If she were going to leave Peter, this would be the perfect opening for Elle to tell him that. But she doesn’t. Discuss the symbolism of rings ( see my analysis above here) in the story. Water is another big motif in the story. Plus The Paper Palace itself ( see my analysis above here) also has a lot of symbolism. The story is raw, graphic, disturbing, full of wit, and, quite frankly, just wonderful. This novel is down to earth, humble, warm. I laughed to myself a number of times throughout the novel; the protagonist’s mother, Wallace, is the epitome of dry humour and wit. This accomplished family saga is gripping and poetic, capturing the complexity of the human heart Daily Mirror I would say completely inhibiting. I remember my father, who’s a book editor, yelling at me when I was 10 about a term paper I’d written. He’d go, “Cut, cut, cut!” That’s the milieu I grew up in. And because there are a lot of writers who are successful in the family, I was like, if I can’t do it well, I’m not going to try.

The Paper Palace tells the story of Elle, a woman who is married to Peter and has three children with him.As argued above, the fact that she does NOT admit to sleeping with Jonas is important. It would be the perfect opening to admit it to Peter. It would be so easy for her to agree with Peter that yes, she did it and she’s leaving him. But she doesn’t say that. This one’s filled with secrets, love, lies and a summer beach house. What more could you ask? —” Parade,“Best Beach Reads” Elle meets a boy named Jonas one summer in Cape Cod in the 1970s, when she is nearly eleven and he is about eight. Photo by Jermaine Ulinwa on Pexels.com Elle promised Jonas she’d let him know if she was going to get married, then got engaged without telling him. Jonas subsequently gets married too. A story of summer, secrets, love, and lies: in the course of a singular day on Cape Cod, one woman must make a life-changing decision that has been brewing for decades.

A family drama, a forbidden love story, a childhood tragedy, The Paper Palace is a stunning literary debut that will eat you up and leave you reeling - you won't want it to end Independent In The Paper Palace, desire and duty are put to the test when Elle Bishop has to choose between the life she always believed she was meant to have with her oldest friend Jonas, and the life she has with her loving husband Peter. Compare and contrast Elle’s relationship with both. What does she get from each? Elle’s parents are Wallace and Henry. Wallace had an affair with a neighbor when Elle was four, and Wallace and Henry divorced after that. Henry remarried Joanne when Elle was about seven. Ali Smith’s Autumn is certainly one of them. There was a particular point where I felt like I was writing poetry instead of a story, and then I read Ali Smith and thought: “Anything’s OK.”Miranda Cowley Heller, 59, grew up in New York in a literary and artistic family. She worked as a ghost writer, book doctor and associate editor at Cosmopolitan magazine before becoming senior vice-president and head of drama series at HBO, where she developed shows including The Sopranos and The Wire. Her newly published debut novel, The Paper Palace, is a tense, evocative tale of guilt and forgiveness whose fans include Meg Wolitzer and William Boyd. It pivots on heroine Elle Bishop’s dilemma: to stay with the husband she loves or pursue the life she always imagined sharing with another man, before tragedy intervened. Ensconced in her family’s rustic compound on Cape Cod for an annual summer trip, Elle Bishop is at a crossroads, forced to choose between the two great loves of her life. Should she run off with the longtime bestie she’s secretly been in love with since they endured a ghastly childhood trauma together? Or stay with her cherished husband, a dashing Brit who’s the father of her kids?” — People When she’s confessing all to Wallace about the rape and Conrad, Wallace says “I think you broke his heart when you married Peter.” It's glorious and gorgeous. I was absolutely immersed and gripped and I'm devastated to have finished it Marian Keyes

Heller’s outstanding debut follows Elle Bishop, on holiday at her family’s lakeside home in Cape Cod, contemplating the status of her marriage after a brief moment of passion with a former lover. As the narrative spins between the present and the past, cataloguing a series of decisive moments in Elle’s life, Heller deftly builds up a portrait of her and the dilemma she faces. In captivating prose and with deep emotional insight, Heller creates a vivid and arresting novel about the complexity and frailty of love and marriage. Dinner With Joseph Johnson: Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age I think the ending could be controversial, some readers may not be satisfied with it. After some reflection, I’ve decided that I like the ending. It’s realistic, and I think the author has masterfully depicted that life isn’t a fairytale, and sometimes love itself isn’t enough. And sometimes, the choices we have to make are really not ‘that simple’. Can you ever truly have what you desire in life without sacrifice? a b c d e "My Life In Books: Miranda Cowley Heller | SheerLuxe". sheerluxe.com. 2022-04-20 . Retrieved 2023-02-06.A beautifully constructed, wonderfully intelligent and beguiling novel, rich with a multitude of pleasures William Boyd Also, Elle’s mother tells her “two things you never regret, a baby and a swim.” Then she later tells her that “there are some swims you do regret. The problem is, you never know until you take them.” I think it was her trip to Memphis and her conversation with Conrad’s sister Rosemary that finally absolved Elle of any guilt and shame she (wrongfully) felt about Conrad’s assault of her and also over Conrad’s death. I think this conversation finally gave her the freedom to consider being with Jonas. Spoilers: Does Elle Choose Peter or Jonas at the end of the Paper Palace?