It's Not Love, It's Just Paris

April 1, 2013
Like all the girls who live at the decaying mansion nicknamed the House of Stars, 20-year-old Lita Del Cielo has come to Paris for adventure. But she’s also different from her fellow “greenbloods,” less interested in shopping and sleeping around than in living a “fluid, creative life.” Engel (Vida) has a knack for showing how Paris’s charms are both real and always verging on cliché; the house’s ancient, noble owner and Lita’s fellow residents, all full of advice, make for fun reading; and the story of Lita’s parents’ journey from poverty in Colombia to running a giant Latin American food distribution company in New Jersey has an appealing fairy tale quality. But what’s meant to be the story’s heart is Lita’s love affair with Cato, who is debilitated by the remnants of a childhood illness and is the son of one of France’s most notoriously anti-immigrant politicians. Despite (or perhaps because of) these difficulties, they fall in love. The problem is that it’s never fully clear why. For all Lita’s insistence that this is true love, readers may agree with the wised-up housemate who tells Lita that no matter how different she and Cato think they are, their romance is just another short-term affair between a resident of the House of Stars and her local boyfriend. Agent: Ayesha Pande, the Ayesha Pande Literary Agency.

June 15, 2013
A romance in Paris leaves an indelible mark on rich, young, smart-but-shy Lita del Cielo, in a downbeat coming-of-age tale by a noted new writer. At the run-down Parisian mansion known as the House of Stars, Old Europe hosts the gilded youth of the future, wealthy debs who are briefly distracting themselves with foreign studies, sex and shopping. Lita (who arrives the day after Lady Di's death) is a misfit in this glamorous company--the sincere, unsophisticated daughter of a Colombian orphan who has become the King of Latin Foods and a mother whose generosity to immigrants has earned her the title Our Lady of New Jersey. In her debut novel, following a well-received volume of stories (Vida, 2010), Engel trades on familiar elements: teenage alienation; old-world decadence; star-crossed lovers. She partners Lita with Cato de Manou, who is not only the son of a poisonously extreme right-wing French politician, but is also suffering from a major illness--pulmonary sarcoidosis. Cato and Lita's mutual passion, though strong, is tested by Cato's physical fragility and the disapproval of both families. They break up for a while then reunite. Eventually, Lita must return home. But they will always have Paris. There's a sense of deja vu to this sensitive but self-consciously doomy paean to first love.

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from July 1, 2013
Engel's debut novel tells a familiar story, that of the intensity of first love and its almost certain abatement. Lita Del Cielo, the daughter of two orphaned, now wealthy Columbians, settles in at the House of Stars in Paris for a year of study abroad. The tragic and fabulous Countess S'raphine rents out rooms in her charming, crumbling home to a brood of wealthy, lineage-rich girls for whom the residence serves as an ornate backdrop to their s'jour. Through this new estrogen-drenched lifestyle of nonchalant studies and laissez-faire relationships, Lita meets Cato, and her study of international relations suddenly takes on new meaning. Complicating their young love is Cato's sometimes debilitating illness and his father, a xenophobic right-wing politician. It's a classic case of star-crossed lovers. Yet Engel's remarkable, razor-sharp prose transforms this banal situation into a wholly unique and tender conflict. Her evocative descriptions authenticate the couple and their emotions, preserving the delicate balance between innocence and rebellion. As Lita struggles with acceptance abroad, familial obligations, and the concept of home, she is forced to make her hardest decision to date. A compassionate read that honors all that should be treasured about those intense first experiences.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2013

Lots of readers have wanted to know what Engel would write after her arresting debut, Vida, a PEN/Hemingway finalist. And here it is, an enticingly written work featuring Lita del Cielo, daughter of two Colombian orphans who made a fortune in America in the Latin food market. She's not hanging around, though, but going to Paris for a year to study before taking her place in the family business. In Paris, Lita rents a room in Countess Seraphine's decaying mansion-cum-boarding house and eventually finds love with sweet, introspective Cato, son of a virulent right-wing politician. Now what happens to her plans?

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013

In 1997, American Lita del Cielo receives the blessing of her Colombia-born parents to study in Paris for a year. The House of Stars, the shabby-chic Left Bank mansion-turned-boarding house where she resides, is filled with an assortment of international coeds and their assorted lovers, watched over by a countess house mother. At first aloof, Lita soon meets Cato, the son of a controversial French political figure, and embarks on a relationship that might force her off the path her parents have set for her--joining them in their successful family business. VERDICT A follow-up to Engel's award-winning short-story collection, Vita, this debut novel tells a timeless tale of fragile young love and awakening in the City of Light. Perfect for fans of foreign-set contemporary fiction and classic literature alike, it could also appeal to mature young adults, and reading groups may find Engel worthy of discussion after reading Ernest Hemingway or Henry Miller. [See Prepub Alert, 2/11/13.]--Jennifer B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll.-Northeast

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.