The elegance of the hedgehog

The elegance of the hedgehog/Muriel Barbery 325 pgs.

I listened to the audio of this book and it was brilliant. The 2 main characters are done by age appropriate narrators that add a lot to the story. This book was fairly popular when it came out and made it onto my "list" but I had not gotten to it. I am glad that I finally did and mostly enjoyed it very much. This is the story of Rene, a fifty-ish concierge who has lived a life of hiding her true self and her intellect. The second main character is Paloma, a suicidal twelve-year-old who feels like the false life around her is too draining to maintain her existence. When a new tenant, Japanese Kakuro Ozu moves into the building, he changes everything with his respectful friendship of both Rene and Paloma and brings them together. The writing is beautiful and I liked the story up until the end which did not satisfy. Still, I would not hesitate to recommend to someone who enjoys literary fiction and whole heartedly enjoyed the audio performance.