This Is Life

This Is Life is a 2012 novel by British author Dan Rhodes.
Plot introduction.
Set in contemporary Paris it tells the story of several interlinked characters, amongst them are:-
Aurélie Renard - studying art at a Paris college, she throws a small stone to initiate her art project, planning to follow whoever it hits over the course of a week and make them the subject of a series of artworks. The stone hits a small baby on the forehead; the mother threatens to call the police but on hearing of Aurélie's project agrees to let her look after the baby, named Herbert, and have him returned to her a week later...
Sylvie Dupont - Aurélie's best friend, she is looking for a husband; to aid her in her task she has taken a different job each day in order to meet as many as possible having read that the most common way to meet a life partner is in the workplace. One such job is driving tourists around Paris in a 2CV.
Lucien - like Sylvie, he is also looking for a life partner; he only has eyes for Japanese girls though and hence has learnt the language and is acting as a translator for Japanese tourists. 
The Akiyamas are a Japanese couple on holiday in Paris leaving their grown up son and daughter, Toshiro and Akiko home in Japan. They have booked an afternoon with Sylvie in the 2CV with their translator Lucien.
'Le Machine' is a performance artist who is preparing for the latest leg of a world tour of his show "Life" in which he lives day and night naked on stage for 12 weeks in front of an audience, collecting all the bodily effluent produced.
The story follows these and other associated characters over the course of a week...
Reception.
Reviews were mixed though generally positive :