"The Paris Apartment" by Lucy Foley

You know he's only Jess's half brother. Well, guess what, he's also there half brother.

I don't think.

She goes and buys lingerie and her dad calls her a whore.

I would love to have a wine cave. I have a wine pile next to my trash can.

We went to Paris to be a dancer, and they told her she would be a dancer, but then they made her be a prostitute and she was pregnant and she died.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Meme book Club. This episode, we read The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Oh o oie she's Lucy.

Course, so quick, Gord.

What was I don't know what was that? I was not?

Okay? So I learned that throat is gorge. Gorge, Yeah, gorge, Okay, all right, quick gorge.

To the host or as always, we are mean. Book club reread New York Times bestsellers that maybe you did with your book club, but everyone loved them and you were like, wait, really wait wait.

Are well idiots? See you guys sending up the smartest person here tomorrow. And that feels that.

Is that is how it feels. That is how it feels, and sometimes we continue to disappoint by still liking it. But you know, usually we're the more Yeah, sometimes we're the morals, but you know we try. That's the goal is to rip it apart. I am one of your hosts, Sarah Burton.

I am one of your other hosts, Shanna Scrabis, And we've got Claremorris joining us, she says eminently. She says, Guys, a minute ago she texted one minute, so you go ahead and set your watches to that.

Well, minute ago she did. So the minute has already passed and she's not here.

So yeah, so go ahead place your bets.

Place your bets when she shall get here. But we can at least start. We can start talking about all the background stuff of the book. So, for example, Johanna, why do we read this one?

Well, Sarah, the reason we read it was it was a recommendation from Noah, our friend and listener. Okay, okay, Noah says, hello. I first want to say that I recently found your podcast and have quickly fallen in love with it. Great start, Noah. It's so funny to hear so many people agree with me on books that have such quote critical acclaim for a future episode. I would like to pitch that you read The Paris Apartment by

Well.

I can't wait for your next episode. And we were just joined by the one the only. Oh my god, it's Clara Morris looking diving in stripes.

Look at her today.

Wow, I didn't expect it.

Yeah, trying to get some new clothes to fit in my new ruined body.

I was recently telling Sabrina how ruined my body is, and I was like, really kind of going into detail in the way I probably didn't need to. And then she and our friend Andrew just kind of like stopped. And Andrew's like, I'm sorry, I don't I'm not trying to stare at your breasts. Just you keep talking about them. I was like, yeah, yeah, I no, yeah, yeah, you just doesn't understand.

Yeah, I understuddenly I understand how people could like hold a pencil under their sagging breast, you know what I mean. Yeah, you know, I'm saying it wasn't always like that. It wasn't always like that.

For me, it seems normal now, like of course you'd put a pencil there where?

All right? All right, Well, so we just found out Noah recommended The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. So how did you guys read it? How'd you consume it?

Oh? My goodness. So first of all, you should know that The Paris Apartment was a pleasure read for me. I have been reading Lucy Foley long before she ever came on the Meme book club scene, long before the guest List. I found her with Stag Party, loved her then, even though she clearly has issues with old friend groups in a way that bothers me deeply, It's all.

That I have.

And yeah, did this is? I was like, I was like one of the freaks. So it's like I knew Lucy Foley's coming out.

Let's go.

I got it right from the library. It was said it new fiction right on the side new fick.

Is this because of she did like an Ireland one. No, that's Sarah like.

She No, she did Ireland. That was the book that was that was the guest list that we bought the wedding on the Irish Isle.

Yeah.

Yeah, So Lucy is returning to the cast, which is never great for an I never want to come back a second time.

But yeah, but here we are here she is so so then I guess the question remains, how did you read it.

From the library like a booker audio or you know? I don't. I guess I do audio books not my real life. I do them for this cast what I don't know. But in my real life, I take time. I save her. I read a real book, I turned the little pages, I look at the cover.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, it's just a real book.

Oh my god, I book I did an audiobook. But I also just feel like I don't remember, since this isn't going to be as fresh for me.

It's interesting for anyone that's crazy you don't remember.

And then she took the turn as if it had to be like, why don't you have me go while you look it up?

Thank you for a second.

Thoughts together. It was an audio book. I had the audible you know subscription going already from the season the you know sunk costs fallacy. I think I'm using that correctly. Since I'm paying paid for it, might as well keep fucking paying for it.

Okay, I realized I found it. I did do an audiobook. I did it from the l A Public Library, which I have for you. Uh. I should not have a card too, but I pretended to be my sister in law so that I could get access to the LA Public Library.

This is insane because here's the thing. They both have the same name, law the same name. So I'm putting together that you must have posed your sister in law and like shown up at the library with your ID and been like, I lost my card and I needed to issue me a new once.

Well, they let me kill out the form and stuff, but they only gave me a temporary one and they said we'll send it to your address, which, of course I gave them my sister in law's address. So then I had to keep asking her if she received, if she received any.

Stole her identity and then he like followed up.

And then she did and I didn't go get it in time. I didn't realize that they then made you you had to do another step to confirm your identity based on something they send you in the mail. So I so I took too long to go get it, and then I had to go back and restart this huge weighting. But we got it. We're good now. I am the other Sarah Bird.

This is really horrifying abuse of the library, which only tries to do nice things for people.

You had to like, did you have to like take one of her like utility bills to be like.

