The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain

The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain.

Gallic Books, March 2013.

Daniel is dining alone in an elegant but expensive Parisian Brasserie and can hardly believe his eyes when President François Mitterrand sits down to eat at the table next to him. It’s once the President has left that Daniel finds Mitterrand’s black hat. After a few moments of soul searching, Daniel decides to keep the hat as a souvenir – a reminder of an extraordinary evening. The hat is a perfect fit. When Daniel wears it, he starts to feel somehow different.

This book had such an unusual premise. From the first few pages I was hooked into the story. I started to read and before I knew it, I was already halfway through. The plot interested me – the thought of one object being the link between different people. I am always fascinated when fact is mixed in with fiction (which is what I liked about The Chaperone by Laura Moriaty.) At the beginning, I thought that Daniel was going to be the main protagonist but it was a surprise when other characters were introduced as the hat found them. It could be a co-incidence or it could be magic and destiny. Daniel, Fanny and Aslan were fascinating characters and I want to know what happened to them beyond the end of the story. Bernard was the character I liked/related to the least but when the plot surrounding him develops, I could see his place in the book. There was also a nice twist at the end too which I didn’t really see coming. I like it when a book pleasantly surprises me and this was certainly one of them. If you like stories that hint at destiny and have a little magic in them, then you’ll like The President’s Hat. I did.

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.