When the staff at a field hospital draw straws to find out who will join the evacuation from Dunkirk, Nurse Cate is left behind. But when the Nazis arrive to claim prisoners of war, she takes her chance and flees into the night, taking one patient with her.Fifty miles away, the surrendering soldiers of the Royal Norfolk Regiment are shot dead by the advancing Germans. Beneath the pile of bodies two men survive, crawling to the safety of a nearby farmhouse, where sisters Elise and Adelaide risk their lives to take them in. When Cate, too, arrives at their door with her injured soldier, the pressure mounts.The sisters are risking everything to keep their visitors safe. But with the Nazis coming ever closer and relationships in the farmhouse intensifying, they must all question the sacrifices they are willing to make for the lives of others. How far will they go for family, friendship, and love?

    The children taught her to hope...Inspired by real acts of bravery and resistance, The Schoolteacher of Saint Michel is a heartrending and deeply moving story of one woman's courage and sacrifice during World War II, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Missing Piece of Nancy Moon.This exquisitely beautiful novel is perfect for readers of The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, The Postmistress, Lilac Girls and The Girl from Vichy.My darling girl, I need you to find someone for me . . .'France, 1942. At the end of the day, the schoolteacher releases her pupils. She checks they have their identity passes, and warns them not to stop until the German guards have let them through the barrier that separates occupied France from Free France. As the little ones fly across the border and into their mothers' arms, she breathes a sigh of relief. No one is safe now. Not even the children.Berkshire, present day. A letter left to her by her beloved late grandmother Gigi takes Hannah Stone on a journey deep into the heart of the Dordogne landscape. As she begins to unravel a forgotten history of wartime bravery and sacrifice, she discovers the heartrending secret that binds her grandmother to a village schoolteacher, the remarkable Lucie Laval...

    One obscure painting leads her to Gabriel Seymour, a highly respected art restorer with his own mysterious past. Together they attempt to uncover the truths concealed within the apartment’s walls. Paris, 1942: The Germans may occupy the City of Lights, but glamorous Estelle Allard flourishes in a world separate from the hardships of war. Yet when the Nazis come for her friends, Estelle doesn’t hesitate to help those she holds dear, no matter the cost. As she works against the forces intent on destroying her loved ones, she can’t know that her actions will have ramifications for generations to come.Set seventy-five years apart, against a perilous and a prosperous Paris, both Estelle and Lia must unearth hidden courage as they navigate the dangers of a changing world, altering history—and their family’s futures—forever.

    This one by women.A founding mother...1774. Gently-bred noblewoman Adrienne Lafayette becomes her husband, the Marquis de Lafayette's political partner in the fight for American independence. But when their idealism sparks revolution in France and the guillotine threatens everything she holds dear, Adrienne must renounce the complicated man she loves, or risk her life for a legacy that will inspire generations to come.A daring visionary...1914. Glittering New York socialite Beatrice Chanler is a force of nature, daunted by nothing--not her humble beginnings, her crumbling marriage, or the outbreak of war. But after witnessing the devastation in France firsthand, Beatrice takes on the challenge of a lifetime: convincing America to fight for what's right.A reluctant resistor...1940. French school-teacher and aspiring artist Marthe Simone has an orphan's self-reliance and wants nothing to do with war. But as the realities of Nazi occupation transform her life in the isolated castle where she came of age, she makes a discovery that calls into question who she is, and more importantly, who she is willing to become.Intricately woven and powerfully told, The Women of Chateau Lafayette is a sweeping novel about duty and hope, love and courage, and the strength we take from those who came before us.