No, no, okay, because they send it. They send you something the mail, which is like a code or something, and then you have to send that coach to email. And I didn't realize there wasn't it going to be another step.

You probably like.

Had to show them your ID with your driver's license and be like, this is my old address. I don't live there. Like the series of lies you went through so insane.

And it's because there's more the book available.

Yeah, yeah, they had more LA They have it more than my the Glendale So I had to huh, you know, I had to get it. You know, what's done's done. I had to uh, and then it's not that I did a bad pointing. Now we're good. Now we're good. Okay, now we're good.

We read the pit that you forgot that whole saga about, like, how did I read it? Maybe it was just a regular audiobook, no identity.

No, no, yeah, all right, so I guess now that we know that Johnna gibbers about the book, what did we land on for john Remember what's your literation?

Oh yeah, it's like Johnna's jack. Wow, it's it's a short summary. I just need one person, and I think Clara. I actually think Sarah would be the best for this. So sorry, it's excited.

Well, I studied Spanish.

I studied French, and I'll still butcher it, but I will try.

Well, it's you'll kind of see what kind of French it is.

I think, think, oh good, my kind of French. Okay, you have to do that it Sacra Blue, WEEWI I am ze Paris apartment.

Okay, I am elegant, I am chic. My bones are made of secrets. Inside these walls are many characters, all suspects in the murder. Maybe sacrab Blue, Jess as half brother Ben and oh a Nah. Everyone loves Ben or obsessed with him, but as a friend the lover and here's the thing.

Is he even.

Monte the attention.

One of one of your best.

Thank you.

There's not much in there.

Why why did you from the perspective of the building.

Yeah, yeah, it's hard because buildings aren't necessarily smart.

We don't have morons.

They're just.

Steel. Like they're pretty self absorbed.

You know, builds are made of secrets. Is pretty good, thank you.

Yeah. And the apartment, the building is the main character.

I would say, so it's the Paris apartment.

Yeah, I did.

I do think like the building did mention one name, and that's good and like to be honest, like if my apartment building knew the name of one person that lives in this household, I would that would be like more I would expect of it.

It was sort of I sort of expected of my buildings. Okay, at least know me. That's kind of your relationship, Yeah, Clay building. Yeah, yeah, I am sorry to go about life.

Yeah, main character.

Yeah, a bit more wit whimsical.

You know what, Johnna, You're you look pensive fingers and looking up into the air. I was just thinking of.

Something I did to my building recently, and it was kind of crazy. But I'm not sure if it's a story for the cast. It's kind of I don't know, really, I don't think it's sexual.

I don't know.

Like I noticed our walls like were like dinged up and stuff and had like a lot of like smudges that I wasn't able to get out with magic erasers. And then I saw that that upstairs they're doing some work in the building and they left this like big tub of paint right outside my apartment, so like real quick, when Devin went down for a nap, I like stole the big bucket of paint like like quickly, just like try to paint over all the like smudges on my wall.

No, yeah, okay, anything would be.

At all.

And when you're putting it on you you're seeing that it's not the right shade of white, but you're like it's.

Wet when it dries, Yeah, I guess it's wet. It's tricky. So many whites, so many shades of white. Learned that when we were.

Do you like the paint better than the smudges?

Good question, Yes, I actually do I do.

And it comes with an insane story, how did you return the paint?

I got it back out there. It was a Saturday, and I like had to like wash their like brushes, equipment and stuff too, to be like because they like clearly weren't used.

You didn't even use your own brushes.

I had my own brush, but they had it was like one of those paint trays and stuff.

Okay okay, and like.

Not working because it was a sadd well that's.

What I was betting on. And then I put it all back out there, and like ten minutes later they came in to get their stuff. It was so close. I like, I'm sure all their stuff was like kind of wet, you know, because I had washed it so but like probably like what what are they going to do? Knock on doors and be like excuse me? Did you wash our paint?

Ray?

And I was like, but I got away with it, you know, Like how are they going to know? Except that there are these clear marks on the water in the wrong color paint. And then I looked down at Willow and he had a white streak, and I was like, in my mind, I was like, how would they ever know? And I like look down to my dog cover.

They definitely, they definitely clocked that and they know what you did.

Yeah, I'm sort of taken aback by the boldness.

Oh yeah, it is shocking.

If I sort of think of it as like a bit of a manic episode, I think.

It was.

Crime is victimless. I'm not like.

About just a little bit of pain just doing.

It like I'm like belonging to the building, building anxiety that comes with it. Sure, it was high and like I'm also trying to sort of daughter took a nap, like and she like sometimes naps for ten minutes.

Like it was a crazy oh done, really crazy done done. Yeah, that's what I imagine was playing.

It wasn't you did it? Cool?

Well now it is.

So anyway the parents apartment, you guys. Yeah, I guess I should talk about I would like to provide a little bit more of a summary for real though basically you have Jess is are just just quickly before I get into like a little bit more about the book. Jess is a British person because Lucy Foley is British, so she writes it she knows. And she goes to Paris to visit her half brother Ben, and they've been

Do that? Right? Yeah? Where did go?

Where? Where be Ben? Okay? So the book, Oh, the wine selection, I didn't do one.

I mean, usually you can spin some some bullshit, but Paris.

There's a lot of alcohol related to Paris. Should should you try any v? No? Okay? What is that go with this?

Ale wife Brewing Queens, New York? A sunnyside blonde left in my fridge?

