Summary The House in Paris

1 summary

1.1 part i: present
1.2 part ii: past
1.3 part iii: present

summary
part i: present

the novel opens in paris, in morning, eleven-year-old henrietta mountjoy, accompanied miss naomi fisher, travels via taxi house of mme fisher, elderly , sickly lady years has taken in well-off girls season. henrietta travelling menton, in south of france, spend time grandmother, mrs. arbuthnot. mme fisher tells henrietta spending day leopold, nine-year-old boy supposed meet mother there first time; miss fisher asks henrietta little considerate leopold , , ask leopold nothing . after breakfast , nap in salon, henrietta awakens find leopold standing before her. 2 young children talk life: leopold explains mme fisher s illness , own anticipation regarding arrival of mother later day; henrietta reveals leopold mother dead. though leopold angers henrietta spilling contents of handbag, 2 children develop rapport.

miss fisher leads henrietta mme fisher s room. while upstairs, leopold rummages through miss fisher s handbag, discovering 3 envelopes. disregards first, letter pertaining henrietta. second envelope, berlin postmark, mother, envelope empty, , feels miss fisher has done him down. third envelope contains letter marian grant moody, adoptive mother, miss fisher. besides discussing boy s itinerary, writes exhaustively of leopold s delicate , rather unstable constitution, , says more once boy has not had sex education yet, explanation of birth have handled delicately.

leopold returns first envelope concerning henrietta, written miss fisher henrietta s grandmother, mrs. arbuthnot. referring repeatedly old acquaintance , present addressee miss kingfisher , informs miss fisher henrietta spend remainder of winter mrs. arbuthnot in south of france, , should staying day in paris. tone of letter manipulative: mrs. arbuthnot subtly chastises miss fisher not visiting her, while asking henrietta allowed spend day in paris.

during time, henrietta introduced mme fisher in upstairs bedroom. miss fisher sits knitting, mother , young girl converse, mme fisher critiquing daughter, commenting on own bad health, and, ultimately, discussing leopold: henrietta learns leopold s now-dead father @ 1 time broke daughter s heart.

henrietta returns salon , discovers leopold going through handbag. section concludes arrival of telegram, summarised miss fisher: mother not coming; cannot come.

part ii: past

meetings not come off keep character of own. novel s second section shifts decade story of leopold s parents. introductory pages of section make clear entire section imaginary, perhaps long , dramatic imaginative vision on leopold s part. section contains information may have been exchanged between karen , leopold should have kept promise son , arrived scheduled day in paris.

karen michaelis, ten years or before day of previous section, sailing native england visit aunt violet , uncle bill bent @ rushbrook, county cork, ireland. karen escaping pressures of recent engagement ray forrestier, ambivalent wedding; ray himself on business trip. time uncle bill , aunt violet rather uneventful , uninspiring until uncle bill, nervous , socially inadequate man, tells karen violet have surgery in coming weeks, procedure prove fatal. in england, karen finds naomi fisher waiting her; has travelled london see affairs of deceased aunt, , tells karen of engagement max ebhart, whom karen met years before while 1 of girls staying @ mme fisher s house. despite karen s objections — had been afraid of max — naomi insists 3 spend time before max , naomi return home.

during picnic, max , karen come close, sharing secret touch , holding hands. afterward, karen resigns herself upcoming marriage, before long, michaelis family receives news of aunt violet s death, , once again things in state of disorder. during chaotic time max calls , asks see karen. meet clandestinely in boulogne , spend day together. max reveals mme fisher believes daughter not enough him, according max, naomi acceptable match, because furniture or dark , comfortable , reassuring. ultimately, however, evokes no passion in him. likewise, karen confides not wish marry ray. part, meet again on folkestone pier following saturday, spending remainder of day , evening in hotel room. karen awakens in middle of night , while examining , max s shared circumstances, develops type of unconscious awareness of leopold, despite having no clear evidence exist, suggested author in second person: same, idea of you, leopold, began present her.

the following day, max writes letter naomi, explaining relationship , feelings karen. karen implores him rethink revelation, unreality of arrangement ( , dream. go .) tears letter, , agree while naomi must made aware of affair, best both write , tell in person. karen s rendezvous max discovered mrs. michaelis, , while karen tries explain relationship, mrs. michaelis cannot understand.

next, karen learns through french newspapers max has committed suicide, , naomi arrives in london, explains circumstances surrounding death: after receiving letter , informing mme fisher of intentions, naomi quarantined mother, intends keep naomi seeing max , removing possibility of spoiling max s chance happiness karen. max visit naomi, however, speaking of failure inherent in relationship karen: , said, outside life; shall fail. visibly distressed mme fisher returns salon. naomi returns upstairs bedroom. there commotion in salon, , naomi returns find mother strewn across sofa , blood on floor. max has cut own wrist, making way out door street, , dying in alley. in following days, mme fisher observe commendation not bear. commending him when took knife out. @ end of section, karen reveals naomi pregnant max s child, , leave germany try avoid scandal.

part iii: present

the first sentence of last section repeats last sentence of first: mother not coming; cannot come. leopold again imagines how meeting have gone if had occurred. henrietta senses leopold s disappointment; holds him , cries. miss fisher reenters salon, informing leopold mme fisher see him.

not unlike earlier exchange henrietta, conversation between leopold , mme fisher uncomfortable , @ times mme fisher blunt, cruel. attempts explain karen s unique nature disconsolate boy, abandoning of delicacies requested in marian grant moody s earlier letter. explains leopold history, including details of birth, death of half-sibling, adoption, , general displacement in world. leopold begs remain in house, exclaiming, @ spezia when angry go full of smoke inside, when make me angry see everything. @ point miss fisher returns room , whisks leopold away again.

ray forrestier waiting in salon leopold. when child arrives, interaction strained, distant, , uncomfortable. portion of narrative focuses on ray s conflicting feelings leopold, marriage karen, child s inescapable presence in shared life, , ray s own situational obligations. ultimately, ray , leopold leave house together, dropping off henrietta @ train station on way; 2 children goodbyes , head off in different directions.