I had a book I loved when I was a child, but I can’t for the life of me remember the name of it and I’ve been searching far and wide with what I remember, to no avail.
I believe it was originally French, but has been translated.
So the book title is the name of the female protagonist (I believe it starts with an M and ends in -ette, but could be wrong about the M). She’s an older, homeless orphan teen that finds an abandoned house in Montmartre and makes a home of it, along with other homeless, troubled children she finds along the way, a peculiar artist and I believe also a stray dog. Not everyone in the neighborhood is a fan of her living there. She sells paper flowers that she makes herself on the street to make a living. I believe it takes place in the post-war era, maybe 30’ies. It’s “found family, neighborhood pooling together to help” narrative and very sad, but also hopeful.
It must be old since it was already falling apart when I had it, and not very long. I don’t think it’s a children’s book per se, the illustrations were sparse and minimalistic and the themes not very child friendly. I don’t remember how it ends.
Maybe someone’s heard of or read it? I’d greatly appreciate any clues at all!
by mustytomato