A wonderfully whimsical novel that could only have been concocted by the mind of a French person - and I mean that as huge compliment. So here we get the magic and mystery of the hat, but also ideas about fate and destiny, about life and depression, about love - of course - and about class, art, and politics (so French). I love it. I wish I could climb inside this novel and live in it. Vive la France. The novel is set in 1986 and the hat does not remain long in Daniel's possession but moves through a number of temporary owners, changing the life of each in a subtle way. Daniel is still very attached to the hat and does seek to re-unite with it. While I listened to the majority of this on audio, I elected to splash out for the Kindle edition as well. This was partly because I was enjoying it very much but also I found that the subtly of the plot meant that I felt I'd not appreciated it fully via audio. Still, it was a short novel and I read it in a single sitting. I adored it. It proved a witty, charming fable that was very Gallic in its humour. Everyone in the reading group also loved it, one of the only books in some time that we could all agree was a delight. We also agreed that there was a hint of magical realism in the narrative.
Do You like book Presidentens Hatt (2014)?
Brilliant and charming - if only I had a president's hat of my own!
—scott
the first half was fun but the second half was no good at all.
—motherbusch
