Fiction with setting in Paris?
 

Hello France experts!
My DH and I are planning to plan a trip to Paris, for a week in October 2016. I was there in 1986 for 5 days when I was a university student, and my DH has never been. I'm sure a lot has changed in the past 30 years!

I'd love some suggestions of books to get me in the Paris frame of mind as I start researching what I hope will be a fabulous visit. Before we went to Florence a couple years ago, I read some of Margaret Nabb's detective novels set there, and Mary McCarthy's "Stones of Florence" -- which I seem to remember I heard about on this forum. Something like that, but doesn't have to be a crime story, would be great.

thanks for any recommendations. I'm sure I'll be back to ask questions once I get started.

Quite a few of the detective novels by French author Fred Vargas have been translated into English, and they have the great advantage of not getting the details about geography or everyday life wrong, which is one of the things that has me howling in horror when I read most British or American books set in Paris.

http://www.amazon.com/Fred-Vargas/e/B001I9OXT6

The Simenon 'Maigret' mysteries are classics and I love them.

There's a new one out, I'm waiting for a copy from the library, "The Little Paris Bookshop', by Nina George, that looks very promising. Paris, books and a love story all rolled into one.

Aimee Leduc mysteries, Cara Black

The next three are set during WWII but have an atmosphere of suspense that the occupation brought, as well as some mystery:
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky (set during German occupation, WWII)
Sarah’s Key, Tatiana De Rosnay

Not mysteries, but I would also recommend:
A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway (non-fiction)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery (friendship between older woman and young girl)
Au Bonheur des Dames, or The Belly of Paris, both by Emile Zola

My less-than-great public library system shows 4 of the Fred Vargas titles in the catalog. Thanks again, k.

Do you want it in English or will French do?

I liked Les Heures Souterraines by Delphine de Vegan, it is contemporary fiction set in Paris. It think this is the same novel, translated http://www.amazon.com/Underground-Ti...0001955&sr=1-4

Of course, there is always George Orwell (Down and OUt in Paris and London) and Hemingway, for bygone eras (and not fiction).

YOu can't beat Zola for classics (Au Bonheur des Dames, Ventre de Paris, Therese Raquin) in French or translated, but that's 19th century.

For popular American authors, there is Le Divorce by Diane Johnson (the best of her books IMO) which is sort of fun if silly at the end. There's a woman named Cara Black who writes detective books set in Paris, but I can't recommend them personally as I didn't care for the one I read, but she's written several so some people do. She is American, also, and would be easy to get at the library.

Max Byrd's novel "The Paris Deadline," set in the 20s, is very good; he's an excellent writer, known for his biographical novels (such as "Jefferson").

For something off-beat, try Joanne Harris's "The Girl with No Shadow," part of her series with the characters from "Chocolat." I really like this book.

For more of a cultural take on Paris, you might like Paris to the Moon. He was a New York magazine writer based there writing for them, and as someone married to a French husband for 40 years, he got it right-great read:

http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Moon-Ada...is+to+the+moon


Another fun read is Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide To Finding Her Inner French Girl Again written by an author based in Paris for a magazine.

http://www.amazon.com/Entre-Nous-Wom...rds=entre+nous

A very old one, also during WW2 : Is Paris burning (Paris brule-t-il), depicting the insurrection and the subsequent liberation of Paris in summer 1944.

Les Misérables from Victor Hugo - even older.

Je suis un peu sec sur la question...

Gopnik's 'Paris to the Moon' is really a memoir, not a novel, but he's good if you enjoy observations on politics and other insights a new writer-resident in the city, in particular, would observe. I'm reading it now and enjoying it. Not necessarily things that might concern a visitor for a few days or weeks but very interesting for anyone who wishes to go beneath the surface of things, even for a brief stay, to understand a bit as one might otherwise not.

France's most controversial writer:
Michel Houellebecq

Platform

Atomised

Not for the squeamish, but as Bertrand Russell stated, "Thought can stare into the Pit of Hell and is unafraid."

Behold Jane Eyre.

Thin

I read Paris to the Moon years ago and don't remember anything about it other than Gopnik liked swimming in the pool at the Ritz.


Thin

"I read Paris to the Moon years ago and don't remember anything about it..."

I'll likely forget the details, too, but I'm finding it's inspiring me to look further, at the politics of the time I was in Paris longest, mid-'60s and as a young person, was oblivious to what was happening all around me - with the exception of knowing of the existence President de Gaulle, who lived across the street from my best friend, and of Mr. Pompidou, whose wife came to my place of employment and sat a few feet from me as I worked. A book that gives one the impetus to explore further is worth something.

The main question here is who wants to read something just to find street, monument and business names that they recognize and who wants to read about life in Paris. The two are rarely found in the same book.

I would start with a few French novels centred on Paris. Many of the works of the great novelist Balzac are set in Paris--try "Père Goriot" or "La Cousine Bette". For a modern novelist, you might want to look at Muriel Barbery's "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" and "Gourmet Rhapsody." Needless to say these are all available in English translation.

Mavis Gallant lived in Paris for much of her life and most of her fine short stories are set there. They are very much worth looking into. "Paris Stories" is one of her collections.

Another non-French writer with a great knowledge of and abiding love for Paris is Alan Furst. His novels are espionage thrillers set in the 1930s and during the Second World War, and are very evocative of those times. I put him on the same level as Eric Ambler. Paris appears in every novel, but only in a minor way in some. I recently read "Mission to Paris" in which most of the action takes place in the city and it is superb.

The Perfume Collector, Kathleen Tessaro
The Paris Time Capsule, Ella Carey
Paris my Sweet, Amy Thomas
Best Paris Stories, Winners of the 2011 Paris short story contest
Lunch in Paris, Elizabeth Bard
The mysterious bakery on Rue de Paris, Evie Gaughan (really about Compiegne but still interesting.

