Ella's husband, children and mother are on holiday at the property they jokingly call the Paper Palace. It's a family holiday home set in the woods near Cape Cod which has been passed down through the generations. The story picks up 'the morning after the night before', where Ella has cheated on her husband with life long friend and holiday neighbour Jonas. The story is set over one day, where Ella has to decide if she's going to stay with her husband or end her marriage for Jonas. The two of them are bonded by tragedy from years before, and Jonas felt that they were always meant to be. It's also set over 50 years, as the reader finds out about the origins of the Palace, her grandparents and parents relationships, and also about Ella's childhood, and the events leading up to the day in question.

I really thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt that the author had such a brilliant way with the twists in the tale. There were several times throughout that I didn't see what was coming and it just smacked me in the face, so to speak. I loved the flashbacks to the past, although I did have to stop and think about where the story was in time and what had happened up to that point a couple of times, but I think that's just because so much happened. I felt that the author did a wonderful job in describing the scenes, the small details that would probably go amiss in other books. I have nothing negative to say at all, and would thoroughly recommend it, especially to people who love a family saga. I would only perhaps warn that there are themes of abuse throughout.

‘The Paper Palace 💕’ by Miranda Cowley Heller
🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5
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Before anyone else is awake, on a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the glorious freshwater pond below 'The Paper Palace' -- the gently decaying summer camp in the back woods of Cape Cod where her family has spent every summer for generations. As she passes the house, Elle glances through the screen porch at the uncleared table from the dinner the previous evening; empty wine glasses, candle wax on the tablecloth, echoes of laughter of family and friends. Then she dives beneath the surface of the freezing water to the shocking memory of the sudden passionate encounter she had the night before, up against the wall behind the house, as her husband and mother chatted to the guests inside.
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A beautiful story which spans over 50 years through flashbacks and follows Elle, as young girl growing up with a dysfunctional family and present day Elle, who is trapped in a love triangle.

The book for me, started off slow and I struggled to get into it. However as soon the secrets and lies started to unravel I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down!

I loved the writing style and how the reader finds out about Elle’s past through her memories. I loved seeing the relationship form between Elle and her sister Anna. The characterisation was great and really believable - the mother was absolutely brutal and spoke her mind, which came across well.

The main focus is on the love triangle between Elle, her husband Peter and childhood romance Jonas. Jonas tells Elle he has loved her since the first day they met and Elle therefore has a big decision to make, does she leave Peter and her three kids to be with Jonas? Or does she stay with Peter and ignore she too has always and will always, love her childhood sweetheart....

Read the book to find out!! 🥰
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Thanks to @netgalley and @mirandacowleyhellerauthor for the advanced copy! Publication date 8th July 2021 📖

Jonas and Eleanor met as children at the 'pond' where their families holidayed. Jonas was a couple of years younger than Elle but even so they soon forged a friendship which they renewed each year. But it's Elle's family that is the centre of this book. Elle has an older sister Anna who she adores although the feeling is not mutual when they are kids. Anna is one of a kind. So is their mother who is now married to Leo after her husband died. Leo has two kids of his own, Conrad and Rosemary but Elle doesn't see much of them until Conrad comes to stay with them after his own mother has had enough of him.
Elle doesn't like Conrad. It seems no one does.
The novel follows Elle and Jonas throughout their lives in the form of flashbacks. Although there have often been large gaps where Elle and Jonas have lost touch, once they re-unite their friendship and bond is as strong as ever. An incident in childhood has shaped both of their lives forever. As middle-aged couples, Elle and Peter, Jonas and Gina form a strong friendship and enjoy activities together along with their children. Until one day when the special bond between Jonas and Elle refuses to be denied.
I really enjoyed this story. We really get to know the characters well through the clever structure which gives us little peeps into their pasts that shapes them all. Like life, nothing is as it seems as secrets spread their tentacles into everyone's lives forcing choices they might not ever have made had certain events never happened. Wonderfully immersive, I recommend this book.

Absolutely loved this book!! Big family sagas are my favourite, and this one was totally immersive. Spanning 24 hours and 50 years, the story covers decades of family legacy, love, tragedy, secrets and lies and was engrossing, heartbreaking and entertaining all at the same time. Highly recommend.

This was an intricate and thought provoking story, focusing on one family and the experiences that shaped the protagonist into the woman she is today. Highly recommended!

While on holiday in the titular Paper Palace, the rundown cabin inherited from her grandfather, Elle ends up drunkenly hooking up with her oldest friend. Over the next day, she reflects on key memories and relationships in her life. With selfish parents and a seemingly lonely childhood, the cabin proves to be not only the only stability of her childhood but also the location of a pivotal moment which shapes her future.

The start of the book was slow and writing felt laborious. However, within 30 pages I was completely immersed and ended up reading in one sitting.

The highlights for me- writing style, the character development and the open ending. This would be a great choice for book club discussions.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I really look forward to future books from this author.

