Review: 13 Rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro

What would you do if you found a box of mementos that belonged to a woman who lived almost a century ago? What stories would be revealed by those bits of someone else's life? When American scholar Trevor Stratton discovers just such a box in his temporary office at a Paris university, he cannot help but study the objects that were so carefully saved, wondering about their history and meaning.

The more closely Trevor examines Louise Brunet's belongings, the more the lines between time periods begin to blur. Eventually, Trevor seems to have experienced Louise's life firsthand . . . but how could he have?

Elena Mauli Shapiro's 13 Rue Thérèse is on the surface the story of Louise Brunet, a passionate, musically talented woman who lived in Paris through the two world wars. On different levels, however, the novel explores war, heartache, loss, love, and marriage and is colored with a mood of mystery and magic.

We learn the details of Louise's life piecemeal, as Trevor looks through and comes to understand the photographs, letters, coins, and other items stored in her memory box. Only after he becomes obsessed with Louise can he begin to sort out how the meanings of the objects come together to create a coherent biography. The deeper Trevor's research takes him, the harder it is for him to stay in his own time period. Eventually, he believes he has seen life and death through the eyes of the original owners of the preserved objects.

Louise's treasures are not left to readers' imaginations. Instead Shapiro's novel is illustrated, so we see, in full color, the items that Trevor is studying. The text is intimately linked with the illustrations, as you can see in the scan of page 33 to right (click to enlarge). Thus the artwork does more than enhance the text, it is part of the story.

In addition, Shapiro includes 16 QR codes (square bar codes that can be read by a scanner or smart phone) in the back of the book. These codes are linked to pages on the novel's website and contain more information about the items Louise saved. This interaction between text and Internet provide readers with an enhanced experience.

Although the premise of the novel is solid and the visuals and QR codes make the book fun to read, the ending of 13 Rue Thérèse is unsatisfying and a bit too neat.

Give it to me quickly: American professor in Paris discovers a memory box from the early 20th century and becomes obsessed with learning the owner's story; excellent historical details of World War I, eye-catching illustrations, but weak ending.

To learn more about Elena Mauli Shapiro, visit her blog. To learn more about the novel, visit its website.

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Published by Little, Brown / Reagan Arthur Books, 2011
ISBN-13: 9780316083287
YTD: 45
Source: Bought (see review policy)
Rating: B
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