Anybody blond? Was anybody blonde?

Was anyone blonde in the whole book? I don't think so specifically Queen's News.

And it was really rainy. It wasn't even sunny blond.

Yeah, he thanks Clara.

This is inspired by anything, all right? Sure I don't remember, but yeah, maybe he was.

And that's why it was so surprising that he was French. In the French family with the dark haired people, I.

Would fail in Paris so hard as a human being.

Are you basing that on this book?

This book? And just like what I know of French people, like they just seem like they're kind of a classier.

Better intimidating perhaps, Yes, give.

Me a little bit about this book. It was a March twenty twenty two New York Times bestseller. Numero uno.

Wow.

The book was named one of the most anticipated books of the year by Goodreads, which you know what that means. Uh.

I hate to say this, John, but I noticed you didn't link to that New York Times bestseller.

No, no, no, it is a bestseller. I looked, I saw the listing myself.

I was confirmed.

Okay, great, okay, so we have to trust your memory. Yeah, because you didn't link to it. But that was just haste.

Not it was haste not Given what's happened earlier in the season, I would have thought you would have wanted to.

Have it, what be double checked and find out we're fucking wrong again? I don't think so. Why don't we move on?

All right? Good keep going?

It was called a quote good bet read another strike against it in twenty twenty two. Basically, I guess immediately Pump Publication three thousand Pictures, a division of Sony, purchased the film rights, and I just read an interview with Lucy Foley April twenty eighth, twenty twenty five. It's now been shifted to a TV project instead of films, so it seems like it's still happening.

Maybe so they're just make it last longer. I don't see it.

All right, Yeah, I don't know that there's enough here to be I think she might have said something like, yes, I'm such a big fan of only murders in the building. It's like the American version of this very story. Yeah, no, they're different. But I found out from a Goodreads reviewer that this kind of book is called a locked Room Mystery, which I thought was really cool and at first, I wondered if that was because it was all set in

So that's a cool I'm confused because, oh, I guess I don't want to give away the twist or I don't want to go into the twist. Sorry, I yeah, I think so. You're right, there was there is a murder.

But throughout the book you are assuming that Ben was murdered in his right.

But like, I don't know that it was impossible for the perpetrator to enter the crime scene because we'd ever like see the actual crime till the very end, we don't know.

But it wasn't the door locked when Lucy, like it was the thing where it was like the whole room was locked from the inside when Ben went missing, right, he gets taken out through a like fire place.

That must be it all right, all right?

Yeah, I'm gonna it's to.

Pay attention to the details.

I might not remember. But okay, okay, all right, keep looking.

I'm gonna defend this nameless good reader to the death. Okay. The author Lucy Fuley, I'm sure we got into this before, but she was an editor at a publishing company before.

This convenient awfully convened.

That seems like cheating, but okay, fine, she says herself.

I came to writing through a love of reading. I previously worked with I previously worked with books as a fiction editor, a literary agent, a bookseller, to literary Scout, literary Scout. It's so funny to me to phrase that, is, I previously worked in books with books.

In this like books is like a human.

Yeah, it's like a famous movie star. She I didn't know this or I didn't remember it. She wrote three historical fiction novels before she wrote the thrillers, which she said has credited like those. I think that's cool, and I think it like also is a credit to her

How old is she? How old?

I'm not sure?

Yeah, like when did she fit big? I guess with guest we always do like to know that.

Oh she was born in nineteen eighty six.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, I like that age.

Yeah, so she like that birth year currently thirty eight and the guest List was published in twenty twenty, so okay, all right, all right, and she wrote, Remember she wrote three books before that, three whole books before that, you know what.

Okay, Okay, that's how some people want to spend their lives writing books.

Fine, She's an Agatha Christie fan. She also likes cats books and at Amammy Dumplings. Here's a cat's Oh fair.

I was ignoring that, I mean, but you know it's fine.

Here's my issue with Lucy Foley. I guess like I always like to dig to find like a weird interview from the author, just like something off putting they've said something in their Instagram that we can like ridicule, you know, or or you know. What often happens is I fall in love with them in their Instagram because they have a picture of a dog they met one time. They're such a good person, which.

Is and.

Lucy fully has like nothing that's like even worth commenting on in any of her interviews, you know what I mean, Like everything's so just like good answer neutral that I'm almost annoyed about it.

Okay, Well, she worked in publishing, right, so maybe she like knows how to do an interview that is not going to get y killed.

Yeah.

Like it's almost like she prepared in every way to be on this podcast and was like, I'm gonna give them nothing, all right.

I guess we'll just have to make fun of the book.

Yeah, fine, I like, uh huh right yeah, and then I mean I have characters written down, and I do have one kind of fun little answer as the author twist on answers twisty. Yeah, it is so early to sweet tease. But yeah, I don't know. We can just get into the book if you if you do it like that.

Let's see if I have wrote any notes for it, or if it's going to be all from top of noggin.

I'm going nogin. That's that's the brit.

It looks like I did it is it is going to be knocking for me. Uh what maybe I did I not even maybe I highlighted things. I'm just sorry.

I guess I'll we could talk about it.

So let her spin, let her cook.

We're from the point of view cook, We're from the point of view of Jess. And it's her half brother Ben, right, and I guess an interesting thing about their childhood is that they were orphans and then he was adopted and she wasn't. But there's still all each other have now seems it.

