Elegance of the Hedgehog ...

Wow!  I have finished reading this beautiful novel ...it was fabulous!  It took me a while to empathise with the two alternating narrators:  Renee is the 54 year old concierge, of humble origins yet highly  although secretly educated.  12 year old Paloma is an intelligent daughter of one of the wealthy residents of number 7, Rue de Grenelle, who rejects the bourgeois and plans to commite suicide on June 16, her birthday) But I steadily became enthralled by the story.  It did feature some surprise twists - I won't give too much away - although I was a little saddened by the final event before the novel's conclusion ....   I would have liked a little more on the developing relationship between Renee and Paloma, more on the interaction between them to convince me of their connection, although it was credible.  I totally believed in - and found myself hoping for the blossoming of - the relationship between Renee and Monsieur Ozu.  It is a story about friendship, intelligence versus the class of intelligentsia, fate, wealth and status ... It was just so different, and so lovely, intellectually challenging, and yet imparting some basic messages about life, love, culture and the state of the world.  Adorable!