Will I love The Elegance of the Hedgehog?

I loved this book so much I experienced it twice, first on audio, where the narration is beautiful, and then in print, because the prose deserved to be read on the page.

It is not a plot-driven novel, and that's the point. I found it to be philosophical, unhurried, and deeply attentive: a study of three main characters of different ages and backgrounds in Paris that asks you to slow down and look carefully at the people around you, especially those we tend to overlook. Muriel Barbery finds extraordinary interior lives in ordinary places, and by the end, you may… show more.

If forced to pick a favorite book, I’d probably pick this one. Set in Paris and so well crafted, it’s the ultimate demonstration of how shared ideas about beauty bind us together.

“Old-souled” Paloma is only twelve and can not only recognize but also aptly describe their superficiality. Her point of view alternates with Renée, the luxury building’s invisible yet brilliant concierge. Together, they demonstrate how seemingly different people can galvanize around life’s ineffable elements.  

Their surprising friendship is catalyzed by a lovely Japanese tenant who sees beyond the surface and invites them into his world where he celebrates… show more.

Renée is the concierge in an elegant Paris hotel. Widowed and in her 50s, she calls herself “short, ugly and plump,” a working-class nobody. She takes refuge in aesthetics and ideas but refuses to let her knowledge show. Renée’s friend in the building is 12-year-old Paloma, beyond precocious, who feels so let down by the meaningless in the world that she plans to commit suicide. Both characters are philosophers of sorts. “Beauty consists of its own passing, just as we reach for it,” says Paloma. In the end, they rescue one another from despair and loneliness. The experience of… show more.

The Elegance of The Hedgehog is a story of hope and happiness that is always there in the world if you know where to find it.

Narrated through the eyes of twelve-year-old Paloma who is disillusioned with her privileged life and has decided to kill herself on her thirteenth birthday unless she finds meaning beyond her "vacuous bourgeois existence," the story is about how she finds it through her connection with Renee, the concierge who strives to hide her intelligence from the world. Through long self-reflective passages and gentle interactions between the main characters, this charming novel examines the question… show more.