Why drive a DeLorean to go back to 1955 America when you can drink a bottle of wine and travel back to 1954 Paris? Sign me up. French author Antoine Laurain's novel "Vintage 1954" is a perfect antidote to today's trying times. Set in 2017 Paris, four characters are brought together to share a bottle of vintage wine made during the year when hundreds of flying saucers were spotted over France; the next morning they wake up in 1954 Paris and quickly realize that they must figure out a way to get back to the future. Like Marty McFly, they get to meet earlier (and alive) versions of their relatives and have to solve the mystery of how to get back. Yes, there is a wacky scientist, too.

I fell into this book and read 100 pages before I realized I had. Laurain's love of his city and the past shines through as he peppers his book with star-studded cameos and takes the reader to beloved destinations. One character Bob, a Harley-Davidson mechanic from Milwaukee, visits the Mona Lisa pre-plexiglass and large selfie-stick-wielding crowds. Reading Laurain's book also reveals what is lost to many people-- that the French are warm and funny (on my recent trip to France we saw a man who taught his dog to wave when you said, "Bonjour!"). He pokes fun at French (and American) culture, but ultimately, it's an homage to the past, when people communicated more face to face, took delight in the everyday, and had a sense of joie de vivre. This book is light and delightful-- a perfect escape.