, but we don't even get a picture of that.
This book doesn't seem to be about relationships because there's no real insight into anyone and even less into any bonds they might have with one another.
It ends up being frustrating instead of entertaining, whether comically or through suspense or action.
While I didn't really care too much about the characters, I have no idea where they are headed. Will Roxy remain in France? Who knows?! Will Isabel return to California? She doesn't even know. We're told the rest of the family goes back to the United States, but we don't even get a picture of that.
This book doesn't seem to be about relationships because there's no real insight into anyone and even less into any bonds they might have with one another.
It ends up being frustrating instead of entertaining, whether comically or through suspense or action.
November 11, 2007
Sensational! I thought I was picking up a quick vacation read. Who knew that Diane Johnson has been nominated for both a Pulitzer and the National Book Award? What a writer! Divorce is not really the topic here, it's just the vehicle that pulls you through hilarious observations on cultural differences --- this is perfect for anyone who is a world traveler. BIG BONUS. I got to read it during several bathtub sessions while Jack and I were staying in a Paris apartment on the rue de Cherche-Midi.
August 24, 2007
Do not judge this book by its cover. The movie was terrible, the book is fantastic. It's very astute, well-formed, and has a GRE level vocabulary (I had to start a notebook of new words). Diane Johnson's turns of phrase made me swoon.
July 3, 2007
I don't remember a lot from this book except a narrow staircase to an apartment. p.s. in real life Le'divorce Le'sucks!!!!
September 27, 2017
This story takes place in Paris,the eternal city so they say. It's a story of a comedy of manners and morals,throw in a bad marriage,money and murder,all of the elements of a good story.
Isabel Walker lands in Paris,city of amusements and pleasures,where four fifths of the inhabitants are dying of unhappiness,she has come to visit her stepsister,Roxe, who is married to an aristocratic French painter who has assured her of a place in Parisian society,however by the time of Isabel's arrival,the husband has left her for the wife of another man even though they have an eight year old daughter,what a time for " Le Divorce".
While Isabel finds herself seduced by gourmet food,antiques and an older man,while Her sisters marriage disintegrates into arguments over money and a family painting.
Will Isabel keep her perspective and her love life intact as cultures and passions collide?
I should mention that toward the ending of the story many of the characters find themselves in EuroDisney and I wondered what " Voltaire" would have thought of "EuroDisney"
If we do not find anything pleasant,at least we shall find something new.
~~~~~~~~~~Voltaire~~~~~~~~~
Isabel Walker lands in Paris,city of amusements and pleasures,where four fifths of the inhabitants are dying of unhappiness,she has come to visit her stepsister,Roxe, who is married to an aristocratic French painter who has assured her of a place in Parisian society,however by the time of Isabel's arrival,the husband has left her for the wife of another man even though they have an eight year old daughter,what a time for " Le Divorce".
While Isabel finds herself seduced by gourmet food,antiques and an older man,while Her sisters marriage disintegrates into arguments over money and a family painting.
Will Isabel keep her perspective and her love life intact as cultures and passions collide?
I should mention that toward the ending of the story many of the characters find themselves in EuroDisney and I wondered what " Voltaire" would have thought of "EuroDisney"
If we do not find anything pleasant,at least we shall find something new.
~~~~~~~~~~Voltaire~~~~~~~~~
June 16, 2025
I came across this book because James Ivory, who adapted Call Me By Your Name for the screen, which I'm also reading right now, wrote and directed this movie, too. It unlocked the memory of watching it on TV when I was young, thinking: a rom-com starring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts? That's exactly in my Q Zone. It came out the same year as How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days and also featured a bit part by Bebe Neuwirth. And then I was absolutely scandalized to learn that it also includes darker elements such as, well, divorce, but also suicide, kidnapping, murder, war, and probably also of course, infidelity. I love it when books that have no rules and are maybe marketed as "chick lit" get made into movies that are supposed to abide by chick flick rules. I also love the narration by Suzanne Torren, which I don't always.
This book serves best as a study in cultural differences between California and France in the '90s; but it also has insights into sisterhood, romance, work, things like that. I didn't think it was quite as entertaining as it could have been, but it was a nice, quick listen.
This book serves best as a study in cultural differences between California and France in the '90s; but it also has insights into sisterhood, romance, work, things like that. I didn't think it was quite as entertaining as it could have been, but it was a nice, quick listen.
September 16, 2022
2.5. skończyłam. Było kilka rzeczy ktore mnie zainteresowaly ale w sumie to w ogóle się nie zaangazowalam.(chcialam wiecej romansu z hot, 70letnim wujem, a wuj jak juz sie pojawil raz na ruski rok był irytujacy i mysoginistic).
August 4, 2024
This book was very strange. It was so boring until it wasn’t and then had very random, serious, sudden events that tried to bring the plot back to life. I did not really enjoy this book.
August 31, 2022
Good on the pros and cons of living abroad.
