Madame Mirabou's School of Love: A Novel (Paperback)

by Barbara Samuel (Author)
Key Phrases: Perfume Journal, Art Deco, Pikes Peak (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Divorce is never easy, and fortysomething Nikki finds herself unwillingly thrust into a major identity crisis. She was happy being a housewife and mother in an upscale neighborhood of Colorado Springs and thought all was well until her husband takes off, and the family house blows up. As she slowly comes out of the fog of divorce, Nikki realizes she needs a job and a place to live, then has to face the clash with her old way of life: her fancy friends can't understand her waitress job: they eat in restaurants, they don't work in them. Nikki veers away from her now strained relationships, makes new friends, and enters the world of dating. As Nikki tries to find herself, her old dream of making perfume as a business instead of a hobby infuses her with purpose, but is she willing to take a risk? With great insight Samuel explores the many problems facing newly divorced women and offers hope and inspiration in the form of one gutsy heroine. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Praise for Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas

“Fun, fabulous, fast-paced . . . a complex, beautiful, and moving story that will resonate with you until long after you’ve finished the final pages.”
–Kristin Hannah

“[A] wistful story . . . Samuel sorts out all the relationships with a sure hand.”
–The Seattle Times


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345469143
• ISBN-13: 978-0345469144
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #582,021 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really lovely story, May 18, 2006

By	E. Northrop (MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This novel tells a really lovely story about a recently-divorced woman reluctantly being forced to start her life over and find happiness and fulfillment.

All the characters are very well-written and well thought-out. Each one has a meaning and is not there for filler. I found all the emotions of the main character to be authentic, and her growing in fits and starts true to her situation - someone who did not want a divorce and grappled with so many emotions for her ex-husband (continuing love, anger, confusion), her daughter, her new friends, and eventually her promising new love.

The title of this novel suggests that it's some kind of quirky chick-lit story, but I think that is misleading. It is a novel of humor, yes, but not without lots of layers of other emotions. It even touches on depression and anorexia in the context of a secondary character in a thoughtful way.

I really enjoyed reading this book and was dreading the last page. It was a very satisfying reading experience.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read!, March 30, 2006

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

For all the women who have loved, sacrificed themselves to that love and then lost it, Madame Mirabou's School of Love will resonate deep in their souls.

Nicole (Nikki) Carrington's house exploded due to an old and faulty furnace. It was the only thing of value that she received from her eighteen-year marriage to Daniel. Daniel even got custody of their fifteen-year-old daughter Giselle, who he has taken to London on vacation with his new wife. It's a trip Nikki always wanted to take and now she's homeless and "the other woman" is living her life.

At forty-three Nikki is firmly ensconced in a land called panic, fear and anxiety. But without the comfort of the family home, she is forced to leave her neighborhood and friends and find a new home in an apartment complex nicknamed Splitsville.

Without Nikki's insurance settlement she is low on cash, not to mention self-esteem. She takes a job as a waitress in a popular Colorado organic restaurant. There she learns to enjoy her work, the other employees and meets a dark, handsome and mysterious man from England.

Nikki takes stock of her life, explores the unrealized dream of owning a perfumery and realizes that her new eccentric neighbors are more real and a much better fit for her than those from the old neighborhood. Along the way she finds herself and learns that she can be happy and love again, if that is what she chooses.

Barbara Samuel's writing is complex, poignant, humorous and at times lyrical. Her story could be every woman's story and will touch your heart as the reader examines their life and the choices they make.

This is the first Barbara Samuel novel I have read--and it won't be the last.

Armchair Interviews says: Her characters are so real, you feel like you know them and when the last page is turned, you don't want to say good-bye.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another tale of beauty and redemption, April 12, 2006

By	Gabrielle Luthy (Paris, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I always know when it comes time for a new Barbara Samuel book that I'll be entering a magical world of beauty and poignancy, populated with characters who allow themselves to hope and love, despite what life has brought them.

This latest release holds true to that tradition. Barbara Samuel's been an automatic buy for me since 1995, when I read Lucien's Fall, and I've enjoyed the ride since. Her sensual writing style serves her extremely well in this story of Nikki, who dreams about opening her own perfumerie while coping with a divorce she didn't see coming, and the subsequent out-of-state move of her daughter. Not to mention the little matter of a blown-up house resulting in Nikki's arrival at an apartment complex that would not be her first choice of residency, if she only had a choice.

The people she meets there will change her life, as will those she meets at her new job, including the deliciously self-contained Niraj. As with many of Ms. Samuel's books, the characters in Madame Mirabou are from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds. All are treated with the warmth and compassion that makes this author's works stand out for me, and her insights into how life is, or how it can be if we only allow it, often bring me to tears.

Add to that a gorgeous cover in a matte finish that makes just holding the book a lush experience, and this is my favorite release of 2006. Fabulous.