Paris, 1959. As dusk settles over the immigrant quarter, 12-year-old Michel Marini - amateur photographer and compulsive reader - is drawn to the hum of the local bistro. From his usual position at the football table, he has a vantage point on a grown-up world - of rock 'n' roll and of the Algerian War. But as the sun sinks and the plastic players spin, Michel's concentration is not on the game, but on the huddle of men gathered in the shadows of a back room...

Past the bar, behind a partly drawn curtain, a group of eastern European men gather, where under a cirrus of smoke and over the squares of chess boards, they tell of their lives before France - of lovers and wives, children and ambitions, all exiled behind the Iron Curtain. Listening to this band of survivors and raconteurs, Michel is introduced to a world beyond the boundaries of his childhood experience, a world of men made formidable in the face of history, ideas and politics: the world of the Incorrigible Optimists Club.

I really enjoyed this book, even though it is a biggie. I think I already tried to take it to the monthly meetup and it didn't get picked up so am having another try.

On TBR pile

Really enjoyed this book which takes place in Paris from 1959-1964, with the story told through the eyes of 12 year old Michel Marini. He is a compulsive reader and amateur photographer and he spender s a lot of time in the local bistro, the Balto, playing ‘baby foot’, and getting to know a group of Eastern European men, who have fled their own countries for a range of reasons. They tell stories of their lives before France through the smoke haze and over the squares of the chess board. The Incorrigible Optimists Club introduces Michel into a world far beyond his own childhood experience, war, history, politics, life and death.

To be released at Meetup

Semi enjoyed