A young girl called Mouche is about to throw herself into the Seine, when her attention is attracted by a voice. It turns out to be the voice of a ...
read full description
reviews
Dec 04, 2010
Fleur
rated it: 
Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico. The author, that title, the concept – completely irresistable!
The story opens on the banks of the Seine where a young girl, Mouche, is planning to throw herself in.
Why? The war left Mouche an orphan. She dreamed of the stage and so she worked and save until she could come to Paris. But she found that she had neither the talent nor the looks needed to succeed. She looked like the simple country girl she was. And so she found herself at More...
The story opens on the banks of the Seine where a young girl, Mouche, is planning to throw herself in.
Why? The war left Mouche an orphan. She dreamed of the stage and so she worked and save until she could come to Paris. But she found that she had neither the talent nor the looks needed to succeed. She looked like the simple country girl she was. And so she found herself at More...
Jan 12, 2011
Rosie
rated it:
I have always loved this book -because of it's charm, sadness, the vulnerability but feistiness of the heroine Mouche and the darkness and tragedy of the man who operates the puppet Capitaine Coq. It is a story of life on the streets of Paris in the 30s and of love and redemption. The other characters or puppets are tremendous -particularly the Fox and the giant, whose combined magic mediates the healing of a wounded man and a vulnerable girl, both in need of love. Gallico's book is difficult f
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 20, 2010
Carolynne
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 29, 2012
Marija
rated it:
I found this book at a flea market last fall, and bought it with a book of Mozart’s piano sonatas for $1! At the time, all I really noticed was that it was a Paul Gallico book with a title that I didn’t recognize from my mom’s bookshelf. I didn’t realize how lucky I was with my purchase until I got home and looked at it more closely. Not only was the book a first edition that was in pretty good condition, but its story was the basis for one of my favorite films as a kid: Lili, with Leslie Caron
More...
Sep 04, 2010
Kayla
rated it:
I truly love this book in spite of its many fallacies. Women should never stay with rapist men that beat them because in the real world people tend to not change. When we read this strange, sad, sweet, twisted fairy tale of a novella it is important to remember to temporarily suspend our disbelief. This book is an absolute field day for feminist literary critics as well those that pursue psychological literary criticism, but it also has a weird haunting beauty that makes it one of my favorites.
Jun 13, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
I fell in love with Leslie Caron's "Lili" and naturally had to read the book it was based on. The book is a lot darker than the movie, but I found I liked both for different reasons. It's a short book, but I was amazed at how many emotions I felt in the course of my reading.
Jan 29, 2012
Jane
rated it: 
This is a slim paperback of 122 pages that I purchased in 1954 and read many times. It is both cruel and hopeful. A street girl called Mouche is "befriended" by 7 puppets. So caught up with them is she that she does not realize she has attracted a crowd--but their operator does.
Capraine Coq, aka Michel Peyrot "the man in black with the dead face" does, and offers her a place to stay if she will talk to the puppets during the day. What follows is nights of sexu More...
Capraine Coq, aka Michel Peyrot "the man in black with the dead face" does, and offers her a place to stay if she will talk to the puppets during the day. What follows is nights of sexu More...
Jan 29, 2012
Lea
rated it:
'In Paris, in the spring of our times, a young girl was about to throw herself into the Seine.' I read this years ago when a teenager, and have never forgotten it. Perhaps it was my first adult novel. Sentimental yet dark, this story of a young homeless girl is set in the poorstreets of Paris, with a strange menage of characters - seven puppets, who strut their stuff on a small stage. The unfolding of the story has undercurrents of violence, but all this is escaped as Mouche, the heroine, enters
More...
May 31, 2011
Love of Seven Dolls (1954) - Paul Gallico
The story seems older, which may or may not be to your liking. Gallico is a true story teller, and there is a magic here. Ultimately it's flawed by its dated perspectives, in the way of some fairy tales. (Love and abuse.)
This has left me interested in A High Wind in Jamaica (1929) by Richard Hughes as potential antidote.
NOTE: Paul Gallico is author of The Poseidon Adventure.
The story seems older, which may or may not be to your liking. Gallico is a true story teller, and there is a magic here. Ultimately it's flawed by its dated perspectives, in the way of some fairy tales. (Love and abuse.)
This has left me interested in A High Wind in Jamaica (1929) by Richard Hughes as potential antidote.
NOTE: Paul Gallico is author of The Poseidon Adventure.
Sep 23, 2008
I'm named after the main character in the musical "Lili" that was made from this book.
I would love to read it, but can't find any affordable copies(it's gone out of print), so if anyone wants to sell theirs (even a damaged one is fine), please contact me on johannalilian@gmail.com (Johanna is my second name, the other way around was already taken...)
Thanks in advance,
Lilian from Amsterdam
I would love to read it, but can't find any affordable copies(it's gone out of print), so if anyone wants to sell theirs (even a damaged one is fine), please contact me on johannalilian@gmail.com (Johanna is my second name, the other way around was already taken...)
Thanks in advance,
Lilian from Amsterdam
Jan 29, 2012
Stephanie
rated it:
A beautiful and yet very unhealthy love story. Gallico's writing seems to focus on a woman's ability to love despite outward appearances and mental illness. I could not put the book down, but read it in one sitting. And after I closed the book, I couldn't figure out if the ending was happy or sad, maybe just "and they lived dysfunctionally ever after"?
Apr 03, 2008
Sandra
rated it:
Utterly charming little tale! The illustrations in the English ed. are wonderful, too.
Jan 21, 2008
Caro
rated it: 
Kind of sweet. Overly moralistic but suicidal Parisian waifs talking to puppets can be fun.
Jan 09, 2012
Jan 07, 2012
Jan 01, 2012
Dec 03, 2011
