The Girl Who Reads on the Métro

More about the book

In the vein of Amelie and The Little Paris Bookshop, this modern fairytale follows a French woman whose life transforms after meeting a reclusive bookseller and his young daughter. Juliette leads an ordinary life in Paris, working a slow office job and navigating a series of unsatisfactory relationships while battling melancholy. Her only joys come from her metro rides, where she imagines stories about the strangers reading books around her: the old lady, the math student, the amateur ornithologist, and others. One day, while avoiding work, she stumbles upon a rusty gate propped open with a book. Drawn in, she enters the enchanting world of Soliman and his daughter, Zaide. Before long, Juliette becomes a passeur, helping Soliman by matching used books with readers, turning her daydreams into reality. When Soliman asks her to care for Zaide while he’s away, Juliette faces a pivotal decision about embracing this new life. This big-hearted, humorous, and whimsical tale is a delayed coming-of-age story about a woman willing to change her life, celebrating the unifying power of books.