be drawn into a love story
I remember this book as being one of the first books i read in college. It had an ok cover, was a little worn and was introduced to me as being a tool for looking at the history of the Parisian department store. I soon discovered that it was more deeply a look at the changing human psyche at the time. the small business owner is crushed, people's wallets are swallowed whole, but what of the powerful male despot at the top of the ladder. An unsuspecting young woman now has the freedom and capability to unseat him, but will she, or will she be destroyed. I felt with every page the fragility of both the characters, teetering precariously in new societal roles, and the sad unraveling of the precious intimacy of the small shops. Yet intimacy is to be found when within the crumbling of society and the shops surrounding the grand department store we still find the glimmer of humanity in a surprising twist of fate and love.