Seems yeah, and he got adopted by rich family and she did it. And I feel like there was like alluding to her past, but I don't remember ever hearing like I was like, oh, was she abused or something? But do we ever find out this is where I don't or.

Did I blase that she found the mom who had killed herself.

Well that like fat like discovered the body of Yes.

So that and that's their actual mom between Ben, yes, and so they're not. So she is in the beginning of the book, she is it's like really late at night, she's showing up at Paris. She stuck like her brother, you know, she's basically he's wealthier, than her. She's using him.

Of the entryway of the building, like just like this like wrought iron gate, really cool front door, you know, like something she didn't usually experience in her own life.

Right, And so she's not he's not letting her in. So she used to do a few sneakies to get through to get into the apartment, which.

I would have had no problem doing, you guys.

Yeah, yeah, but her brother, like everything, her brother's stuff is all there, which is now which is bad bad on the killer, Like why wouldn't you've taken his like wallet and keys? Why did they not do that?

Oh, just to create the suspicion that he was out Yeah in the town.

Seems obvious.

They didn't know what your name was coming, so they didn't know, Like yeah, I probably thought that just even exists. Yeah, so maybe they thought they had lots of time.

Like me with the pain. It's like they're not coming out on a Saturday, I guess what. Yes, we are in ten minutes.

Yes, all right, that's fair. I accept that. But yeah, so so it's basically just we're following her trying to figure out what's going on with their brother. But she's

And then she does get the police involved because Ben's friend in the apartment building is like, I'll help you out talk in French. She doesn't know French. Yeah, and he sort of takes over and is in charge, and that's when you realize Ben Nick is his name. Nick is bad because it's very obvious. It's not told to you. We're not supposed to figure it out.

But they're kind of they're kind of they're kind of like flirting a lot. There's like a moment when they almost kissed. This happens, yes, I'm not saying yes, okay, which is weird because we find out that Nick, like who is Ben's old college friend and helped him get this apartment in Paris, that he kind of like blew. He was kind of like had a guessing the crush it Ben, he I think there's a lot of reference

Know there was murdered Amsterdam.

Yeah yeah. But anyway, so then I was like, this is weird. Are you just like into the half sister just because you're in you were into the brother and you're like, this is as close as I can get.

And there's all this allusion to Nick's father being a bad guy. Yeah, and seems like his big issue was he like, at his sixteenth birthday or something, his present was a prostitute. That's right, yes, and so that's our first.

Crime, not good crimes.

A lot of different but that and he didn't like it because he's not because he's straight. Yeah, but still could be a thing. Still was rooting for Nick or sorry Ben, rooting Nick, Nick and Jess to get together. Was rooting for them.

For them because I knew that Nick was definitely lying to the police about jess brothers Ben's disappearing.

She's she's not perfect, perfect.

Surefect sure seems a little out of nowhere for me, even for just to be thinking about that when your brother's missing and you're like going straight.

From but when are raised, we're so worried, we're scared, like, oh, and now we're making out like it happens. Guys, it happens.

In the books we read, but I don't think it happens, you know, And the books are they're always just like we're gonna die tonight by having to fight each other in this cage match.

Yeah, first, but fighting and fucking are so close?

Are they?

Who says that the books the books?

Again? Okay, anyway, it didn't work out for them, sadly. There was another Who's the other man?

The other man is Anton Antoine.

I thought they were this Wait, is that the guy he worked for and was like pitching something to.

Is someone else who lives in the building. He's like drunk and.

Loud and I don't remember him. The building is you.

That makes sense because here's the thing. Lucy fully introduced so many characters into this building and there are a lot of them are really similar, and Anton is literally his character is just like I'm an alcoholic. And it's to the point where we don't even get any chapters from his POV because I guess all he would say was like, I'm a new grador.

Yeah. I also thought Nick the old Ben's whole college friend, who is you know we should be suspicious of. I thought he was the same person as the Ben's editor for a while, who I think is Like I guess that also confused me.

We've said that Ben is a journalist who's in Paris, who.

Lucy does eventually hook up with.

Yeah, oh yeah, for sure. Sorry, sorry, but Ben is a journalist and he's about to crack a big story. So there is a little bit of intrigue around, like is this joy?

He's why he went right, And like any good journalist does, all that he told this editor was that it's really good. You know, it's going to be really good. I'm not going to give you any information at a time.

Yeah, so that's all the only pitch I need. I believe it was freelance. Yeah, it wasn't like they knew him very well.

Yeah, it was silly that he wouldn't have said anything but sure, okay, but.

Fine, but fine, fine ruins the book. If he said what the article, then that is a proper love interest for Jess. Now, this editor who kind of gets in on the mystery, Yeah it has been, He wonders, this will make a good story, a little insuld into Jess to the extent that, oh, yeah, I remember this.

Why did she get upset about it?

She got so upset that then she ran away into a big protest and got maced.

Like the yeah, why I don't know why she was upset about it. Honestly, I'm like, uh, he had he can have ulterior ulterior motives and still like he's you know, it's not his brother, he's not going to be as like. It'd be weird if he was as.

Like, and he's like investing in when you are, who's helping to be so upset that you run away in a strange city where you don't know where you are. It's like, store in the back of your head and let him help you get home because you don't know where you are, right.

But I also think she should have it wasn't that big of an ideot and then upset about.

