Sarah Jio is the internationally bestselling author of seven novels, including most recently THE LOOK OF LOVE. It’s the story of Jane Williams, who was born during a Christmas blizzard with a rare gift: the ability to see true love. It’s a magical story, if slightly implausible. Here, Sarah shares a story about another kind of magic --- the magic of the perfect book in the perfect place at just the right moment in time.
I was in Paris last month, just as the city was preparing for the holidays. There was a bitter cold to the air, lights were being strung up along the cobblestone streets, and the Christmas markets were just getting off to their start of the season. One chilly evening, my friend and I wandered into the legendary bookstore Shakespeare & Co. It was an awe-inspiring stop for an author. I climbed the creaky old staircase to the upper floor and soaked up the ghosts of Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds (hi Zelda!).
That evening, I decided to buy myself an early Christmas present. After going through a painful divorce this year, I'm alone for the first time in, well, ever, and there won't be any gifts under the tree with my name on them. So I bought myself a book that night in Paris. I ran across a copy of John Baxter's beautiful memoir, IMMOVABLE FEAST: A Paris Christmas. There was just something about "Paris" and "Christmas" in the title that made me swoon a little. Merry early Christmas to me.
And that night, still suffering from jet lag, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning and read it, cover to cover. I finished it with a croissant and double espresso just as the sun was coming up in Paris. Heartwarming, endearing and delicious --- in a single evening, thousands of miles away from home, I'd escaped my world in those pages, smiled, laughed, learned. Years later, I'll remember the joy it gave me and imagine myself cozied up in that hotel bed in the 16th arrondissement with a book in my hands. It was the perfect Christmas gift, even if I did buy it for myself.