Read
December 30, 2015Le Divorce by Diane Johnson
Novel
1998
A Plume book Published by The Penguin Group
Ugh
Ok, Let me start by saying that I LOVE chicklit...that easy to read beach bag "garbage TV" type of read at times and this is exactly what I expected going in. But can I also say that I wonder what generation this woman lives in? This utterly racist bitch?
Through out the book this chick is "afraid of black people" because the "ones they know in California" rob and rape and kill...and oh dear lord should she meet a black person that's not like that in civilized fucking France!
If the girl had been raised in Compton...maybe so (and even I've spent plenty of time working in realestate in Compton with not a single issue.) But she was raised in an area of California and went to a college where this isn't the case. She likely never saw a "thug" in her life. Herextent of African-American people is fully obviously from bad movies. Now I can see having put in this racial tension rather than leaving it out as it was completely useless to the story BUT...it could have been done in a much more real life way. As I know at her film school she knew at least one geeky black kid which should have been her basis of black people altogether. And likely wore a frickin argyle sweater. Santa Barbara is made to sound heathenish altogether through-out the book from the "blacks" to the comparison of the in-law's in France. Then on top of the majorly politically incorrect (for which I don't give a damned about, just do it right) is several mentions of the "retarded boy" out of the blue for no good reason of the story as well...why? What did that do to boost your story? And no actual description, he just sits there doing nothing...there isn't a scene of watching the young boy chasing pigeons who runs up to her, trying to share with her the bread crumbs he'd been feeding to the pigeons and then when seeing his face realizes he's...his mother called him away, apologizing as mum's do for him bothering her."
There are many spots in the book that have me want to reel the author in on real life and ...today's century. She uses phrases like "string them together so that they fizz" from the girl who isn't into poetry at all at the time so she simply wouldn't do much but look down at her sisters poetry as a joke but certainly wouldn't speak of her sisters poetry the way she does "you wouldn't have thought her thoughts would be odd and complicated." Right there are about too many things wrong with that line to even begin with. I suggest a good read of Stephen King's On Writing for dialog.
The dialog falls flat...so flat...this twenty something year old educated (even if dropped out) raised upper middle class woman speaks like a sulky goth fuck the world fourteen year old. But an older man sleeps with her and enjoys her company and intellectual conversation? Pfft. There are so many times while reading that I wanted to throttle the author because she obviously doesn't breath the oxygen she's given freely in life. And sex is "making it"? really? Really?!
Then to write French without an English translate (See An Italian Affair, well done) just had me not getting half the book (ok, well, I understood it but many would not).
The job of narrating is done horribly...you can do this narrating through out an entire book however do it right...reel me into the story not just a simple flat falling step by step "then they did this then they did that, then the end." Then mixing completely flat narrating with valley girl talk mixed with the odd overly floral speech leaves me punching my pillow. It was like she was reading a Jane Austin novel during the writing but sitting next to a valley girl air head on the bus and then top it off with the woman having zero personality herself because not a damned drop of it bled into these pages.
What I did love were the quotes that opened each chapter, by Pascal, Hugo and Adolphe among others.
Novel
1998
A Plume book Published by The Penguin Group
Ugh
Ok, Let me start by saying that I LOVE chicklit...that easy to read beach bag "garbage TV" type of read at times and this is exactly what I expected going in. But can I also say that I wonder what generation this woman lives in? This utterly racist bitch?
Through out the book this chick is "afraid of black people" because the "ones they know in California" rob and rape and kill...and oh dear lord should she meet a black person that's not like that in civilized fucking France!
If the girl had been raised in Compton...maybe so (and even I've spent plenty of time working in realestate in Compton with not a single issue.) But she was raised in an area of California and went to a college where this isn't the case. She likely never saw a "thug" in her life. Herextent of African-American people is fully obviously from bad movies. Now I can see having put in this racial tension rather than leaving it out as it was completely useless to the story BUT...it could have been done in a much more real life way. As I know at her film school she knew at least one geeky black kid which should have been her basis of black people altogether. And likely wore a frickin argyle sweater. Santa Barbara is made to sound heathenish altogether through-out the book from the "blacks" to the comparison of the in-law's in France. Then on top of the majorly politically incorrect (for which I don't give a damned about, just do it right) is several mentions of the "retarded boy" out of the blue for no good reason of the story as well...why? What did that do to boost your story? And no actual description, he just sits there doing nothing...there isn't a scene of watching the young boy chasing pigeons who runs up to her, trying to share with her the bread crumbs he'd been feeding to the pigeons and then when seeing his face realizes he's...his mother called him away, apologizing as mum's do for him bothering her."
There are many spots in the book that have me want to reel the author in on real life and ...today's century. She uses phrases like "string them together so that they fizz" from the girl who isn't into poetry at all at the time so she simply wouldn't do much but look down at her sisters poetry as a joke but certainly wouldn't speak of her sisters poetry the way she does "you wouldn't have thought her thoughts would be odd and complicated." Right there are about too many things wrong with that line to even begin with. I suggest a good read of Stephen King's On Writing for dialog.
