Reviews

“He must know that a diamond bracelet would not solve their crisis.”  Harris delves into the themes of adultery and betrayal, creating a compelling narrative. The author conveys Marian's feelings of rage and betrayal, allowing readers to connect with her on a deeper emotional level. One pivotal moment in the story is the phone call that makes Marian realize her husband's infidelity. Harris emphasizes this phone call and the emotions it evokes in Marian, which creates a vivid mental image of that specific event. Furthermore, the author explores the loss of trust that occurs after being cheated on and the difficulty of rebuilding that trust. Harris skilfully discusses this complex process throughout the narrative. As a result, readers who have faced similar situations can empathize with Marian and understand her emotions. Those who have experienced marital challenges will find themselves relating to the characters. Readers will appreciate this book for its many twists and turns.

A cleverly crafted and emotionally nuanced novel…a layered and brutally honest tale of responsibility, victimhood, compromise, and resilience… Marian, a hyperreal painter preparing for her debut exhibition in Paris, finds herself at the center of a personal, political, and ethical disaster that triggers a deep personal reckoning… Frequently capturing the tension of a couple on the rocks—with painful accuracy—the novel places a microscope on a crisis that further strains the bonds of loyalty and the expectations of a romantic partner. Marian’s complex relationship with motherhood, loss, and her grief…makes for some of the most emotionally poignant moments in the prose. These plot elements are coupled with mature and pragmatic examinations of adultery, forgiveness, and the struggle for balance between personal fulfillment and professional success.

Paris is itself an irreplaceable character in the narrative, with its architectural history and cultural allure driving plotlines and drawing characters toward world-famous locales and the quaint corners of uncommon arrondissements. Whether or not a reader has spent time in Paris, this reading experience offers either a visceral reminder, or a vicarious portal. The prose also offers a thought-provoking reflection on the cultural impact of unrestricted and irresponsible tourism, and the human cost of notoriety, addressing the burdens of fame in the age of social media, the exhausting pursuit of pure artistry, and the savagery of mob mentality, especially when fueled by blind nationalism… A surprisingly cerebral and philosophical story—a vulnerable and provocative “critique of persistent fantasies,” which delivers a vivid portrait of a marriage in decline, an artist striving to find her element, and a legendary city in perpetual bloom.

Joe

A couple pushing fifty should not be facing a storm of public controversy that embroils them in immigrant issues, places them in the middle of a clash between Parisian left- and right-wing forces, and tests their moral and ethical responsibilities to themselves, each other, and the community. And yet, the couple’s simple attempt at connection creates a broader backlash over choice and consequence that ultimately tests their connection on even deeper levels. Jennifer Harris crafts a powerful story about accidental death, redemption, and ripples of effect that hold unintended results. As Rania, Todd, and a host of characters swirl around the couple, events involve them in the Parisian community’s social issues and makeup in unexpected ways: More Africans sold more giraffe bangles and carved elephants. French national glory survived despite the sale of ‘trinkets’ that angered inner city mayors. The unwanted persons who were historically locked out of the glory were still locked out.

Readers interested in the landscape of battered marriages, Parisian affairs, or immigration will appreciate how Harris dovetails these issues to create a powerful interlocked inspection of intrigue and social reflection. The intersection of artistic and moral questions is nicely done, especially given their complexity.

Libraries interested in adding to their collections novels that defy pat categorization while providing much food for thought about contemporary social issues and the flux of personal lives alike will welcome Paris Locked. It sports the ability to consider how populations are locked out, locked in, or locked away by their own dreams, desires, and destructive and constructive options, from art to efforts to capture key moments in life that then take on new life themselves.

Jennifer Harris casts xenophobic clouds over the City of Light in her absorbing but not-for-everyone psychological thriller, “Paris Locked,” which combines Hitchcockian suspense with headier issues of genuineness and responsibility in art. Of most interest for the general reader, though, will undoubtedly be the Hitchcockian element, which finds Australian artist Marian Featherstone opening an exhibit of what she calls her hyperrealistic art—paintings of children fashioned from photographs—at a Paris gallery curated by a Tunisian woman whose scary husband shares philandering predilections (in his case, combined with occasional violence) with Marian's husband, Jason… Marian discovers an instance of Jason's betrayal that makes for the novel’s precipitating crisis when, in a would-be reaffirmation of their love, the two affix a “lovelock” to a panel of Paris’ Pont des Arts bridge, an apparently common romantic gesture for Parisian lovers but new to me. But inclement weather and faultiness of the panel to which they’ve attached their lock cause the panel to break loose and fall… What if immigrants end up being punished for what they did, wonders Marian, who is more inclined than Jason to step forward… both [Harris’] novels raise not just important artistic concerns but moral ones as well. In “Bonn” [“The Devil Comes to Bonn”] for instance, the protagonist must weigh the very real peril that she could be putting herself and her husband in by working for the Resistance against the thousands of innocents she could be saving, and in “Paris,” Marian must weigh the undoubtedly unpleasant consequences for herself and her husband in coming forward against the scores of immigrants that she could be saving from roundups reminiscent of World War II.

This is a captivating and haunting read. I adored the Paris setting; the wintry backdrop helps with the emotions of the characters.

Marian and Jason have headed to the City of Love to work on their marriage, however when a tragedy happens after they visit the Pont des Arts and add their lock, instead of it being a symbol of starting again it spirals them back into the grief they never worked through… This was a very detailed novel and often had a lot of depth with the feelings and guilt Marian was dealing with.