Ideal holiday reading, with a perfect setting

PARIS FOR ONE Jojo Moyes Loot.co.za (R353) Penguin REVIEWER : JENNY STILL

THIS is one for the holidays, a collection of Moyes’s stories that are easy to read but not marshmallows for the mind.

Moyes’s fans – and new readers who have met her recently via the blockbuster movie of her gentle book, Me Before You – will love this.

Start is in Paris with Nell, who didn’t plan to be there on her own. In fact, she’s hardly ever been away from home by herself, let alone sat in a chic café eating interesting food and flirting with strangers without her boyfriend or friends egging her on.

She’s a watchful soul who is a real “health and safety” type, as her colleagues know – that’s her line of work.

But Nell is not to be underestimated. After she is stood up via a text at the last minute, she sets out to make the best of the trip.

Nell meets people in Paris who veer on being stereotypes –think of the snooty hotel receptionist and the in-your-face roommate who tells you she’s done self-defence courses.

Then, of course, there’s the young man who is far too nice to ignore.

Moyes’s skill at writing characters who are real saves Nell and her new friends, and by the time her plump, widowed mother Lilian has emerged from her shell and taken up kickboxing at her new gym in fuschia active wear, Moyes has earned her stripes as someone who knows her way around her craft.

There are 10 more stories in this collection – the titles are enticing enough.

Try Between the Tweets Crocodile Shoes. and

Moyes has earned her stripes as one who knows her way around her craft