What do readers think of The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay? Write your own review.

Rose writes letters to her deceased husband, Armand who has been gone 10 years. She is writing about the tearing down of the homes and shops on their street so the construction organization can widen the roads. This is going to change the face of Paris forever. Some of the neighbours and shop keepers are upset whilst others are not. Flower shops and bars can be moved to new establishments, but the doctor in the area isn’t happy and worries over losing all his patients.

Rose’s husband was born in the house she lives in as was his father and grandfather. The house was 150 years old and had seen several generations of Bazelets living there. “No one else but the Bazelet family had lived between these walls built in 1715, when the rue Childebert was created.” No siree, Rose had no plans whatsoever on leaving her beloved home. They could offer her all the money in the world, tear down around her, but she wasn’t budging! Rose continues to putter around her home, making tea, sewing embroidery all the while the men outside are hard at work demolishing.

When things get too close to her home, she takes to the basement and lives in the cold, drab dark where no one knows where she is except a lonely tramp of a man who brings her food and warm beverages. Rose, by candle light, pens her story to her husband Armand and reveals to him a secret that she’s kept her entire life.

Rose is a woman who possesses great strength and courage and is loved by everyone. She reminds me of the quintessential grandmother, one I’d love to have myself.

The House I Loved was beautifully written and was a gorgeous, loving, testament to the type of woman Rose was. I loved this book so thoroughly that I want to read it again.