Him quite confusing at that point in the book because it was like crooked police were coming after them, but also they were in the middle of some unnamed protest.

Remember were coming Oh yeah.

I was like, I don't think we needed the background of protests, right, just sort of confusing me.

I assume the French police are very corrupt. Yeah, yeah, they're a group to fear.

So yeah. Sophie as another character who was an older woman who looks there was a lot of pov from her. I did at the beginning enjoy the switching p o vs because it was I'll say that, like because at the beginning the way you're like seeing Jess arrive and you're seeing all these people notice her or notice the sounds, and.

It helped if you are like not super paying attention, because.

Yeah, we were all again and again and.

Again, right if you were paying attention.

But it was so for me it worked at the beginning that like seeing because we're like, you know, getting kind of the same series of events from different angles. But then like after that, I was like, this is it just was confusing after that, I think, yeah, switching.

Especially trying to picture parts of the building with its multiple secret passageways or whatever the fuck it's like dumb waiters that turned into a secret basement or something like.

Yeah, she had a drawing, but I did an audiobook.

Really cool. So Sophie's the one that had the really cool wine cave downstairs too, right with the old like thousand year old bottles of wine.

Hey, that was also in what was that old person's spy book we did just a few weeks.

Yeah, they had wine cave, came into came in handy for a murder.

Yeah, and he.

Would love to have a wine cave. I have a wine pile next to my track.

Can I feel like I could also keep drinks next to the tread.

I don't like that. I don't like it, but it's the only place that we have room.

Who were we? Who were the like red herrings? Like who are we supposed to suspect for a while, because I feel like I had no I didn't suspect anyone until it was the killer And this is happening, And so.

I think memispect MEMI because she is drawing Ben in the nude from her like apartment.

Okay, me, Me's the young woman. She's kind of like obsessed with him. And then oh, she has paintings where she like xed out his eyes.

Yes, it seems like she's in love with him and was like a scorned.

Oh, I totally forgot about that hole.

And she side plot had something where like she got kicked out of school for painting a teacher or something in a similar way.

I guess she was weird, but it didn't seem like that weird to me. I don't know.

And she was also described as so like slight that it's like, how could she kill this yeah hunk? Then everyone is a.

Love and so they set it up I guess so that you're like Mimi finds out that Ben, the missing Ben, was having an affair with her mother, who is Sophie.

Yes, yes, yes, the older woman in the apartment with the wine cave.

So that's a bit of a twist, is that all these people except for Ben who live there are related.

They're one family, which you don't know at the very beginning, just feels like, oh, this is an old couple, and then this is me MEI lives with her a friend who they don't seem like very good friends really, and yeah, anyway, so.

They all live in this you know, Paris apartment. So immediately I'm like, imagine how wealthy this family is that that much real estate?

They all the entire place, the whole building.

Yeah, each each of the three children has their own apartment.

It kind of feels like it's just a house, like a big house. They have an extra kitchens.

But you're probably like, how does Ben fit in all this?

Then?

All these people are brothers and sisters with a mommy?

Is Ben living here?

I'm doing here? Well, listeners, that's the twist Ben, I.

Guess, such as that they're all related.

Well, that was like bdy twist number one. Uh oh, Ben's related to you know, he's only Jess his half brother. Well, guess what, he's also their half brother?

Right what?

I don't think that was that true because wait, I don't know.

I mean, since I read the.

Book, I don't think Ben's there. His friends with me from college and because he wants to investigate this family because they have that line. But there's something fishy about that.

He has, like the prostitute business, the all those prostitutes, which is how he came.

The mother died and Jess.

No, that's how the the stepmother, the Sophie, she was a prostitute. That and that and then Mimi was the baby of a dead prostitute that they.

Yes, and they pretended right and is notated.

Well the way you were saying it, I was like wondering where you were going.

I was to be like, I really there to investigate this.

I did refresh on the book. Actually I really did. And I mean maybe no, no, I think I'm not.

Look I definitely mis stuff. But that's that would have been pretty I think that would have been also like why because I don't Yeah, right, But that's not the real I think the real the big, real twist is that Ben is alive.

Oh yeah, yeah, he had lost a lot of blood.

He was being kept by Sophie right like up in the attic or some shit. And but there was a dead body, which again was like I hadn't we hadn't seen. It's not like we were. The body was seen or presented to us in some way early in the book.

No, Like it was confusing. That was confusing the other characters. They were like what Nick was like, what Ben's alive?

My big son. Nick thought he was helping his family hide the fact that Ben was murdered by Mimi. But really me, me and Sophie murdered that their dad and husband.

So and then let's lay it out not in the order of the book.

Sure, sure, go ahead, go So.

Ben reveals or is about to reveal his draft on his computer that he is that the wine company is really prostitution and very illegal, very bad. Then Mimi finds it because she's obsessed with him and she likes to hang out in his apartment when he's not there, I guess, and she sends it to Nick, who sends it to the dad, who's a creep. Then the dad is basically in the process of murdering Ben, and Mimi sees it through the window and goes and kills the dad because.

She still loves Ben.

She loves Then the mom is like, let's okay, Ben's alive, he's gonna survive this. Let's put him in the attic to stay alive. Wrap up your dad in a sheet, and get your big strong brothers to bury him. And for some reason, I don't remember remember why.

I don't remember why.

Yeah, it was just one line where Sophie the mom was like, they would only help if they thought it was Ben. Was like the explanation which I don't know if it's truly. Both seem to have complicated relationships with their father.

