The Madeleine Project by Clara Beaudoux explores the life of Madeleine through the belongings she left behind in her Paris storage unit. The author moves into the apartment and when she finds that the cellar is padlocked and full of belongings, she contacts the previous owner's godson. He has no interest in the items, so the author saws through the padlock and begins itemizing on Twitter the boxes and suitcases full of memories.
I'm at an interesting point to read this book, since I myself am going through a "cellar" full of things, letters and awards and treasures, to decide what to keep and what to discard. I wonder what a stranger would piece together about my life if she happened upon the things I've deemed worthy of keeping.
Since the book is mostly a series of tweets, it's a very quick read, with time to pause and peruse the pictures a little closer.

As a person who loves France and who loves a good historical mystery, I enjoyed peeking into the life of this French woman who would have turned 100 in 2015 if she had lived that long. Madeleine never married but she traveled and had a fiance who died in 1943, according to the author's findings.

I might have found all of this paraphernalia left behind just mildly interesting, if not for the author's own notes in the middle of the book. In the midst of documenting Madeleine's life from 70 years before, the terrorist attacks in Paris occurred, killing 130 people. The author decided to continue documenting Madeleine's life to share the beauty that she found. I think what she actually shared was the connection between all people, no matter the hurdles. When you imagine Madeleine living in Paris throughout World War II and then you picture the author living in Madeleine's apartment through another series of attacks, you can see the strand, like metal, that connects them and all of us. The author turned toward Madeleine's treasures, the mundane things in life that make it wonderful and also give us the stamina to continue in the face of evil -- one sweetly-worded letter or a hard-earned diploma or a family picture.

This book, translated from French, is more of a graphic novel than a traditional novel, but it still runs the gamut of emotion. ( )

The book is similar to becoming an archaeologist, using objects and place to build a forgotten life. While archaeology requires a degree and a substantial knowledge of history, this book only requires two things: being human and familiarity with France because this is a story that is close to our hearts and close to our time; a time we still remember from stories. I am unhappy that the story tended to be short because I feel as if the book only scratched at the surface of Madeleine instead of going full depth, and I do hope that future twits will be translated to English so I can learn more about Madeleine. By the way, I am planning on sharing this book with my little boy as soon as he becomes far older than just 15 months.

I was given this book for a honest review

I couldn't resist joining in this France Book Tour for The Madeleine Project. It is filled with many things I love: Paris...photos...and mystery.

What is The Madeleine Project? It's a project Clara Beaudoux began when she discovered the belongings in the basement that a former tenant of her apartment had left after the tenant's death.

Beaudoux started sorting through all of the photos and letters and artifacts of the tenant, who Beaudoux learned was named Madeleine, and slowly she began to post pictures and commentary of her findings on Twitter. From this Twitter feed, a book formed.

What sorts of things did Beaudoux find?

Photos. Letters.

Postcards.

Travel brochures.

All the wonderful and mysterious things that make up a long human life.

It's an absolutely fascinating book about a regular yet quite intriguing person. I was completely drawn deeper and deeper into the story of this woman as Beaudoux found and shared and speculated upon all the comedies and dramas of Madeleine's life.

I think you might be, too. ( )

Rat Race Coffee Break

The Madeleine Project is a delightful departure from day to day nonfiction. It is a small adventure that takes place in the basement storage locker of Clara Beaudoux in Paris. It came with her apartment, but was not cleared by the service after the previous owner died. She found out she had a locker, cut open the padlock, and discovered a mysterious life.

This being the 21st century, Beaudoux described everything, with photos, real time, on twitter. And added facebook and a madeleineproject website. And now a book. Her tweets went viral, and a couple of hundred people responded, encouraging her to go on. She gives them credit at the end of the book.

Beaudoux’s tweets tend to be between 5 and 7 am. She would go down to the basement before work. She carefully examined the contents of every box, bag, satchel and valise, slowly putting together the story of this completely unknown woman, Madeleine.

Madeleine turns out to be a schoolteacher, spinster, living in the same neighborhood all her adult life. She had a lover and a godson, and was pleasant with the neighbors. She dreamed of travel, and collected little treasures she never threw out. This gives Beaudoux plenty of work and guesswork. The book reflects “Seasons” one and two. There are two more on the website.

The book is simply Beaudoux’s tweets, self-explanatory. Some are in English, some in French. The website has them entirely in one language or the other, which will be less frustrating to most readers.

In an era where we so inundated with data that we must forget most everything and ignore the rest, The Madeleine Project is a coffee break, restoring the life and memories of a single soul otherwise destined to be instantly forgotten. It’s a small pleasure.

David Wineberg ( )