I enjoyed this book. The Ladies Paradise is effectively the worlds first department store and this book attempts to capture what a crazy thing that was in a world not ready for it. It effectively catalogues the lives of people swept up in rapture and/or vehement hatred of the new store with a decent story set around it.

There were several points where it felt the author was rushing through the plot parts so he could spend more time writing about the hosiery department, the house made of gloves, or the hoards of ladies trapped by the store’s magnetism. Either rushing through or extending out miscommunications to allow more time revelling in the store.

In summary, would recommend, the extensive descriptions of the department store revolution and the lost world that came before are made readable by a decent plot.