Yeah, it seems like they may have been okay if she was like, we're gonna split the money from his yeah death, they I feel like they would have done it, but instead she was like, let me make this complicated by lying and then also keeping instead of telling Ben to get out here or like do something, be like I to keep him prisoner. Just seemed crazy. Yeah, where it was like their character wasn't crazy before, but now they're crazy.

So the brothers think that the little sister killed Ben. Is that accurate?

Yes?

Yes, And then and she thinks that they'll help for some reason, even they're not like blood related to the little sister. It's like a.

Step yeah, but they still think family. It's family. And she pretends to be the dad too.

It was alive, and that the dad is like do this.

Yes, they're getting like texts or something from the dad, but it's really Sophie who's so clever. It was for reason complication for that and wow, it was just I didn't care when they got to this. I did not care at all. That's how I felt about it.

Yeah, like yeah, it was like too late. If you had too late, you already lost me.

Yeah, I was gone. I don't care. Also think so much about I feel like Jess is the main character, but so much of it was like about this family who I didn't care about or like that. It was almost disappointing, like I would have rather the mystery somehow

That was part of like the hesitance to publish the article. I was like, then, what were these poor prostitutes do when we revealed it there, I'm like.

What's what's their lives are going to change so much?

And there was like the watchwoman, the or the oh totally forgot about the whole thing was this is a big yeah, So why was she keeping why was she keeping secrets?

The concierge was she was not tex.

She was because kind of her daughter was one of the prostitutes who had the baby. So she is technically Mimi's true grandmother, but Mamie does not know that.

And the story of the that dead prostitute was she went to Paris to be a dancer and they told her she would be a dancer, but then they made her be a prostitute and she was pregnant. She and she died before the grandmother came to help her with the pregnancy. And then somehow she got a job.

As a.

And then she sticks around watching and really helping her granddaughter, but looking at her, and she warns just in a way where she doesn't just I feel like if you had just told just what happened, these people being so cryptic and weird about it. If you're warning her, don't you explain what the danger is?

Yeah, I'm that apartment building. Too many secret places for people to come spy and look looking at you like kind of creepy.

It was too I couldn't picture it for like, and I feel like there were multiple like two helloween Yeah, oh my god.

It's like roof feed. But then it was by someone who roofed her. I don't even remember. I just remember it.

Was like, we don't know who rooffeeder, but a nice guy like put bed or something.

That's right.

I thought it was like Sophie that oh I think later, No, no, I think it was me.

I think it was me meih roofie her, but she at the time thought it was some guy. But the guy actually right right?

But then was there a part that was like Memei's imagines or were they talking about an old Halloween party where Ben was.

Yeah, I think that was It was like it was her flashback because sometimes they okay, well that was too many basement parties. I guess. I'm like, Okay, I can't imagine this was the space I look.

Like because it was supposed to be so out of character for me, me to be dressing up for a Halloween party when she's yeah, and then she goes she did like a baby is supposed to be so out of character, but she.

And then she goes and buys lingerie and her dad calls her a whore or I don't even know what was I mean it was that was all fucked up. The way she was like nineteen, It's like, yeah, let her live, I guess, kill him and move on.

She did, all right.

I don't know where I what are some good quotes from this? Are there? Any? Oh?

I wrote down one which was he smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. Love one of those? Love A good one of those. You know you're in a great book.

It's so hard to do that though, for to smile, and I'm sure, yeah, it's tell you what a.

Smile, Clara can do it.

Let's take that's probably because the compliment.

Claren is so good. Let's take pictures of ourselves in the next week and we'll post them to Patreon and ask everybody else to too. And it's like, whoever has the best smile to reach their eyes?

Okay?

Your enthusiasm?

Sorry to see if I had anything good?

And I think, oh uh, John, did you use GPT to write some of the outline because the characters each have like a really long description.

No.

I pulled the character descriptions from bits and places online, just like as reminders of like who everybody was, but they're actually cobbled together.

Got you, got you?

Gotcha?

Okay, Sorry for the accusation.

Wow do you think chat GPT came up? With uh antoine alcoholic neighbor just drunk. No, not that one.

Nimi a young woman who wants to be part of something exciting and social, but is treated as a child and remains emotionally immature. I thought, I thought.

That was beautiful. Yeah, I understand that. Oh there is an am dash here too. Hey maybe somebody else's GPT.

I'm excited about this answer is the only thing, okay, because it's something new.

Yes, this is new, so we can go to that for a minute. I was one of the places I was reading about the Paris apartment was this place called shelf reflection dot com and it's like a book blog. Okay, shelf reflection dot com and uh I I was reading this woman's review and then at the very bottom it said content advisory many many F words, S words, C words, et cetera, sexual content, multiple LGBTQ characters. And I was like, okay, maybe I'll put that. Then I was like, wait a second,

Hi, my name is Karen. Let's see. I live in Let's go with Ohio, and I'm on my You just caught me on my way to a church function and I'm bringing some uh fried chicken that I picked up at the store. And i'm coming from actually, let me see where am I coming from? Oh it was my son's football game. As you can see, I have this cold box here with orange slices.

And.

Oh, it's so nice to meet you, Karen.

And you as well, assuming you live in where? New York City?

New York City? Yes, I live in Brooklyn.

Okay, are you all right, sweetheart?

