The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is a beautiful book about a very intelligent 12 year old girl and a 54 year old concierge in an apartment building in France that no one notices, because she seems unremarkable, although in truth, she is also quite brilliant. The chapters switch between these two characters as they observe life in the building around them, until a new tenant one day brings them all together.

Beautifully written, full of observations about life and love, art and movies, music, books, cats, Japanese culture, and the inner workings of the mind and heart. Funny, sad, philosophical; I fell in love with this book and the characters and was sad to see it end.