Le Divorce Paperback – December 31, 1997 by Diane Johnson
 
Set in Paris, "Le Divorce" is an alluring and elegant comedy of love and divorce French-style. Isabel Walker, a young, not-so-innocent, American abroad, arrives in Paris to find that her sister's French husband ('the frog prince') has just walked out. While Isabel embarks on her own sentimental education - seduced by gourmet food, antiques, existentialism and an older man - her sister's marriage disintegrates into bitter Franco-American wrangles over money, titles and a mysterious painting. With a sharp tongue and an ironic eye for the foibles of the Parisian bourgeoisie, the French art world and American ex-patriots, Isabel is a collector of experience, even those she can't control. In this work, comedy veers suddenly close to tragedy as passionate jealousy, self-interest and artistic intrigue interweave.
 
4.13