Yes, I'm thank you. Yes, Having that reaction about where I live every time makes me feel angry at.

You every time.

Every time.

Well, thank you, it was wonderful talking with you, I think.

Wait.

Okay, let's shelf reflection author. Thank you for your review of The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Now you know, I'd like to take a minute to get.

To know you. Hi. My name is Diane. I live in Idaho, but yes you can tell from my accent. I'm not from around there, I guess. And my friend I'm kind of, uh the wild one, you know. Me

And different seat to be a depending on.

The season, of course. And I am on my my little my little daughter, like little daughter Olivia, I am on her on the PTO for her school of course.

Oh well, that's just lovely. I guess real quick.

I don't like gay people. Great.

You know it's really neck and neck on both of you.

Are you kidding me?

It's hard. I may have to come down to.

Karen.

How many children do you have?

Did you say three?

Three? And well I just mentioned one that doesn't You don't really know how many kids?

What was your name against Diane?

Diane? How many children? Fourteen?

Okay, all right, I'll give it to Sarah because she said the number four before she said teen. Oh, here's the bio of this.

I forgot that was who was closest and not just you, like the kidding me closest without going over.

Okay, we're getting really intense eye contact in her author photo in a way that scares me and her about me. My name is Brittany. I am wife to a giant, mother to four littles eight and under, living in the paradise known as Iowa, and devouring books by the minute.

It's weird. We had Ohio, Idaho and it was Iowa. We were kind of I feel like we were.

You were right there between the two of you, just kidding. She's so she's funny, you guys just kidding. Did you read that last sentence? I have a freaking family and take care of Most of my minutes are not my own. Though my free time is limited by the grace of God, I still pound about fifty books a year, heavy on the Christian theology, thriller, suspense, y a historical fiction.

Okay, so I mentioned kidding me that.

I'm also pound pounds pounds them, which sounds like great.

If I'm not reading, you might find me doing artsy things like painting, cross stitching. Diamond we're building.

And then she says, it's like a little pin kind of thing where you like pick up a little sequin essentially.

And paint by numbers, like when you bedazzle things that.

Yeah, I think it'll be. It'll be like a pink by numbers picture. I think at least this is what my niece did at one.

Point, pin diamond.

Shiny. I it's paint by numbers, but shiny.

Okay, all right, interesting, I've never heard of this, you're I see you're right. Paint by numbers for children, for children? Oh my god, what can I find them?

Right now?

I want to try this really bad. I want to do this so fucking bad.

I do I do legos. Maybe I would enjoy this too.

It seems like it could be really soon.

This is going in and unexpected.

It seems like if you're relaxing and you could kind.

Of kind of shut your brain down, don't know, you can think about anything. You're just trying to put a little gem dot, a tiny gem dot on a particular place, on a spot. Yeah, it seems nice.

You can you could dry, you can meet at the moon, or you a little swimming in water.

That's fun.

You could be a white kids and audio coasters.

I'm going to order these right now.

Edits for the cats. Edit this out. It's embarrassing, all right?

Where were we?

And John's not even talking anymore because she's.

Looking to thread but yes, looking at either of.

Them for acknowledgment of like what I was saying, where they're both not all right, they're not looking at the Sorry Clara.

There was a bear swimming in water and it was really.

Nice again in the paint by numbers but shining color.

After I've been inspired work on my lego.

All right, all right, what's her Let's see what's our next thing? Good Reads.

Let's get out of here, we got good Reads, we got hay Raids, and let's let's call it again. I have a few good reads ready to go.

I can't believe I didn't win this.

No, you didn't. Okay.

So Terria says, this is not your typical mystery thriller. It doesn't have that many mind blowing, chilling and unexpected plot twists. But I was so invested in the family drama and all the characters. The ending was a bit too abrupt.

That's a five star, five stars.

And then I got a good book. I know, then, Michelle, the date on this is important. May twenty seven, twenty twenty two. I've seen so many mixed reviews of this book. Why question mark exclamation mark, question mark exclamation mark. I loved it. Four of you coming.

I guess it could still be yeah we just wait, I wait, yeah going.

And then I really liked this one. Rita Tomas and I believe she is Italian and her review was Intrigante, missterioso cativante, which was fun to read because it just is clearly intriguing, mysterious and captivating in another language. Intrigante, missterioso cativante.

Good pronunciation, and so she reading a translation.

Well, this book has been translated.

To Maybe the translation was better because they don't feel like, yeah, the boring book.

That I read.

Oh it's Portuguese. By the way, that's not Italian.

Embarrassing.

Yeah, that is embarrassing for you.

For you, I did it so you could.

I set you up to call me out and set you up for a win, and you didn't take it. You didn't take the dunk.

What was the dunk? What did you want to?

You made a mistake.

I was gonna be like, it's Italian. Then you'd be like, no, it's Portuguese.

You're trying to make it.

To That doesn't make sense.

We're not your language.

Because majors over here, it's a nice book club. You both.

Oh no, that was Sabrina Claire. You're an English major.

Yeah, but you're the one who does like books and other languages and still studies, like let me just.

For fun, what I mean, read and watch something in Spanish. That's what that's that's that's you.

That's what you do. You're the language person.

And also, I actually got my Portuguese to you also have a degree in Portuguese.

I forgot.

Actually it was a fraudulary degree in Portuguese. I didn't even recognize the language.

