The saddest thing about love

Author : Guillaume Musso
Title : The Girl On Paper
Published : 23/11/2011
Pages : 320
Genre : contemporary fiction
Publisher :  Gallic Books






     Just a few months ago, Tom Boyd was a multi-million selling author living in LA, in love with a world-famous pianist. But after a very public break-up, he's shut himself away, suffering from total writer's block with only drink and drugs for company. One night, a beautiful, naked stranger appears in Tom's house. She claims to be Billie, a character from his novels, who has fallen into the real world because of a printer's error in his latest book.

     I was first introduced to this author by someone I seen in a long time but the author stuck with me. His way of writing characters shine off the page and for me at least means I all ways end up feeling a deep connection to them. This time the author chose to set his book on the themes of a writer who is struggling to live up to his own hype and also the trouble he is facing in his personal life.

     Once again the author managed to captivate me from the first few chapters. We are first introduced to our hero Tom Boyd. This is someone who on the surface could come across very superficial. The supers star author who completely falls apart under the pressure of fame. But the author has selected a story for him that will make you fight for his side. This is a story of a kid who came from nothing and has fought tooth and nail for everything he has got. In the process, he has taken other with him in the hopes of giving them a better life. With these people, we also get a supporting cast that has flesh to them. I was given enough from them so as not to make them feel like cardboard people. As for Billie Our fictional heroine from a book within a book. She is detailed and gives breath back into our writer's life. At times feeling over the top with her blasé attitude she fits well and throughout the book, we get to feel a connection with a person that within the context of the book is not flesh and blood entirely.

     This is a story that is told to us in an easy manner. What is essentially a romance book takes on some very dark topics and leads our band of charters to some place some may find hard to read. I felt it added a balance to the book that otherwise I probably would have lost interest in after the first few chapters. It all told makes it hard not to connect with these people on an emotional level. For our three friends, they carry a bond that has held them together since childhood. And while our author chose to test this to the limit at times I was all ways left feeling there would be hope for them. And when Billie falls into Tom's life it allows not only for all hell to break loose but also allows us to question what it truly means to be human. The only troubling part of this story for me at least was Tom's obsession with his ex-girlfriend. For me, it felt a little bit dark and sick with the way he chases after even after she has told him to leave her alone. But I guess this is the catalyst for everything to come.

     As I've said overall this is an enjoyable read, fast paced with enough emotion behind his characters to draw you into the plot. The fantasy elements Worked for me and give the story a lighter feeling than might otherwise have occurred and offset the darker tones. From Child abuse, addiction and life-threatening illness, this book does seem to cover the gambit. But for me, it was worth the time I put into it.