    They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections. They have no idea she’s carefully decoding their notes and smuggling information to the Resistance. But Éliane is playing a dangerous game. Does she dare trust the man she once loved with her secrets, or will he only betray her once again? She has no way to know for certain . . . until a trip to a stunning home on the French Riviera brings a whole new level of peril. Present Day: Wanting to forget the tragedy that has left her life in shambles, Remy Lang heads to a home she’s mysteriously inherited on the Riviera. While working on her vintage fashion business, she discovers a catalog of the artworks stolen during World War II and is shocked to see a painting that hung on her childhood bedroom wall. Who is her family, really? And does the Riviera house hold more secrets than Remy is ready to face?Natasha Lester brilliantly explores the impossible choices ordinary people faced every day during extraordinary circumstances, weaving fact with fiction and celebrating women who push the boundaries of their time.

    

    Jean-Luc is a man on the run from his past. The scar on his face is a small price to pay for surviving the horrors of Nazi occupation in France. Now, he has a new life in California, a family. He never expected the past to come knocking on his door.Paris, 1944. A young Jewish woman's past is torn apart in a heartbeat. Herded onto a train bound for Auschwitz, in an act of desperation she entrusts her most precious possession to a stranger. All she has left now is hope.On a darkened platform, two destinies become intertwined, and the choices each person makes will change the future in ways neither could have imagined.Told from alternating perspectives, While Paris Slept reflects on the power of love, resilience, and courage when all seems lost. Exploring the strength of family ties, and what it really means to love someone unconditionally, this debut novel will capture your heart.

    The roads were deserted. We carried on, arm in arm, and then finally, we saw them. Columns and columns of soldiers, spreading through the streets like a toxic grey vapour. ‘You must write about this,’ he whispered to me. ‘You must write about the day freedom left Paris.’1937: Florence has dreamed her whole life of coming to Paris. She arrives on a sweltering summer day and, lost on the steep streets of Montmartre, asks for directions from Otto, a young artist with paint-spattered clothes and the most beautiful smile she has ever seen.Otto becomes her guide to Paris, taking her to visit paintings in the Louvre and bookshops by the Seine. And when Otto returns home to finish his studies, they vow to reunite on the same spot they met, one year to the day.Still dreaming of their parting kiss, Florence starts writing for an American newspaper and throws herself into becoming truly Parisian. All too soon, heady days of parties and champagne are replaced by rumours of war. When Otto finally returns to her, it is as an exile, fleeing Nazi persecution.Soon, not even Paris is safe. Florence’s articles now document life under occupation and hide coded messages from the Resistance. But with the man she loves in terrible danger, her words feel hollow and powerless. If Florence risks everything by accepting a dangerous mission, can she rescue their dreams from that sunny day before the war?A sweeping wartime story that will capture

    After tragically losing her husband, Nicola Jacques and her teenage son Oliver relocate to his father’s family's olive farm in the hills above the French Riviera.Due to a family feud, Oliver has never known his father's side of the family but Grandpapa Henri is intent that Oliver will take over the reins of the ancestral farm and his rightful inheritance.Determined to keep her independence from a rather controlling Grandpapa, Nicola buys a run-down cottage on the edge of the family's Olive Farm and sets to work renovating their new home and providing an income by cultivating the small holding that came with the Cottage.As the summer months roll by, Nicola and Oliver begin to settle happily into their new way of life with the help of Aunts Josephine and Odette, Henri’s twin sisters and local property developer Gilles Bongars.But the arrival of some unexpected news and guests at the farm, force Nicole and Aunt Josephine to assess what and where their futures lie.This book was previously published as The French Legacy.

    Every end has a new beginning... When Pixie Sampson's husband tragically dies, she inherits the beautiful Château Quiltu in Brittany, Northern France.But unbeknown to her, she also inherits a mysterious lodger, Justine Martin and her 4-year-old son Ferdie.Heartbroken and with her adventurous Mum, Gwen in tow, they travel to France to put the Château on the market but are soon drawn into a quest to seek the Château's secrets.Who is Justine? Why is she living at the Château? How did she know her husband?Over the Summer months, the Château fills with family and laughter and secrets are discovered and old wounds begin to heal.

