Blog Tour: These Dividing Walls By Frans Cooper

These Dividing Walls 

by Fran CooperMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

During the course of one hot summer in the back streets of the left bank of Paris, in number 37 Rue des Eglantines a building holds the stories, solitude and secrets of it’s residents lives. Within the confines of their homes people are unaware that soon the things that divide them will collapse and they will all be affected by the events of that heady summer. Into this summer comes Edward Rivers, an Englishman with his own story taking an attic room from a friend, Emilie in her Aunt Frederique’s building to give him an escape, time to grieve the loss of a loved one.

Immediately upon reading this book there is an intrinsic feeling of the quaint back streets of Paris that at times feel more claustrophobic than quaint, especially through the course of the characters stories, this was due to the growing intensity of the events instilling an ever deepening dark mood along with the taut heat of the summer. At times you almost felt cocooned by the heat of the summer drawing you deeper and deeper into the strength sapping heat.

Edward Rivers is a 20-something running away from bereavement he has been both unable to process or grieve for. During the course of the book, he is drawn to his friend Emelie’s aunt. Frederique an elegant Parisian who has a knowledge surpassing the building’s history and its current occupants as well as a trauma of her own which she is silently holding close to her heart.

Through their friendship it appears that they are both going through a similar experience, which is paralysing both of them. To enable them both to progress it takes a stark turn of events to remind them not only of the person they are, but of what is important to them and their ability to move forward.

Cesar Vincent and his unknowing wife are being affected by the changes to Paris, this change to his life has a massive impact on Cesar and the way he lives his life this summer, introducing him to the dark underbelly of the city.

Anaiss is a stay at home mum of three, troubled by the demands of motherhood and haunted by an event in the buildings past. Her life begins to mimic the gradual building tension and decline of Paris. Will she be able to overcome her demons and rise like a phoenix from the ashes or will she fall into the abyss.

Josep a homeless man living in a doorway opposite the building, highlights the reality of why some people find themselves on the streets, a man whom seems to know all the occupants of number 37 and yet is aloof to many of them.

For a debut novel the author Fran Cooper has not only been able to describe the surroundings of the outskirts of a city such as Paris, but also encompassed both the events and the effect on the characters life through her writing style. This book continues to draw you into the character's lives from beginning to end and manages to instill not only a sense of drama to the event's in question but to the continual development of the story.

I would strongly recommend this book to those of you who enjoy a character/family based drama and will wait with eagerness for the release of Fran Cooper's next title The Two Houses which is due for release through Hodder later this month.

More about the Author

Fran Cooper grew up in London before reading English at Cambridge and Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art.  She spent three years in Paris writing a PhD about travelling eighteenth-century artists, and currently works in the curatorial department of a London museum.

Blog Tour & Competition

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