Praise & Reviews

★ “Toggling seamlessly in time between the present and the 1940s, Gable (The Summer I Met Jack, 2018) handles Mitford’s actual and Cabot’s fictional romantic and professional challenges with a sparkling sauciness… Gable’s vision of Nancy Mitford’s wartime years sheds the light of probability on a relatively unexamined portion of her life and career. A cunning blend of historical fiction, fetching romance, and literary thriller, Gable’s newest novel is sure to reinvigorate interest in Mitford and beguile fans of light-hearted relationship fiction.”

—American Library Association Booklist (starred review)

“A book feast for book lovers!… Each thread is laced with humor and witty characters whose banter we thoroughly enjoyed.”

—Greatist (“Best Historical Fiction Books,” Summer 2021)

★ “Gable’s witty narrative effortlessly moves between two time periods and is enriched with cameos by historical figures and authentic, memorable characters. Historical fiction fans will be riveted from the first page.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The shenanigans of the provocative, outrageous Mitford sisters were once well known: Nancy, the writer; Pamela, the farmer; Diana, the fascist; Unity, the Hitler sympathizer; Jessica, the communist; Deborah, the duchess. Gable’s novel revives them and their beloved brother Tom in vibrant detail…A riveting page-turner that will leave you exclaiming, vive la littérature!”

—Toronto Star

“A thoroughly entertaining tale based on the life of a legendary author, with wit, humor, and intrigue on every page.”

—Susan Meissner, bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things

“Gable’s ingenious story connects two struggling authors, eighty years apart, and is an ode to fans of Nancy Mitford and book lovers everywhere. Filled with crisp dialogue and populated with delightful, intriguing characters, the novel sings with wit and wisdom.”

—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

“The Bookseller’s Secret is a captivating story about the inimitable Nancy Mitford while she was working in a bookshop in wartime London, and an American author who visits the city in the present day and becomes immersed in the search for a lost manuscript. Michelle Gable has a gift for describing complex, charming characters, and her Nancy steps out of the pages in all her witty, irreverent glory. This is an engrossing page-turner about books and war, and finding love in unexpected places.”

—Gill Paul, bestselling author of Jackie and Maria and The Collector’s Daughter

“Michelle Gable is a whiz at weaving stories out of romantic interludes, thrilling spy-craft, and mystery. In this latest release, she chooses a famous London book shop for setting, a woman who needs to make a living during WWII, and intrigue that seems to meet her around every corner. Couple that with a dual time-period (the other taking place in our-time Virginia, USA) and it has become a compelling, spine-tingling, brain nudging, thrilling mystery with a book-lover’s literary blessing. Historical fiction at its best. Enjoy!”

—Linda Bond, Auntie’s Bookstore (Spokane, WA)

“Gimme a book about a bookstore and the 1940s any time. Great for fans of The Paris Orphan and/or The Last Bookshop in London.”

—Hannah Oxley, Mystery to Me (Madison, WI)

“Nancy Mitford jumps off the pages of this retelling of the novelist’s time running a bookstore during WWII. Fascinating details give this book a layered history of another aspect of the war and what happened.”

—Suzanne Lucey, 158 Books (Wake Forest, NC)

“Gable brings her her flair for multigenerational stories rooted in New England summers to this inspired-by-a-true-story tale that will appeal to Kennedy watchers, seasonal romantics, and fans of old Hollywood.”

—Booklist

“Based on true events from the life of American socialite Alicia Corning Clark, the story offers an alternate Kennedy family history that will leave readers wondering whether America knew the real JFK at all. A riveting tale about America’s most romanticized family.”

—Kirkus Reviews

 

“Gable (A Paris Apartment and I’ll See You in Paris) seamlessly weaves this modern love story with history, ensuring romantic tension that doesn’t end with the acceleration of Jack’s career. VERDICT: Based on real events, this compassionate and intelligent blend of Adriana Trigiani’s All the Stars in the Heavens and Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.’s Empty Mansions offers massive cross-genre appeal.”

—Library Journal (starred review)

“[Clark] proves as fascinating a figure as JFK and both are explored here with much imagination. A must-read.”