The dialog falls flat...so flat...this twenty something year old educated (even if dropped out) raised upper middle class woman speaks like a sulky goth fuck the world fourteen year old. But an older man sleeps with her and enjoys her company and intellectual conversation? Pfft. There are so many times while reading that I wanted to throttle the author because she obviously doesn't breath the oxygen she's given freely in life. And sex is "making it"? really? Really?!
Then to write French without an English translate (See An Italian Affair, well done) just had me not getting half the book (ok, well, I understood it but many would not).
The job of narrating is done horribly...you can do this narrating through out an entire book however do it right...reel me into the story not just a simple flat falling step by step "then they did this then they did that, then the end." Then mixing completely flat narrating with valley girl talk mixed with the odd overly floral speech leaves me punching my pillow. It was like she was reading a Jane Austin novel during the writing but sitting next to a valley girl air head on the bus and then top it off with the woman having zero personality herself because not a damned drop of it bled into these pages.
What I did love were the quotes that opened each chapter, by Pascal, Hugo and Adolphe among others.
October 19, 2014
Le Divorce is interesting in that the cover (the cover shown here is not the one I had) looks like the book would be Chick Lit. It's not, though, which makes it interesting when you look up reviews. While it's good literature, those who may have picked it up for the cover may not have especially enjoyed it.
I found it to be refreshing. It covered quite a few different themes, such as navigating a divorce in France, the property rights of a painting, reasons for marriage and divorce, attraction to power, femininity and the battle of the sexes.
One of the quotes I especially liked was, "We wrongly tend to think old people depend on us."
When you're young, you assume the world revolves around you and other young people. As you grow older, you realize everything is actually quite the opposite and older people just let youth believe everything is all about them, so they can get on living.
So... about the book.
Isabel moves to Paris to help her sister Roxy during her pregnancy, since she just quit film school. Just before Isabel shows up, Roxy's husband leaves her and her daughter.
Roxy is distraught and fine with letting people believe he is just away on a trip, but as things move on, people begin to learn the truth and Roxy dives further and further into depression.
When Isabel arrives in Paris, she does not understand what it is about the French that Roxy loves so much, but the longer she is there, the more it grows on her, especially the food. When Isabel finds herself being drawn to a powerful older man, she contemplates what it means to be a mistress and eventually learns first hand.
This novel not only shows some of the differences between Americans and the French through an interesting storyline, but also explores how greed can work its way into the hearts of those that didn't think they were interested in money just by the mere possibility of it.
I found it to be refreshing. It covered quite a few different themes, such as navigating a divorce in France, the property rights of a painting, reasons for marriage and divorce, attraction to power, femininity and the battle of the sexes.
One of the quotes I especially liked was, "We wrongly tend to think old people depend on us."
When you're young, you assume the world revolves around you and other young people. As you grow older, you realize everything is actually quite the opposite and older people just let youth believe everything is all about them, so they can get on living.
So... about the book.
Isabel moves to Paris to help her sister Roxy during her pregnancy, since she just quit film school. Just before Isabel shows up, Roxy's husband leaves her and her daughter.
Roxy is distraught and fine with letting people believe he is just away on a trip, but as things move on, people begin to learn the truth and Roxy dives further and further into depression.
When Isabel arrives in Paris, she does not understand what it is about the French that Roxy loves so much, but the longer she is there, the more it grows on her, especially the food. When Isabel finds herself being drawn to a powerful older man, she contemplates what it means to be a mistress and eventually learns first hand.
This novel not only shows some of the differences between Americans and the French through an interesting storyline, but also explores how greed can work its way into the hearts of those that didn't think they were interested in money just by the mere possibility of it.
March 30, 2007
This was a fun and light book on the surface; but it did explore the the cultural interplay and interactions between the Parisian/French, Americans, & Brits. There is a lot of thought put in to each of these groups impressions, thoughts, and habits when dealing with each other on money, divorce, art, food, sex, and family. The heroin is a smart girl who seizes an opportunity to grow beyond others expectation for her. Plus, it just has a nice bunch of sex, food, wine, murder, pregnancy, & suicide in it.
August 2, 2008
A fun book, with a dark side, though. Johnson takes Paris and has some fun with the town's romantic side, but also its gritty side as well. A sister (Isabel) heads to Paris to rescue her stepsister who's husband has left her. Isabel becomes entranced with Paris (she's from California) and even becomes a "kept" woman by an older, semi-seedy Parisian man. The early stages of Chick Lit...but with more meat on the characters and the story as well. And having it set in Paris doesn't hurt none!
September 23, 2015
I loved this book. I was apprehensive about it at first because it looked like chick lit (for want of a better term) and it seemed to be about very rich and privileged people, but the author is a master prose stylist, and the book is a deep meditation on nationality and Americanness.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 442 reviews