oops...royal family and how unprepared she was. I do recommend it.

Being a Francophile and a French History and Napoleon Bonaparte aficionado, I can recommend a book entitled
"The Diamond" by Julie Baumgold. It is a story rich with historical detail, characters, and drama, focusing on the famous Regent diamond, which changed hands through the royal court, Napoleon and Josephine and Empress Eugenie. The diamond is now on display at the Louvre. It is a non-stop read and extremely enjoyable.

Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant. Great, biting portrait of journalism in 19th century Paris. The title character works for the Fox News equivalent of the day. A movie based on the novel starring Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame and Uma Thurman should be released later this year: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440732/ (the first movie loosely based on the novel was just awful, here's hoping this one is much better)

TTT

TTT

And A Tale of Two Cities is an outstanding novel.

I'm wondering if there is a James Michener or Edward Rutherfurd type of historical fiction chronicle of France or Paris? I loved Rutherfurd's London and Michener's Poland. These type of books are a great way to learn the history of a place. Is there anything like this for France or Paris?
Cheers,
Chris in Vancouver, BC Canada

Rutherfurd has a new novel (April 2014) called <i>Paris: The Novel</i>. I haven't read it yet, but I like his books, too.

Why not go for the jugular, and skip the fairy tales:

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...es-non-fiction

"Perfume," the first part of which is set in Paris.
I really liked Joanne Harris's "Holy Fools."
Alison Weir's "The Captive Queen."

Underhill, Did you mean "The Perfume collector" by Kathleen Tessaro? I liked that and kept thinking of Coco Chanel when reading it. I think I thought badly of her from the occupation of Paris period but this made me understand what it was like and now I am not as judgmental. If not who is the author?

Perfume, by Patrick Suskind - originally written in German. It's set in Paris and the south of France. It will not make you think of Coco Chanel....

Thank you Tulips!

"Desiree," by Annemarie Selinko, is an older book, but interesting. It is about the French woman who was Napoleon's fiance but who later became queen of Sweden.

"The Paris Wife, A Novel," a fictionalized account of Hemingway's marriage to Hadley Richardson. (You have probably already read Hemingway's account of this time period "A Moveable Feast."