A beautiful and compelling read - and also a very accomplished one. Cowley Heller takes full control of the story and leads us through it with supreme confidence. Her characters are flawed, yes, but entirely believably so due to the conviction of her writing. Lush and dense and poetic, it sits a little 'outside' time, even at its most contemporary. Captivating.and beguiling. A fascinating read.

A tricky read for me this one. A woman essentially has an affair and then take the whole book to decide who to be with. What a family! I grew tired of her indecision and frankly long series of lies to her family and friends, and questions about her own behaviour. The book is written in flashbacks which gave the novel a choppy and disjointed feel which was not easy to read but it did reflect the emotions of the characters and the plot within. There were many uncomfortable scenes to read here but they were necessary to the plot, The sex scenes I felt cheapened it.

I really didn’t know how to land with this book so I went with 2.5*.. The synopsis was fantastic, but it just didn’t manage to deliver.

It just wasn’t very interesting. It could have been anyone’s life story: a few vaguely poignant events, but primarily choppy memories that didn’t really fit together.

The story centres on Elle finally having sex with Jonas, the man she’s known since they were both kids. People have affairs all the time; I’m not condoning it, but Elle’s guilt seemed rather out of place for something that only happened once… especially considering her mother’s behaviour throughout her childhood!

The rest is the book describes Elle’s childhood, how she and Jonas met and what happened one fateful summer. But I didn’t feel engaged with the story or the characters.

Parts of it were well-written, but others were overly detailed, with far too many adjectives than was necessary. The author was perhaps trying to be poetic when they were in her happy childhood place, but the rest of the prose was listless and uninspiring.

The characters seemed to have a lot of trials and tribulations, but none of them gripped me. The characters didn’t seem to care about each other and the relationships were all very strange. Even the ‘perfect’ husband was dull and actually quite rude to Elle and her family.

The plot is predictable; the chapters too long. I almost gave up halfway through, because nothing had happened. I was also slightly confused by the ending, but I assume the author is leaving it open to interpretation.

If you like flowery language and poetic licence, you might enjoy the writing style. But sadly, there wasn’t enough substance to hold my interest.

Settings for modern-day novels do not come more evocative than beautiful Cape Cod, so I picked up The Paper Palace with some anticipation. The plot is centred on Elle, still trying to process her traumatic childhood and events of some forty years ago. Elle’s life is still complicated: she is married to Peter, but in love with Jonas, and maintains contact with a string of step-siblings. I felt the characterisation in this novel was excellent but the transitions between the modern-day story and the flashbacks could have been smoother. The ending felt a little disjointed, too. The novel was not quite what I expected but I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me an ARC so I could try this book, the first novel I have read by Miranda Cowley Heller.

This is a complex, smart, and utterly riveting book and one that carries tragic traces of a stolen girlhood. As fascinating and devastating as this story is, it’s not an easy read. I rooted for Elle the whole way through, but there were times when I wondered if she could have put a stop to the terrible things she suffered. When I dig deeper and realise she had no one to talk to, I wonder what I would have done at that age. Her background is so steeped in instability, it’s hardly surprising such a tragedy occurred.

Spanning over twenty-four hours and across fifty years, Elle Bishop is married to a witty and loving British husband. I adored Peter right from the start and couldn’t help feeling a bite of anxiety he’d find out in the worst possible way. Elle’s childhood friend Jonas has grown so deep under her skin, she cannot let go. He has been a protector, a best friend and now all of a sudden, a lover. But they share a secret that binds them and a past that cannot be thrown away with just one decision.

Elle’s mother can only be described as stiff, a product of an equally stiff and unrelenting upbringing, and has always pursued her interests above those of her children. It was heart-breaking to read as was Elle’s relationship with her sister Anna. Their family summer home is set beside a pond on the East Coast and although the backdrop seems idyllic, there are sinister moments which are as rotten as the old camp around them. After a dinner party, Elle wanders off by herself, only to find herself in the arms of Jonas. Guilt-ridden, she has the impossible task of choosing between two men she loves. Told through flashbacks, we see her journey and the events that caused both Elle and Jonas to keep such a devastating secret. This part was so dark for me, I almost read it through gritted teeth. In some ways, the horror she endured reminded me of how I felt reading My Dark Vanessa. Two different books, but both equally brilliant and all-consuming.

For me to have devoured it in one day means it was a page-turner. Beautifully written and with a cast of characters so realistic you know you’ve met someone just like them. There are a few jarring scene changes which may be fixed on the final version, but it did cause me to read over sections to see if I’d understood it correctly. Be prepared for a pit in your stomach and a lump in your throat and aftershocks that will haunt you for months to come.