All right, all right, okay, let's keep going with that happened. Now we got to do Okay, all hate rights.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. For me, I'm gonna go two.

Out of five.

Boring, confusing, but not offensive to me.

Yeah, she's really mean about fat people in it, though.

It's not offensive to me. Ruined body, and maybe it should be, but it's not.

So this book was so unforgett unforgettable. It was so forgettable when I read it. You might notice I never recommended it on the cast. I never talked about it, like I had to like reflect my jota. This is the second time you read it. For some reason, didn't understand that. I feel completely not listening to this entire episode you.

Were saying about. I just thought you like wanted to read it, and you like got it from the library, but you didn't actually read it till now. I read it.

I read it alone in the privacy of okay, and you liked never mentioned it to any of you.

Okay.

No, I didn't really like it, but I didn't really hate it. It's just it was nothing, and like I, I mean, I didn't even remember that. It doesn't end with a whole big incest thing where Ben.

Is child, so like.

Ben was a child, well remember she thought no, but like Mimi was, Oh.

You're right, that would have been in the blowing. The blowing of the penis would have certainly been in had been a half.

Growing, definitely would have been a little bit of incest.

I didn't even remember that this thing.

Yeah, so I have to dock the money for that. So it would have been probably a three. But because I didn't remember that the thing I made up didn't happen, it's got to be a two.

There was no incest, gotcha. So the lack of incests bumped it from three to two. I'm gonna give this a three out of five. It was down the middle for me. It wasn't like horrible to read. It just wasn't that memorable. I liked the beginning. I really did like the beginning. I was like, Oh, this is gonna be fun, and I thought, oh, why is would they send this to us? This is gonna be good and I'm gonna enjoy it. But no, Then I kept reading and I was like, Okay, I get it.

I see.

So yeah, three out of five they're better. What are what are these? Locked door mister? What are we calling this? Was it a locker room? I'm sure there are better locked room mysteries you can read. Unless you really like daddies who are mean to their gay sons, and maybe this one's for you, okay.

Brittany, No, she would prefer that they didn't exist at all. Cool, So the hate raids little fucker gonna be a go ahead from me to vote for Sarah for uh right at the end, and an incredible move cemented her role as little fucker by not listening to me this entire episode that I think this is a pleasure raid pleasure read years ago.

This feels like a defense at least a year ago.

No, it's not. It's just real defense. It's offense.

Mine is Jonah because I didn't win the game, even though.

I really Yeah, this is why I feel think you knew that that was going to happen, So yeah, mine, mine's obviously Johanna.

Why you can do it for the same reason and.

You know why, Yeah, it could be the same reason. But also it's like, because it was really funny that she was like excited to talk about a twist that she made.

Actually that's a good reason, was like, all right, are we ready to reveal you guys.

Also, because she didn't link to the New York Times bestseller list in her heline, there you go.

All right, I don't have a good book wreck, but I do have a little interesting fact for people if you want, if you're not sure what to do now that the cast is ending, not like forever, just this episode, go ahead and look into the Mount Saint Helen's eruption and how many people claim that they treated big feet

Big like large a large foot like big foot. Okay, Okay, I didn't there's that agreement in the community if it's big feet or big foots.

Yeah, that's really seems like.

I thought you were talking about like there had been injuries from it, and but only to people who had larger feet that why would that be people with big feet were injured at a higher rate. Hmm, and I didn't care died.

St Helen's erupted and no one's talking about it.

I'm gonna move on. Yeah, I gotta have this. Next. Our last and final book for the season is The rom Commerce by Catherine Center.

Another repeat offender, Another club.

Okay, so excited for that one. We are Mean book Club. You can find us on all the socials. Mean book Club. Please check out our patreon. Become a patron. You'll get these episodes without any ads. Wouldn't that be lovely? And also we will give you bonus stuff bonus. I guess we should record a bonus something for them. Huh, we're going to give you a real tree. We'll figure it out. Maybe the bonus will be Sabrina talking about all eight books this season just eight hours that, you know what?

I bet I've gotten a lot of complaints that there hasn't been.

So yeah, my mom my mom asked, She was like, what's going on?

What's the drama book?

She is busy with work, She's busy, but she's soon likes us. She said she's worthy thinks.

Understand. It seems like she.

Said, don't call her. I understand. Yeah, she did change. She did change her number, though, didn't she Because I've been I haven't been getting any responses right because she got a new number.

I feel like there's something on with her phone where you have to text, like a couple of times.

Question and that I'm respecting her privacy right now, like she asked me to. And she said, if there's anything that she knows how to reach me.

All right, Yes, we all miss Sabrina. Hopefully we'll get her back.

Yes, were she said she's definitely here for the finale. She said, quote me on it.

So your mom is a listener.

I guess I don't know how often she listens.

That's nice. Must be nice well enough to know that she also.

Could have been just listening to the beginning. She could have listened and heard there was no Suprians just turns it off every episode.

Turned it off and then immediately texted you what the fun if.

You want to leave us a five star review saying how angry you are that Sabrina hasn't been here, I would love that, just like lay in the five star review. Yeah, and that oh, my god, that would make me feel so good.

Look, and you know, Sabrina is the only one among us that doesn't have children, so I I'm you know.

You might have noticed that my voice sounds sick on every single podcast.

I'm still here, you know, naked kids running the background, all right, but I think we're good. We'll talk to you next time. Hi,