I have loved carousels since my very first ride as a child, always choosing a jumper (moving) horse. The lights, the music, the colors, the animals, the pace of the ride, and waving to my father at the turn of each cycle blended for a ride of joy and enchantment. In adulthood, I have often wondered how a solitary carousel horse came to be available in an antique store window. With those thoughts, the title of the novel, and knowing the exquisite care of research that Juliet Blackwell blends with her creativity, I knew the enchantment would unfold as I began to read.

Cady Anne Drake, a photographer in Oakland, California, is presented with the opportunity to travel to France and photograph Parisian carousels for a coffee table book by a small press publisher specializing in this niche market. Encouraged by friend Olivia Gray to take the opportunity for the change of scenery, Cady is hesitant as decisions are difficult after the loss of Maxine Caroline Clark. Maxine was the woman who meant everything to Cady, becoming her world at the very time Cady desperately needed someone to care.

Past and present are easily identified as notations at the beginning of each chapter, designate the year or Present Day, location, and speaker that will illuminate Cady's experience in France and the history that led to her current discoveries. It is a story of family by choice, family by blood, friendship, and love. Interwoven is the history and magic of carousels as we glimpse them in an earlier period of origin and simultaneously learn of the attitude of the time toward women regardless of their ability and proven talent to work outside the home at a "man's craft" in a "man's world."

Book clubs will appreciate the Questions for Discussion at the novel's end. ( )

I've always enjoyed Juliet Blackwell's cozy mysteries, so once she started writing these stand-alone, general contemporary fiction stories, all set in France, I've made sure to pick them up.

I'm not sure this is going to be helpful to anyone but myself, but - and maybe because I don't read a lot of general fiction - I find these stories kind of weird. Apparently, I'm a little genre-dependent because I'm never sure what the point of the story is. I mean, I do; personal journeys, growth, blah, blah, blah, but I'm hard-wired to look for dead bodies, I guess. Plus, the author uses multiple timelines and POVs in the France books, a device that generally drives me nuts.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the story though; I did. Blackwell captures France and I enjoyed the 'mystery' behind the carousel figure and the box inside. I might have liked the secondary characters more than the main character, Cady, but chalk that up to personal tastes, as in, mine don't run towards broken characters.

As in the previous 2 stand-alones set in France, the romance is iffy, if non-existent. This is a good thing; if Blackwell has a weakness, it's writing romance with any sexual spark (except the Witchcraft series, where the romance was very sparky). There is a love interest here, and characters are getting lucky, but it's mostly an afterthought, with only an implied possibility of a HEA.

So, after all that rambling, I'll just say: it's a good book. It's a quiet, well-built, interesting story that I enjoyed escaping into for a few hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon. ( )

American photographer Cady Drake shoots local carousels, a hobby inspired by a carved wooden rabbit gifted to her following her troubled years in foster care. Cady accepts a freelance assignment documenting the antique carousels of Paris. While there, she hopes to track down the true origins of her rabbit, which she has always believed to be carved by French carousel maker Gustave Bayol. Cady's research leads her to Provence and a dilapidated carousel for the grand Château Clement in the early 1900s. After commissioning the carousel, the Clement family struggled to maintain their ancestral home through the two World Wars, buffeted by jealousies passed down through the generations. As Cady digs deeper into the past, unearthing century-old photographs of the Clement carousel and its creators, she might be the one person who can bring the past to light and reunite a family torn apart.

This is a gentle mystery about Cady’s search for the maker of her wooden rabbit and why there was a photograph of a woman inside it. There are several storylines that switch back and forth between present day, the early 1900s and during WWII. This was well-written and made me interested in the art of carving wooden carousels. The characters were believable and not sappy as some gentle stories are. I enjoyed the book and will look for more by this author as a change of pace from suspenseful mysteries. ( )

"An artist lost to history, a family abandoned to its secrets, and the woman whose search for meaning unearths it all in a sweeping and expressive story from the New York Times bestselling author of Letters from Paris."
Truly a book with everything in it to make a great read. I love books set in different time periods and this book had 3 and 3 different point of views.
I enjoyed each time period and character greatly and felt placed in that time. The author does a very good job with accurate historical details.
This book contains all the emotions of happiness, sadness, romance, longing and family ties.
I recommend this book for anyone that loves a great historical fiction that will transport you to France. I mean who doesn't love carousels.
I give this book a very strong 5 stars. ( )

The Lost Carousel of Provence by Juliet Blackwell travels through time but is ultimately a story of family. The book starts slowly, as it takes a while to get to know the different characters and time periods. The secrets of the book are also clear much before they are actually revealed in the story. I enjoyed this book for the introducing me to the history of carousels and giving me a whole new appreciation for artistry that goes into them.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/04/the-lost-carousel-of-provence.html

Reviewed for Penguin First to Read program. ( )