    Virginia Hall wasn't like the other young society women back home in Baltimore--she never wanted the debutante ball or silk gloves. Instead, she traded a safe life for adventure in Europe, and when her beloved second home is thrust into the dark days of war, she leaps in headfirst.Once she's recruited as an Allied spy, subverting the Nazis becomes her calling. But even the most cunning agent can be bested, and in wartime trusting the wrong person can prove fatal. Virginia is haunted every day by the betrayal that ravaged her first operation, and will do everything in her power to avenge the brave people she lost.While her future is anything but certain, this time more than ever Virginia knows that failure is not an option. Especially when she discovers what--and whom--she's truly protecting.

    “Marry me,” he’d said. “We’ll run these vineyards together.” But now he is gone. There is no one to share the taste of the first fruit of the harvest. And her troubles are hers alone…In sleepy little Reims, France, grieving Nicole Clicquot watches her daughter play amongst the vines under the golden sun and makes a promise to herself. Her gossiping neighbours insist that the rolling fields of chalk soil are no place for a woman, but she is determined to make a success of the winery. It’s the only chance she has to keep a roof over her head and provide a future for her little girl.But as the seasons change, bringing a spoiled harvest and bitter grapes, the vineyards are on the brink of collapse. Without her husband’s oldest friend, travelling merchant Louis, she’d truly be lost. No one else would stay up all night to help count endless rows of green bottles deep in the cellars, or spread word far and wide that Nicole makes the finest champagne he’s ever tasted. One magical night, as a shooting star illuminates their way under a velvet sky, Nicole gazes up at his warm smile and wonders if perhaps she doesn’t need to be quite so alone…But when Louis shrinks from her touch after returning from a long trip abroad, Nicole fears something is terribly wrong. And as an old secret about her husband – that only Louis knew – spreads from the cobbled village streets all the way to the Paris salons, her heart and fragile reputation are shattered. Was she wrong to put her trust in another man? And with Napoleon’s wars looming on the horizon, can she find a way to save her vineyards, and her daughter, from ruin?Fans of Chocolat, Carnegie’s Maid, Dinah Jeffries and anyone longing to sip champagne under the stars will adore this stunning historical read, inspired by the true story of how Nicole Clicquot blazed her own path to build the world’s greatest champagne house: Veuve Clicquot.Previously titled: The Champagne Widow

    But when she’s mistaken for his daughter in the aftermath of the blast, Margarete knows she can make a bid for freedom…Issued with temporary papers—and with the freedom of not being seen as Jewish—a few hours are all she needs to escape to relative safety. That is, until her former employer’s son, SS officer Wilhelm Huber, tracks her down.But strangely he doesn’t reveal her true identity right away. Instead he insists she comes and lives with him in Paris, and seems determined to keep her hidden. His only proviso: she must continue to pretend to be his sister. Because whoever would suspect a Nazi girl of secretly being a Jew?His plan seems impossible, and Margarete is terrified they might be found out, not to mention worried about what Wilhelm might want in return. But as the Nazis start rounding up Jews in Paris and the Résistance steps up its activities, putting everyone who opposes the regime in peril, she realizes staying hidden in plain sight may be her only chance of survival…Can Margarete trust a Nazi officer with the only things she has left though… her safety, her life, even her heart?

