Monday, July 14, 2014

Review: Marcel Proust in Taos by Jon Foyt

Largest multistoried Pueblo structure. Taos, New Mexico, USA
In Marcel Proust In Taos, a Los Alamos physicist, Christopher, retires to Taos, New Mexico, with his cat Marcel Proust, to write a novel about nuclear terrorism. There he meets aspiring artist Marlene, from Germany, and the two fall in love. They open a microbrewery, using the brewing recipes passed down to Marlene from her brewmaster grandfather. However, together they find themselves confronting terrorism of a new sort with the matriarch of the Taos community, Agnes Havelock Powers, who strongly opposes having a brewery in town. Agnes is rich, powerful, and influential. She has the city authorities tucked in her purse next to her checkbook. Follow the exciting and charming love story of Marlene and Christopher in historical Taos, as they experience the challenges of confronting abusive power.

 
My Thoughts: This book was not what I was expecting. I was expecting to read a romantic story of a man and a woman opening up a brewery in Taos. However, this book had a lot more going on. I was quite surprised.

There were multiple stories in this novel. First, there was Christopher's and Marlene's relationship. Christopher was a retired physicist who was trying to write the next American novel while Marlene was trying to get her artwork displayed. Together, they decided to open up a brewery in the little town of Taos. Next, Christopher's novel took center stage of the book with Oscar being the main character. It was interesting to read how this book had a story within a story. Last, there was a terrorist plot outside of Christopher's novel. This did not appear until the last few chapters of the book and to be honest, it threw me off a bit. With so much going on, it had me wondering what was the main plot of this book.

What I did like the most about this book was Christopher's character. He was loving, patient, and caring. I absolutely adored how he talked to his cat Marcel Proust for advice. It was also fun to read how Christopher would have conversations with his main character Oscar. It even had me wondering if Christopher were a little crazy. His eagerness to be with Marlene and his wild idea of opening up a brewery was fascinating. Christopher sure was an enjoyable character to read.

As a whole, this book had more than what I was expecting. I thought it was cute but a bit confusing towards the second half of the book. I rate it:


 *I received a copy from the author for an honest review*
 
About the author: Striving for new heights on the literary landscape, Jon Foyt began writing novels following careers in radio, commercial banking, and real estate. He holds a degree in journalism and an MBA from Stanford and a second masters degree in historic preservation from the University of Georgia. An octogenarian prostate cancer survivor, Jon is active in an adult retirement community near San Francisco.

  Website * Goodreads

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