Curiosity, old bean. Curiosity every time.

This is one of the books read and reviewed by AlabamaPink in the first Cannonball Read, so obviously this is going to go in that the AlabamaPink slot on my bingo card. To be honest, when I was selecting a book for this slot it was more “well, this one looks least objectionable” rather then “ooh, that one looks fun”. I suspect that Ms. AlabamaPink had very different tastes then I. I’m going to write this review and then go over and read what she had to say about it. I’ll let you know if we agree.

I suspect that your reaction to this book is going to rely on just how much patience you have for flighty, forgetful heroines who get into scrapes caused by their own carelessness, and for the first half of this book I was 100% fed up with Miss Sally Jay Gorce. I didn’t care about her escapades. I didn’t care about the endless string of men who passed in and out of her life. And if I had to read about one more nightclub scene I was going to scream. And then, somewhere around the 50% mark, something funny happened. I started really liking Miss Sally Jay and empathized with her struggle to be taken seriously. I mean, I still thought she was a flighty, careless woman but I liked her anyway. There isn’t much of a plot to this book, it really is just Sally Jay and her time in France, but the characterizations of the various people who flit in and out of her life were great. Each character, no matter how brief their appearance in the book, felt real and post-WWII Paris came alive in the pages.

Elaine Dundy’s writing style is enjoyable sharp, and I can see how she influenced a lot of modern books. Despite my initial reservations, I’m glad I read this. Oh, and hey, it looks like AlabamaPink agreed with me.