The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton (aka Goodbye, Paris) by Anstey Harris

From Goodreads

Grace once had the beginnings of a promising musical career, but she hasn’t been able to play her cello publicly since a traumatic event at music college years ago. Since then, she’s built a quiet life for herself in her small English village, repairing instruments and nurturing her long- distance affair with David, the man who has helped her rebuild her life even as she puts her dreams of a family on hold until his children are old enough for him to leave his loveless marriage.


But when David saves the life of a woman in the Paris Metro, his resulting fame shines a light onto the real state of the relationship(s) in his life. Shattered, Grace hits rock bottom and abandons everything that has been important to her, including her dream of entering and winning the world’s most important violin-making competition. Her closest friends—a charming elderly violinist with a secret love affair of his own, and her store clerk, a gifted but angst-ridden teenage girl—step in to help, but will their friendship be enough to help her pick up the pieces?

Filled with lovable, quirky characters, this poignant novel explores the realities of relationships and heartbreak and shows that when it comes to love, there's more than one way to find happiness.

My thoughts

My thanks to the Publishers via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story in exchange for an honest review. I gave this a 3 stars or 6/10.

This was an easy read that took me into the lives of the characters very quickly and easily. I loved the quirkiness of the characters, they all had their own issues and reasons for being the way they were.

On the whole I enjoyed the story, but at times found Grace to be quite naïve and felt like she needed to wake up and smell the coffee at times. Sometimes life can be cruel or people in relationships can be unintentionally cruel to their partners and I felt that David expected a lot out of Grace and didn't always reciprocate back to her as he should have done.

As the story progressed I enjoyed the relationship between Grace and the elderly violinist, friendship can often mean more to us than other types of relationships.

To find out what fate has in store for Grace and the other characters in this story, grab a copy and disappear to Paris with them all.