    A moving story of love and friendship with a wonderful sense of place' KATE MOSSE'A terrific story ... skilfully written and heart-rending' MIRIAM MARGOLYES'A virtual hug of a tale; warm, and engaging, and tender' JOANNE HARRIS'Romantic, evocative, and pulse racingly dramatic' WENDY HOLDEN'An emotional and moving read' FIONA VALPY ________ France, 1943.Forced to flee war ravaged Poland, Sara and her parents are offered refuge in a beautiful but dilapidated house in the French Alps. It seems the perfect hideaway, despite haunting traces of the previous occupants who left in haste.But shadows soon fall over Sara's blissful summer, and her blossoming romance with local villager Alain. As the Nazis close in, the family is forced to make a harrowing choice that could drive them apart forever, while Sara's own bid for freedom risks several lives . . .Will her family make it through the summer together?And can she hold onto the love she has found with Alain?By turns poignant and atmospheric, this is the compelling new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Carol Drinkwater about the power of first love and courage in our darkest hours.________'An exciting, evocative and beautifully written romance' DAILY MAIL'I love Carol Drinkwater's writing . . . So evocative of the south of France - you can almost smell the maquis . . . Engrossing' Reader Review 'Carol skilfully draws us in to the beautiful Alpes Maritimes region of France to tell the story of Sara . . . the writing is evocative and Sara's story is both moving and inspiring' Sheila O'Flanagan, bestselling author of The Women Who Ran Away'Great storyline, great characters. A thoroughly enjoyable read' Reader Review 'I enjoyed it very much . . . it's her best' Elizabeth Buchan, author of The Museum of Broken Promises'A wonderful, enjoyable novel with courage and survival at its heart' Elizabeth Chadwick, author of The Wild Hunt series'One not to be missed ... tells a part of history that should never be forgotten' Shirley Dickson, author of The Lost Children Praise for Carol Drinkwater: 'I was hooked from the start' Dinah Jefferies 'Carol Drinkwater's writing is like taking an amazing holiday in book form' Jenny Colgan 'Beautifully woven and compelling' Rowan Coleman 'Secrets, tragedy, hidden pasts and family secrets - I loved this' Santa Montefiore

    When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit.Four months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars, their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned. Despite constant shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring welcome aid—and hope—to the region. But can they survive their own differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of the Unit.With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?

    As they take on the management of their new employers’ majestic house, will the opportunities to create luscious food for the guests and explore rural France enable them to create a dream life? Or will French officialdom, family illness and a sudden career curveball send them hurrying home to New Zealand?Perfect for fans of Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence, Janine Marsh’s My Good Life in France and Beth Haslam’s Fat Dogs and French Estates.

    Moise de Camondo created a spectacular house and filled it with art for his son, Nissim; after Nissim was killed in the First World War, the house was bequeathed to the French state. Eventually, the Camondos were murdered by the Nazis.After de Waal, one of the world’s greatest ceramic artists, was invited to make an exhibition in the Camondo house, he began to write letters to Moise de Camondo. These fifty letters are deeply personal reflections on assimilation, melancholy, family, art, the vicissitudes of history, and the value of memory.

    Eleanor's parents insist she must give up medicine, marry a respectable man, and assume her proper place. While women might serve as ambulance drivers or nurses at the front, they cannot be physicians--that work is too dangerous and frightening.Nevertheless, Eleanor is determined to make more of a contribution than sitting at home knitting for the troops. When an unexpected twist of fate sends Eleanor to the battlefields of France as the private doctor of a British peer, she seizes the opportunity for what it is--the chance to finally prove herself.But there's a war on, and a casualty clearing station close to the front lines is an unforgiving place. Facing skeptical commanders who question her skills, scores of wounded men needing care, underhanded efforts by her family to bring her back home, and a blossoming romance, Eleanor must decide if she's brave enough to break the rules, face her darkest fears, and take the chance to win the career--and the love--she's always wanted.

    Twenty-year-old Barbe-Nicole inherited Le Nez (an uncanny sense of smell) from her great-grandfather, a renowned champagne maker. She is determined to use Le Nez to make great champagne, but the Napoleon Code prohibits women from owning a business. When she learns her childhood sweetheart, François Clicquot, wants to start a winery, she marries him despite his mental illness.Soon, her husband’s tragic death forces her to become Veuve (Widow) Clicquot and grapple with a domineering partner, the complexities of making champagne, and six Napoleon wars, which cripple her ability to sell champagne. When she falls in love with her sales manager, Louis Bohne, who asks her to marry, she must choose between losing her winery to her husband, as dictated by Napoleon Code, or losing Louis.In the ultimate showdown, Veuve Clicquot defies Napoleon himself, risking prison and even death.

