The President's Hat

Pick it up: If you need a lovely and light pick-me-up. A reminder that even if life is treating you badly, things can change for the better. A bit of magic makes it happen in the tale, but perhaps the magic we need is simply a greater belief in ourselves.

This book is set in 1986, and to those of us who were alive then, it evokes all the nostalgia of a pre-digital world. The pace is slow, and the story has a fable-like quality to it. There's a wonderful variety of characters, all of them grappling with something or the other in their lives, from a problematic boss to a loss of inspiration to an identity crisis to relationship issues. Each of them is living a life that is less than it could be. And then something happens, and their lives change, and they change, or perhaps they become more themselves.

The book begins with Daniel Mercier, an accountant, who one day decides to treat himself to a special dinner at an elegant Parisian brasserie. His wife and son are out of town, so he prepares to dine alone. Soon after he’s seated, a party of three arrives at the table next to him. One of them is François Mitterrand, the President of France. Mercier is amazed. He listens to the conversation of the presidential party as he has his dinner, and he imagines himself a fourth at their table.

The meal is concluded, and the President and his companions leave. Mercier notices that Mitterrand has left his hat behind. He picks it up without anyone noticing, puts it on his head and leaves the restaurant. And somehow, he feels different. His life changes for the better soon after this event. And so do the lives of the other characters who become temporary owners of the hat. Most of these characters don't meet in the story, but the separate threads of the narrative, come together very satisfactorily in the end.