The Little Paris Bookshop

Swimming in the ocean every day helps Perdu manage his sorrow. One morning while he is swimming, he dozes off and dreams of Manon. He apologizes to her and then sees himself through her eyes, all the versions of himself throughout his lifetime. He wakes from his dream feeling energetic and angry. He rages, shouting as if he were shouting at Manon for not calling him to tell him that she was dying.

Over the following days and weeks, Perdu cries less often. He keeps a regular routine, working in the bookshop, swimming, and playing boule.

Perdu earns the nickname “the book epicure,” because he has started to think about books like they are food.

For the first time, Perdu calls Catherine instead of writing. He doesn’t want to leave her guessing about how he feels although he is also not yet ready to start a relationship. She tells him that being lovesick is like being in mourning, so she empathizes with what he’s going through. He plans to call again the next day.

Perdu notices that he looks different than he did when he left Paris; he’s more fit, tanner, wears more casual clothes, and has more lines on his face from laughing and from the sun. He feels more connected to his body than he has in many years. He starts to desire Catherine more actively.

Max writes to Perdu often and keeps mentioning the woman tractor driver, whom he calls Vic.

One afternoon, Perdu notices that “his inner turmoil had ceased” (318). Joyfully, he writes a letter to Catherine inviting her to come stay with him.

Perdu learns that his parents are seeing each other again after a long separation. Catherine comes to Sanary. They share their first kiss and have sex for the first time. They spend all of September in Sanary-sur-Mer before Perdu feels that he is finally ready to visit Manon’s family home in Bonnieux.

Perdu and Catherine grow close and develop a strong fondness for Sanary as their home away from home. They drive to Bonnieux, Perdu looking forward to seeing Max again. Catherine and Perdu rent another room from Brigitte and catch up with Max, who is now working for Brigitte and her husband. Max confesses that he’s in love with Victoria. Max is about to tell Perdu that Victoria is Manon’s daughter when Brigitte interrupts him. Brigitte warns that the mistral—a strong, cold wind—is coming. She tells them that it is ill-advised to talk about important things during the mistral, as it is destructive and makes people argumentative.

After dinner, Perdu asks Max what he wanted to tell him and reassures him that it will be alright in spite of the mistral. Max tells Perdu that Luc remarried a few years after Manon’s death. He also tells Perdu that Victoria is Manon’s daughter.

Perdu, Catherine, and Max go to the Basset Winery to meet Luc. When the winery comes into view, Perdu is surprised to find that he feels warmth toward Luc and his new wife. They run into Victoria first, and Perdu notices both the ways that she resembles Manon and doesn’t.

Max tells Perdu that he plans to marry Victoria although they haven’t started dating yet. Catherine leaves so that Perdu and Luc can speak privately.

Perdu thinks that Luc looks “weatherproof” (343), by which he means strong and capable. Luc knows about Perdu; Manon told him all about the other man while she was dying. Perdu says that he’s come to ask Manon’s forgiveness and confesses that he didn’t read her letter until very recently. Luc responds with empathy. He also confirms that Victoria is his daughter, not Perdu’s.

Luc shows Perdu Manon’s room and gives him Manon’s diary. Luc then punches Perdu, for not coming to see Manon before she died.

Upon hearing that Manon died on Christmas Eve, 1992, Perdu is shocked that he didn’t feel it somehow. Then, he realizes that he did feel something; he’d heard Manon’s voice saying words that didn’t fit together, “colored crayon,” “southern light,” and “raven.”

Luc invites Perdu to have dinner with his family.

This diary entry, written on December 24,1992, is Manon’s last. Manon’s mother transcribes the journal entry for her because Manon is too weak to write. She laments the fact that she won’t have more time to spend with her baby, Victoria, but is proud that Victoria is healthy and has a good life ahead of her.

Manon writes that she has asked Luc to give Perdu her journal, because she doesn’t have the strength to say everything in a goodbye letter.

From time to time, Manon’s mother adds her own words to the entry. She observes her daughter holding the baby. She notes that Manon is still waiting for “the man from Paris” (353).

Manon repeats her idea that when she dies, she will go out into the garden and become light. She finishes the entry with a phrase that she said to Perdu when they were together, “We will always remain what we were to one another” (356).

The mistral winds calm down after three days, and the weather turns warmer. Perdu takes Manon’s journal and a bottle of wine and climbs the steep hill to the cemetery to visit her grave.

Perdu doesn’t feel Manon’s presence when looking at her grave. He sits down to drink some wine and re-read a few passages from her diary. He reads the entry she wrote the night she decided to leave him. After he reads the entry, the sky fills with a beautiful, glowing sunset. Perdu has his final epiphany of the novel; he realizes that Manon is everywhere, in the memories of the people who love her.

For the second year in a row, Perdu, Max, and Catherine join Luc’s family for Christmas. Perdu’s parents also join. Max and Victoria are engaged to be married and Max has published a new book, a children’s book called The Magician in the Garden.

Perdu and Catherine buy a house in Provence, where she makes sculptures and he writes and runs a business buying and selling unique books.