Ruth Reichl is a New York Times best-selling author of several memoirs, including Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table (1998), Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table (2001), Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise (2005), and Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir (2019), and two novels, Delicious! (2014) and The Paris Novel. She was editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine for 10 years and published several cookbooks. In addition to her writing and editorial career, Reichl spent two decades as a food critic for both the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. She has received six James Beard awards for her work in journalism and feature writing, and the foundation awarded her a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.

Reichl’s background as a food writer and critic permeates The Paris Novel. Descriptions of food and the experience of eating are rendered in rich, evocative sensory detail, emphasizing its importance both as a staple of French culture and in the narrative. Food becomes the catalyst for Stella to allow more pleasure and novelty into her life.