Paris was ours, 32 writers reflect on the city of light, (very good)
The Paris Wife, Paula McLain

The Cara Black novels are the best - They are set all over Paris and are great. Also just read The Nightingale - which is historical fiction set in 1939 Paris and France..

I enjoyed Cara Black's books too.

Also recently read The Paris Architect and Sarah's Key after that.

MmePerdu, I just finished The Little Paris Bookshop, and it was a good read. The thing is though, the novel was translated from (I think) German. It's my opinion that they gave it a new title that would appeal to Americans.

The bookshop is a barge on the Seine in Paris. Very shortly into the book, they leave Paris, and don't really return at all in the book.

So, although I really enjoyed the book, it doesn't really have much to do with Paris.

And I would echo Pariswat's suggestion of Is Paris Burning.

It's funny, but even though everyone knows how it ends, the book was as gripping as if you were there. Excellent read.

I forgot that I started reading Is Paris Burning - I suppose that I should get busy and finish it....

Happygoin, yes, I read a synopsis, but Monsieur Perdu's still in France, right? Good enough for me. Actually, maybe better in some ways. Called ..."a love letter to books", I'm looking forward to it.

It is definitely that, MmePerdu. I think you'll like it!

The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Simenon's Maigret series is being reissued in trade paperback. You can find other works by him in used bookstores or on Alibris or hpb.com, etc. And a good bit of his non-Maigret literature is published by the NYRB imprint.

Just about each of Alan Furst's books takes place in Paris at some bloody point except Dark Voyage. And there's this: http://magazine.fourseasons.com/trav...n_fursts_paris

The Count of Monte Cristo
The Three Musketeers
pick a Hugo
etc.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061791083/...=IUX5XZDNEZCSC

The Hotel on Place Vendome but the amazon page has a couple others that are very good. I gave you a mix of Novels.

HIKRCHICK,

I would heartily recommend the above suggestions:

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky (set during German occupation, WWII)

A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway (non-fiction)

A very old one, also during WW2 : Is Paris burning (Paris brule-t-il), depicting the insurrection and the subsequent liberation of Paris in summer 1944.

Also, have you seen the Woody Allen flick MIDNIGHT IN PARIS? That should really get you folks in the mood. Great scenery and a cute story. I would also suggest taking the PARISWALK "Hemingway Walk" which has become hugely popular after the film.

Enjoy Paris....

If you want fiction with a strong dose/perspective of the history of Paris, try Paris: A Novel by Edward Rutherfurd. I just started reading it last week ahead of my trip in two weeks. It's HUGE (my copy is over 800 pages), and a bit dense, but very interesting and keeps adding ideas of things to see / places to stroll.

Three Musketeers is a classic, and very Paris oriented. Count of Monte Cristo equally fun, but set in a myriad of places (although the climax occurs in Paris).

Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities is also a classic, set during the French Revolution. A modern telling of that time period is Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety (not IMO as good as her books on Thomas Cromwell).

Nonfiction with an Americans in Paris perspective besides Hemingway - The Greater Journey by David McCullough. Great research and well written, even though it's nonfiction it moves like fiction.

The first few chapters of Hemingway's <i>The Sun Also Rises</i> paints a portrait of the city as indelible as that in his <i>A Moveable Feast</i>.

Another older one: Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne. Another excellent read.

Some great suggestions here. Balzac books set in Paris are wonderful. I just finished "The Nightingale", about the Nazi Occupation era. There are so many to read.

Loved "Little Paris Bookshop" but only the first few chapters were in Paris.

Here's a good list:

Paris I love you, but your bringing me down
Paris Letters
Seven Letters from Paris
Lunch in Paris
A Paris Apartment
Paris: a love story
Paris Architect
Claude & Camillle
The Chocolate Thief
The Chocolate Kiss
The Chocolate Touch
My Paris Dream
The last time I saw Paris
Almost French
Paris my sweet
Buying a piece of Paris
Secrets of Paris

Look them all up on Amazon books and read a little of each story.
These are all memiors or those who have lived there or fiction---fun in a delightful setting. I loved walking the streets with all of the characters and remembering places that we have enjoyed.
I could probably come up with more as it's a favorite location of mine.

Adding a few:

The Day of he Jackal

The Damned Kings of France....a series of seven books.

The way of he Tumbrils, Paris at the time of the French Revolution, many places remain unchanged.

Not fiction but John Baxter's books on Paris are wonderful.

A perfect delight to read, Nancy Mitford's two Paris set novels: The Blessing and Don't Tell Alfred.

Pere Goriot is one of the best novels you could ever possibly read.

It is a literary masterpiece.

Another: Therese Raquin by Zola. This novel shocked all of Paris when it was published.


Thin

Yet another Cara Black mysteries recommendation.

SS

Hi, you wrote, regarding your last visit to Paris:

"I'm sure a lot has changed in the past 30 years!"

Funnily, I was just reading the new David Downie book, called A Passion for Paris, and he wrote that "“the real Paris is of the mind, so it doesn’t exist and can’t age.” There is a fun truth to that. You might like reading his book, which is non-fiction in the vein of the Stones of Florence, not a crime series.

http://us.macmillan.com/apassionforparis/daviddownie

Plus, it often takes the form of a literary walking tour through the streets of Paris, so if you read some of these novels by classic French authors, the book identifies the houses and cafes where those authors wrote their books, and how they viewed these streets.

David Downie's collection of essays, "Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light" is also well worth reading.

Not non-fiction, but "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier" by Thad Carhart is wonderful. It's a memoir written by an American who's living in Paris and finds an amazing world of people and music in a neighborhood storefront.

Another goodie: Time Was Soft There...about the author's time in residence at the Shakespeare and Company bookshop.