Customer Reviews

The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti (Nal Accent Novels)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At the conclusion of this book the main thought traveling thru my mind was, WOW! A lump had formed in my throat, tears near ready to flow. Lily Crisp and her life's journey touched a massive amount of heartstrings and fond memories in this reader. The charming, small villages of France and Mexico to the rural regions of the mountainous western USA, the local scenery so aptly described I could sense it as if being back there again. An avid reader I am not, but with my trusty dictionary by my side to really feel and understand the prose of Ms. Vanderbilt, I found myself vicariously there, shadowing Lily along the entire way, feeling what she was feeling. The surprising ending and build up to it had me sitting on the edge of my chair. This is Annie Vanderbilts first published novel? Oh my! As we say in Hawai'i, Hana Hou!...Hana Hou! (encore!, encore!). And with that, I'm going to read it again. Kudos to Ms. Vanderbilt. WOW!

I finished The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti a few days ago. It is hard to believe this is the only book Annie Vanderbilt has published. I do hope she is working on another one, as her writing style is so smooth, I didn't want the story of end. The character of Lily Crisp is witty, warm and passionate. She made me laugh and at the same time, reflect back on my own loves and losses. What a wonderful choice for a "book club" .....or better yet, a movie.

Delightful reading that kept me captivated until the last page. Such good descriptions of the area - I could envision it so easily. Makes me want to travel there. I would have enjoyed knowing her. Definitely had a surprise ending! I read the last few chapters over & over. I would recommend this book to all romantics at heart!

I don't want to just visit "La Pierre Rouge," I want to live there.

I fell in love with this place - everything about it from the terrace, the hill leading to the house, the sea, Alonso, (the cat), the food, the bakery, the market place, all of it.

I finished the book a few hours ago and cannot get the story out of my mind. It makes me want to get on a plane and go to the South of France.

I could not put this book down, and believe me, I tried to but found myself looking for excuses to pick it up again and read until I finished it. I hated to see the book end. I loved traveling to France, Mexico, Italy, Spain, and even Idaho.

I loved all the characters in the book, but, especially Lily and I loved her mother-in-law, Maman Justine - great lady. I think she and Lily had so much in common, that Justine's son, Paul, married his mother when he married Lily.

I checked this book out of the library and now want to buy a copy for myself to add to my personal library. There are descriptive phrases, quotes, words, passages that I wish to mark for future reference and, of course, I cannot do that with a library book.

I am going to recommend this book to my friends so we can enjoy a good discussion based on my own questions, and there are many, and the questions in the back of the book.

It will be fun to analyze Lily and Paul, their marriage, discussing what makes them tick, their obvious differences, etc...Yves, the handyman, is also an interesting character and I would love to analyze his relationship with his mother and talk about what happened to him, where did he go, did his mother die, lots to analyze about Yves...

I do hope Annie writes another book. I want more of Lily, more of France...I'd like to "grow old" with Lily...and be there to see how Justine grows up....Will her grandmother, Justine, come alive again through her granddaughter?

Intelligently conceived, deftly executed, satisfyingly concluded; who knew chick lit could be so well written?

i read a lot and it nice when you get a really great book that you cant put down and dont want to end. i hope Annie writes more

It's great to read a novel about a middle aged woman looking back at her loves and life instead of another tale of a twenty something in wobblingly high heels. Don't get me wrong - there's a lot of sensuality and romance in this novel as 52 year old Lily Crisp reflects on where she's going after the sudden death of her husband.
Lily, with her halo of curly hair and a mischievous gleam in her eye, was just plain fun and interesting to hang out with. Vanderbilt's sensuous imagery really transported me to all the exotic locales of Lily's life without waiting in a security line at the airport. The story takes you from a classic villa on the coast of France to lakeside Wisconsin, then Italy, from the rustic tang of an Idaho ranch to the steamy rainforests of Mexico.
I really identified with the different stages of life and love - from young passionate love to more mature married love and along the way found a lot to learn from Lily about life and how to live it.
And there's even an intriguing twist or two at the end.

I was so looking forwards to reading this book, after reading all the 5-star reviews of it. And now that I've forced myself to slog through it, I say Forget It! How dull it was, random reminiscences that make no sense. With plenty of gratuitous sex that makes the characters lose all respect I might have had for them. Skip it!

I found this book a wonderful escape in the bleak grey of winter. Lilly looks back on her life while spending time at the family's home on the Cote d'Azure. Typing her memoires on her Olivetti manual typewriter, Lilly finds the work of expression more honest and more theraputic. The characters in France and those that she reflects on from her past are as flawed as is she. I loved the author's ability to capture the smells, the feel and the colors of the settings in which Lilly finds herself. A bit of mystery surrounds one character who is mentioned frequently and also supplies a happy twist to the end. I strongly recommend this book for the sheer pleasure of reading about Lilly and her transformation through life. It may also result in you looking differently at your life and people in it.

After her husband Paul dies very unexpectedly,Lily Crisp feels she needs a brief respite from everyday responsibilities to ponder the future, but mostly to savor the past. Her destination is France, to the house called La Pierre Rouge, an inheritance from her mother-in-law. When Lily hires Yves, local handyman, to fix the tiles on the roof, he listens to her past in musings spoken only in English. As Yves only speaks French, it makes it easier for her to unburden herself completely. As she explains in the beginning, she has been living in her memories and needs to talk. When she is alone she is also reliving the past on paper as she pours out her loves and losses to Madame Olivetti, the old fashioned manual typewriter. Madame Olivetti is almost a character in the book as Vanderbilt manages quite nicely to breathe life into the old machine.

The story just flows off the page as Lily remembers her past life filled to the brim with love, some transitory, some long lived. She also has many memories of family relationships over the years as she always had an interest in family histories. When her catharsis is done, Lily feels she can now move forward to the next stage in her life.


Vanderbilt has done a wonderful job of writing this charming and captivating story. With beautiful, lyrical descriptions of locales, nature's elements like wind and sea are given animation.Her main characters are fleshed out well enough and the peripheral characters only add to the charm. I really liked the book and rated it 4****.

Note: the end of the book contains a conversation with Annie Vanderbilt and a guide with discussion questions that would be most helpful for book clubs.