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April 15, 2026
My Year in Paris With Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy review
Biography mingles with fiction as Levy explores the avant-garde writer through the story of three female friends in Paris
TL;DR
- The "fiction" explores Gertrude Stein through a narrator's attempt to write an essay about her, highlighting linguistic puzzles and the concept of "it."
- The story follows three female friends in Paris: the English narrator, Eva (a graphic novelist), and Fanny (a financier).
- The narrative blends the narrator's present-day experiences with historical reflections on Gertrude Stein's life and Paris.
- The book examines themes of friendship, creativity, artistic struggle, and the challenges of comprehending another person's essence.
- Despite the narrator's doubts, the essay on Stein is completed, characterized as odd, inventive, and entertaining.