Ghosts of Saint-Michel

by Jake Lamar and Alex Brown

Book Overview

Marva Dobbs has a life most people would envy. An American who has lived in Paris for most of her adult life, she runs a popular African-American soul food restaurant, and her thirty-year marriage has... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312289251
• ISBN13: 9780312289256
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Remarkable: Insightful and Compelling

This book, following Rendezvous Eighteenth, is Lamar's second novel set among the African-American, ex-pat, artistic community in Paris. Since Lamar himself is an African-American, ex-pat, writer living in Paris, it is a world he knows well, and he takes full advantage of that knowledge here. The reader is treated to an otherwise inaccessible view of Paris, for Lamar makes constant comparisons between the French and the American, comparisons that only an American native who had become a Parisian native could make, beyond those that would be accessible to even a long-term visitor to one country or the other. The "inside look" at Paris and a community within it is also the setting for a political thriller. This is Lamar's third novel in the thriller genre, and each of his efforts has exceeded its predecessor. By now he is accomplished at creating the page-turner, and this one has some political overtones that add an additional flavor to the stew. The book will linger in your mind long after you've finished compulsively flipping the pages because of its special insights into a distinct and interesting world.

multi-layered complex mystery

Afro-American Marva Dobbs has lived in France for almost four decades and doesn't plan to ever reside in America again. She has her own restaurant Marva's Soul Food Kitchen, is considered a celebrity and is married to Loic Reese for almost as long as she lived in France. They have one daughter Naima and ever since she was born, Loic and Marva have been faithful to each other. That changes when the sixty-something year old Marva has an affair with the beautiful twenty-eight year old Hassan. After a summer in Breton with Loic, Marva realizes he knows about her affair so since she deeply loves her husband, she decides to break it off with Hassan. Before she can do that she finds that he and his cousins are considered terrorists by the police who believe they bombed the WORTHEE Building which houses a liberal think tank. After getting into an auto accident, Marva is taken to the hospital where she checks herself out after Hassan comes for her. Naima, who has come home to see her mother, finds the restaurant's manager murdered in the middle of the dining room. It is Naima who must figure out how to handle the mess her parents and Hassan have made of their lives. GHOSTS OF SAINT MICHEL is a multi-layered complex mystery wrapped around a family drama. The storyline is fast paced with interesting characters especially the African-Americans (mindful of authors like Richard Wright and James Baldwin) who have easily integrated themselves into French society. Loic is the most complex character, whose past and present actions come as a complete surprise to the audience because they do not fit the image he projects. Jake Lamar has written a deep and enjoyable tale that keeps the audience interested in the incredible plotting. Harriet Klausner