I did a search, but found nothing very recent. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good read set in Paris or environs?

I'm not looking for a guidebook, just something (fiction or non-fiction) that will transport me to Paris. English is preferred.

Merci.

Paula

Paula, you said fiction or non-fiction. Here are a couple suggestions to get you started:

Almost French - this is the story of an Australian woman who moves to Paris and her relationship with a Frenchman. I really enjoyed this one.

My Life in France - a memoir of Julia Child, much of it set in Paris.

Le Divorce - this one is a novel, by Diane Johnson. (She has several other books that are similar...) You might also enjoy the movie, with Kate Hudson.

A Moveable Feast - the classic by Ernest Hemingway. Not a novel but his own experiences living in Paris. See also Riana's great Slow Travel notes on Hemingway's Steps Through Paris.

Kathy

(edited to correct a link)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kaydee,

We also have an FAQ that takes you to some excellent previous discussions about books related to France. There are a couple of links to discussions on Paris-related books.

Kathy

Hi Paula,

Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne. I read it before we spent a week in Paris in 2005 - enjoyed it a lot. Not a novel, but the story of Paris in seven different periods.

I can't praise enough a book I recenly read that was translated from the French.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It takes place in
Paris. I laughed, I cried, I smiled.

This is set mostly outside Paris (in the Loire area), but I just finished reading Annette Vallon, A Novel of the French Revolution by James Tipton. It's historical fiction about the Frenchwoman who was William Wordsworth's mistress and bore him a child -- something I never knew about. I thought it was fascinating and very well written.

I also just read a very positive review of The Paris Enigma, a new book set during the Paris World's Fair of 1889. It's going on my request list.

Also, not a novel, but if you haven't read Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon, that's one not to miss.

- Roz

A Year in the Merde is about a British businessman who spends a year in Paris. Very light, but extremely funny (for me and my hubby, laugh out loud) novel which has 2 sequels I need to get to.

Jo (sorry, I lent out the book and don't remember the author)

A Year in the Merde is written by Stephen Clarke. I agree with Jo, it is laugh-out-loud funny. I didn't want to read it, given the title and my preconceived ideas that it was an anti-French book. It isn't, if anything it makes the author look like a scum-bag!

I just finished The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn. It is her true story of being let go/quitting a corporate job and persuing her dream of learning to cook at Cordon Bleu in Paris. It's a great read, especially if you love food and cooking.

I have Murder in Montmartreby Cara Brown, on my nightstand...and I can second the suggestions of Almost French and My Life In France mentioned above.

Laura

"Hunting and Gathering" is a lovely novel by Anna Gavalda, set in Paris with some fascinating "day trips" that could only happen in France during a little group of misfits' explorations of the heart.

Dave

Wow, thanks y'all! I've only read about 4 of the ones listed - so many choices, so many different genres.

Thanks for the links, kaydee. I bought my first copy of "A Moveable Feast" as a student in Paris, ages ago. It was my tradition to read it on the plane on the way over - every trip. I no longer have the book, but I think it's time to buy myself a new one.

A wonderful new addition for this list: Foreign Tongue: A Novel of Life and Love in Paris, a first novel by Vanina Marsot.

I bought this with low expectations, willing to read almost anything for a Paris fix, but this surprised me with its wit, intelligence and wealth of information about language and culture. I recommend it highly!

I just read another book in a similar vein to A Year in Merde and Almost French. It is A Town Like Paris-written by Bryce Corbett. It is an autobiographical novel of an Australian journalist who comes to Paris on basically takes a job in Paris on a spur of the moment, which turns out to be a life altering decision. It was quite funny as well. I happened across the book because it was in the apartment in Paris I was staying in.

Bryce Corbett

I also like Blame it on Paris by Laura Florand

Laura Florand

Another I liked was The Lady and the Unicorn, by Tracy Chevalier. It is a fictional account of the creation of the Unicorn tapestries that hang in the Cluny. Unicorn

Paula,

Some great classics:

Nana, by Emile Zola.
The Belly of Paris, by Emile Zola - I am sure you could find those in English.