—Toronto Star

“Grade: A”

—The Boston Herald

“Gable has a gift for writing conversational style, and the interactions between characters are filled with humor and sass. It’s Gable’s ability to weave a family’s tale through the musings of summer visitors, war, relationship drama and a smattering of sexual tension that makes it a must for any summer reading list.”

—The Star-Telegram

“Gable cleverly illuminates the past, revealing how it mirrors the present. This is a splendid multigenerational novel about the strength of the women of Cliff House.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A sure bet for women’s-fiction fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Nantucket novels.”

—Booklist

“Books for mom to enjoy: A deep look at the strength of women, this will tantalize readers as they, along with Bess, learn of her family.”

—The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

 

“Readers of Kate Morton and those who enjoy family-centered mysteries will approve highly of this book.”

—Library Journal

“Gable tells an engaging story of a fascinating historical figure against the backdrop of two fledgling romances.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Gable’s novel provides a wonderful, highly literate mystery…The plot involves stories within stories, an almost ‘Wuthering Heights’ narrative complexity…I’LL SEE YOU IN PARIS, a highly entertaining literary mystery, abounds with strength of character and ‘characters’ too.”

—The Roanoke Times

“Gable has crafted another page-turner of a good read, filled with history, mystery and a dash of romance…This is the sort of fun, escapist read that is beloved by book clubs. There are characters to love, characters to hate, enticing settings and a requisite amount of plot twists.”

—The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Open the book and lose yourself as the three stories unfold. Gable beautifully crafts correlations among the characters…but readers aren’t likely to have all the details figured out before the last page. And that’s what makes turning the pages of I’LL SEE YOU IN PARIS so much fun.”

—Richmond Times-Dispatch

★ 04/15/2014

“April Vogt, a Sotheby’s expert on continental furniture, is sent to Paris to assess the furnishings in a decrepit apartment that hasn’t been unlocked in decades. The assignment comes just in time as April’s husband confesses to a one-night stand. April finds the apartment is filled floor to ceiling with priceless furniture pieces and works of art once owned by a Parisian demimondaine, Marthe de Florian. One particular portrait, painted by the Master of Swish, Giovanni Boldini, captures April’s attention. She yearns to know more about the woman in the painting and stumbles upon journals in the apartment. Aided by an irresistibly handsome French lawyer for the estate, April pores through journal entries discovering this forgotten woman lived a life among the world’s most renowned writers and artists. April connects with Marthe’s struggles, while working through her own life problems. VERDICT With its well-developed, memorable characters and the author’s skillful transitioning between story lines, finding similarities in the lives of two women decades apart, this stunning and fascinating debut will capture the interest of a wide audience but particularly those interested in stories about women behind famous men like Melanie Benjamin’s The Aviator’s Wife or Nancy Horan’s Under the Wide and Starry Sky. Highly recommended.”

—Library Journal (starred review)

“NEW AND NOTABLE: Michelle Gable is a financial executive who is a writer at heart. Now, she’s got the debut novel to prove it. The inspiration for A Paris Apartment began in 2010 when Gable’s agent sent her an intriguing article with the note: “I think you can do something with this.” A real-life Parisian flat, abandoned for 70 years, its contents frozen in time? Absolutely, she could. The novel follows April Vogt, a continental furniture specialist for Sotheby’s, on the assignment of a lifetime. She’s sent to Paris to evaluate the contents of the long-untouched apartment of Marthe de Florian, whom April gets to know through Marthe’s descriptive journals and letters about life in France in the early 1900s. Digging into the apartment’s secrets and its flamboyant former occupant offers an escape for April from her messy life back home.”

—The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“…a richly concocted plunge into the worlds of Marthe de Florian and an imaginary Sotheby’s auctioneer named April, who becomes obsessed with her. Through journals April reads — journal entries that intersect chapters about April’s own life — Gable fills in the empty spaces, silences and absences around the apartment and its discovery…Gable’s Paris of today and yesteryear are worlds that are easy and pleasurable to get lost in.”

—The San Diego Union-Tribune