It’s really not fair when a book has its best descriptor in the actual title, but VANESSA YU’s MAGICAL PARIS TEA SHOP truly is magical. As with Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, Roselle Lim brings magical realism to her story about a woman who has fought her gift for clairvoyance for years.
Vanessa lives in the Bay Area and is an accountant in her close knit family’s import/export business. Never really embracing her ability as a fortune teller, the prophecies come tumbling out when she looks into the bottom of a glass, often a tea cup. Her Auntie Evelyn also has the gift and finally invites Vanessa to Paris to help open a tea shop and work on harnessing and refining her skills.
Vanessa’s trip to Paris is the stuff dreams are made of! Lush with art and museums and romance, plus vivid descriptions of food. Vanessa is a big foodie and her Paris experience is a mouthwatering gastronomic delight. At times it has a dreamy quality to it, as she meets the man she falls in love with while chasing a scarf that’s gotten away in the wind. If you’re looking for an escape this summer, this book truly is it.
I loved Vanessa’s meddling crew of aunties and the total familiarity of the Asian representation in the book (Vanessa is Chinese American). Mandarin and Hokkien are as familiar to her ears as English. Both Vanessa and Evelyn have made choices based on familial and cultural expectations. Evelyn is a gruff but ultimately loving auntie who sacrificed even more than Vanessa first realized.
But even in a book that’s magical, reality is never more than a blink or two away. VANESSA YU has a subplot in which other local merchants are boycotting Evelyn’s shop, calling for shoppers to “patronize only true Parisian businesses.” As Vanessa points out matter-of-factly, “That’s racism disguised as nationalism.”
VANESSA YU is very much women’s fiction with romance in it, so don’t expect the relationship to be the focus. It’s about Vanessa coming to terms with her gift, figuring out who she is, and where she wants to fit in the world. And in fact, for me, the other romance in the story is the one that’s really satisfying. As Auntie Evelyn says:
“‘Enjoy every moment of it while it lasts.’ A somber tone entered her voice. ‘This city breathes fairy tales. Romance runs through its cobblestones, builds its beautiful palaces, and fuels the stone guardians overlooking the skyline. It’s so easy to fall in love. But to stay in love?'”
Well, I definitely fell in love with Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop. Highly recommend.
The book hits shelves August 4. Check out this list of indies who have a limited number of signed bookplates available for pre-orders.
4 stars
Get VANESSA YU’s MAGICAL PARIS TEA SHOP from The Ripped Bodice | Amazon | Apple Books | IndieBound | Bookshop.org
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