A recent novel (2007)
The woman in the fifth, by Douglas Kennedy

In French, but easy to read:
Ensemble, c'est tout. By Anna Gavalda. If the book is too much french, you can see the movie. I am sure it is available on video now.

Another movie set in Paris: Amélie
With Audrey Tautou.

Enjoy!
Sophie

The revival of this thread prompted me to check: More of Fred Vargas's wonderful crime-police novels have been translated into English, including "The Chalk Circle Man" and "This Night's Foul Work." I just read the former, struggling in French. She ("Fred") is a great author. Quirky characters, unique plots, dialogue that's a delight, oh so French, and above all writing that's chock full of humanity. Set in Paris, where Commander Adamsberg, one of the most remarkable police officers in fiction, works. Do not miss these! Amazon lists a co-author. I think it's the translator.

Dave

I've been looking for Fred Vargas novels in bookstores for about a month now, and haven't found a single one!

Chris recommended the Vargas books to Pauline (who's going to Paris for the first time in 20 years!) and they sounded so good I thought I'd check one out. Guess I'll have to order online ...

I've seen Bay Area author Cara Black's novels in bookstores, but the characters sound a little too eccentric for me. (I met her last year at a Francophile luncheon in San Francisco, and she was very nice.)

Colleen, I'll be eager to read your review(s)! Pauline is coming to Paris? Is it (was it) a clandestine mission?

Dave

Yes, Dave, you know Pauline - she likes to keep her private life private.

She and Steve are headed to Paris soon. They have an apartment rented in the 5th (I think - near the Sorbonne?). I don't know what their plans are for the week, but you should shoot her an email - address is on the link above.

No one has mentioned Jean Rhys yet? Then I will. She captures a black-and-white melancholy of the Montparnasse years of Paris, all in a most economical atmospheric syntax.

Paris, Paris, Journey into the City of Light.

David Downie.

This may be a stretch but a good translation of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is still one of the best reads about Paris, even if it is set in an earlier time. Even though the story is old, many of the places are still recognizable.
And it's a great story.

My favorite book of the between wars era of Montparnasse is called, fittingly enough,"Memoirs of Montparnasse" by John Glassco.

quote:

More of Fred Vargas's wonderful crime-police novels have been translated into English, including "The Chalk Circle Man" and "This Night's Foul Work."

Thanks for the heads-up, Dave. I love Fred Vargas' books. Unfortunately, neither of those is yet available in the US, although "The Chalk Circle Man" is due out in June. If I could find a bookstore near me with English-language books, I'd try to buy the UK editions. Anyone know if there's such a bookstore in Lyon? We will be there for one night after we leave our small town near Uzès on Saturday. Or maybe I could find them at CDG on the way home.

- Roz

This Night's Foul Work is available in paperback from Amazon. It was released a year ago. It's one of my favorites, by the way! I'm looking forward to Chalk Circle Man.

You could try Daniel Pennac's Malaussène series.

Equally about Paris and about pianos is this book-
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, by Thad Carhart. I'm not a pianist, but I found it delightful and very characteristic of the unique shops of Paris and its neighborhoods. It is fiction, but its full of information.
Linda

one of my favorite books is "Kiki of Montparnase-artists and lovers, 1900-1930."
You really get a feeling of what life was like hanging out at the cafes, the costume parties and the merry-go-round of lovers.

Silly me - I should have looked at the library first for Fred Vargas books! Just picked up "Have Mercy On Us All" on Sunday, and have a couple others on reserve. Looking forward to lots of reading over the long holiday weekend!

All of Cara Black's Murder Mysteries are great. I think there are 9 or 10 now, each set in a different arrondissment starting with Murder in the Marais.

My favorite fiction this year is. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, now a movie!

I recommend "Almost French". Interesting and funny. I really enjoyed this one!

Kathleen