Author(s): Kirsten Lobe

World fiction

A glamorous fish-out-of-water first novel, "Paris Hangover" stars Klein, a just-escaped New Yorker with trunks full of fabulous footwear but without the significant relationship she'd really expected and longed to have by now, in her mid-thirties. Fleeing a live-in lover and their sleek TriBeCa triplex as well as a career in fashion, Klein starts over in Paris-in a tiny walk-up in the 6th that she had to lie (in broken Franglais) and write a bad cheque to get, only to discover that, among other things, Parisian apartments don't come with kitchens. Living out of her ten piece luggage set (Louis Vuitton, natch), Klein plunges into the mysterious world of French men and dating. She muddles her way through: the sexy Renaud, the prototypical Frenchman; dating three men named Jean simultaneously; and one completely wrong Monsieur Married Man, who wants Klein for his very well kept mistress. Set against a backdrop of knowing references to Paris and its unique manners and mores, "Paris Hangover" is a very satisfying modern romance.