Thank you to author Miranda Cowley Heller, the publishers Penguin UK, Viking and Netgalley for the privilege of reading this book. #ThePaperPalace #NetGalley

The Paper Palace was a mesmerisingly beautiful read that i took my time over - and I'm glad i did. The novel revolves around the life of happily married, mother of three Elle Bishop. In the current day the story unfolds over 24 hours with flashbacks to the previous 50 years of the rather bourgeois family history. Elle grew up in an unusual family, her mother (as hers did before her) put her needs first and Elle and her sister Anna had an unconventional upbringing but one which revolved each summer around the family summer home set on a pond on the East Coast. We learn of Elle's childhood relationship with her summer friend Jonas and the tragic event they both witnessed that shaped the rest of their lives. A brittle mother, a loving, witty British husband and three adorable children jostle for her heart alongside Jonas - the friend she has loved forever. Elle has a decision to make - but what will it be? This is a beautiful, tragic, tender book and one which will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to Netgalley, Miranda Cowley Heller and their publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I am usually an avid reader of murder/thriller books and for me this was out of my comfort zone.. Saying that though, I did enjoy this genre of books.

The story is centred around Elle and the drama unfolds over a 24 hour period. The story captivated me at times and I wanted to know what was going to happen. I enjoyed the characters and found that I related to Elle in more ways than one..

For me personally, the story was a bit stop and start but I am glad I perceived and read the full novel.

I would give this book 3 and a half stars but as that is not possible I will give it 4 stars.

This was a really interesting read. This middle aged women decided between love and life and looking at herself. It was a bit slow at some parts, but the author does a good job at keeping you interested and also curious to where the story might go. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I’m absolutely torn on this book. This is somewhere between a three and four star for me. On the one hand, Crowley Heller did a beautiful job of bringing her reader into the lives of the characters she developed over a 50-year span. She wrote beautifully about the main character, Elle, and her complicated family. I love when the reader gets to take a look through the past and see what makes a character who they are.

On the other hand, I felt like she struggled to make the present day story come together. I felt incredibly let down by the ending. I wanted so much more from Elle. There were definitely some loose ends that will frustrate me for a while.

Overall, Crowley Heller’s ability to paint a picture of the characters’ pasts was incredible but I wanted more for their present. I have a feeling though that this is one of those books that will grow on me over time.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

Miranda Cowley Heller’s The Paper Palace takes place over the twenty-four hours in which fifty-year-old Elle is faced with the messy aftermath of a drunken dinner party at her family’s Cape Cod camp. She and her childhood best friend Jonas had sex in the garden, her beloved husband still sitting at the dinner table, and now Elle is both heady with love and racked with guilt. Throughout the day she remembers the life that has led her to the impossible choice she must make between these two men, each of whom she loves dearly.

Elle tells her story through a series of flashbacks which lengthen as she unfolds the events that have led to this crisis. Heller anchors Elle in the place which was the lynchpin of a childhood beset with instability until she reveals the devastating secret that Elle and Jonas have kept since they were teenagers. I’d expected a light summer read – parties on the beach with maybe a little infidelity, gossipy and entertaining - but Heller's story becomes something very much darker than that, and all the better for it. A gripping, thoroughly engrossing novel with a disconcerting ending, it’s the perfect intelligent summer read, not to mention an impressive debut.

A beautiful story spanning a lifetime. Fans of Where The Crawdad’s Sing should read this book.

The story centres around Elle, who is happily married to Peter whilst also in love with her childhood friend Jonas. It shows everything that has built her into the person she is and the decisions she has made. It really is beautifully written.

This delicious book, a must for fans of Bridges of Madison County, is a great read. It tells the story of a middle aged woman torn between the love of her life and her loving beloved husband. It explores the nature of love, passionate, uxorial, familial and maternal through a series of flashbacks. It will play into all of your ‘what if’ moments and challenge if we live for then or now, for duty or passion. The only slight down note was the annoying ending....in trying to leave us guessing, she leaves us confused. A great summer book.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, except that I didn't like any of the characters or the life choices they made. I can accept when a story has one or two characters that make dumb decisions or are born to cause calamity, but this book had no good people, they all were dysfunctional in their own ways, vindictive and judgmental (everything that is wrong in our generation today), and WOULD JUST NOT COMMUNICATE with each other even at the ripe age of 50+. It felt as though the author feared fleshing out one full scene where her characters would just sort out their differences and, y'know, BE ADULTS, be it Elle and her mother, Elle and her sister Anna, Jonas and Elle, Peter and Elle, or Elle's mother and her numerous boyfriends. I cannot fathom how people jump from person to person and claim "to be in love" the way these characters did, it started to seem like a joke to me beyond a point. I felt for Elle and the horrifying childhood she had to endure, but after a while, she started to take on the role of a masochist and I was left with my feelings hanging.

A few sentences and word choices also felt odd to me like "weirdo-ness" (what's wrong with weirdness?), and, "Jonas is animal, Peter is mineral. And I need a rock" (??). Just felt a bit pretentious to me.

Anyway, this is my first by the author so I went in without any expectations. I look forward to her future works.

Firstly, I want to thank Miranda and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC for an honest review. This had me hooked from the beginning, I was intrigued from the beginning and honestly couldn't put it down. I am adding this to my wish list so I can have a physical copy once it's been released and plan on reading it again.

This follows the life of Elle who's in love with a friend from her. It takes you through events leading up to - and past - who this connection for Elle was formed and how she handles her emotions and feelings.

I gave it 5 stars because I honestly was gripped from the beginning.