    So when she suffers an accident on her travels and finds herself recuperating in the quiet French seaside village where she spent her childhood, she can't wait to escape. Not least because Olivier - Lily's childhood friend and former crush, who she has spent the last thirteen years avoiding - is staying next door . . .Strong-minded masterbaker Olivier is happily settled in St Pierre, preparing to marry and put down roots. But Lily's return to the village risks turning his carefully-laid plans upsidedown, and as the pair rediscover their familiar rivalry and fun, sparks fly.Is Lily really as fearless and independent as she seems on the surface - or is she just running from the past? And what if Olivier is the only one who can teach her what it really means to be brave?

    When a Senegalese man’s coffee sells superbly at the market, some café owners become incensed by the new competition and take matters into their own hands. As a Swiss tourist and a St. Denis native fall in love over the fruit-and-veggie stall, one of their family members takes drastic steps to break them up. A fledgling tour bus business is sabotaged, leading Bruno to take a closer look at a town love triangle. Called in to investigate a case of stolen oysters, our beloved policeman reunites with an old flame to catch the shellfish thieves. In story after story, Bruno settles town disputes, mediates family quarrels, and tracks down lawbreakers in his adored village of St. Denis and its environs. Featured meals in the collection include a fatty Christmas goose, a savory nettle soup with crème fraîche, and a fluffy quiche Lorraine.

    If she let her, Elizabeth would threaten her carefully erected walls. Louka has no intention of allowing her close.In Provence for a summer of teaching at the Maritima archaeological centre, Oxford University lecturer Elizabeth McLean would have no such qualms. She is absolutely up for some fun on the side, and the sexy coastguard has got under her skin.As the weeks unfold, and the two women get close, not all is as it seems.In the end…What’s the best that could happen?

    When Imogen Wren's husband dies, she must realise their dream of moving to France on her own. She finds a beautiful abandoned chateau and starts to rebuild her life among its ruins. But she soon notices that the locals won't come near. A dark web of secrets surrounds the house, and it all seems to centre on the war...1944. Since the moment German troops stepped foot in her village, the sole aim of Simone Varon's life has been to avoid them. Until one soldier begins leaving medicine bottles for her sick brother, and she gets to know the man behind the uniform. Then the Resistance comes calling, and she must choose between love and duty – with devastating consequences that will echo through the decades.As Imogen restores the chateau, she's determined to uncover the truth – and set to rest the ghosts of the past.A beautiful and devastating dual timeline novel that spans from occupied France in World War Two, to the war-ravaged chateau in 2019. Perfect for fans of Gill Paul, Lucinda Riley and Lorna Cook.

    With enormous tasks, like installing a lift, plus the beginnings of lifelong traditions, this much-anticipated follow-up includes many firsts for the Strawbridge family. As Dick and Angel recount stories of the next two years at the château, we start to understand the true extent of the work and skill that it has taken to make this incredible house into a much-loved home.With never-before-told stories of remarkable discoveries, amazing transformations and once-in-a-lifetime celebrations, this book is sure to delight and inspire in equal measure!

    He's the agent at the sharp end of clandestine missions, responsible for eliminating terror threats and disrupting illegal nuclear and biological weapons programs. The element the missions have in common is danger - danger to de Payns, to his team and to those who stand in his way. But increasingly it's not just the enemies of France that are being damaged by de Payns' actions. His marriage is under strain, and at the back of his mind lurks the fear that haunts every operative with a family - what if they come after my children?When a routine mission in Palermo to disrupt a terrorist organisation goes fatally wrong, Alec is forced to confront the possibility that they may have been betrayed by a fellow operative. And now he's been tasked to investigate a secretive biological weapons facility in Pakistan. Alec must find out how they're producing a weaponised bacteria capable of killing millions, and what they plan to do with it. But with a traitor in the ranks, it's not just Alec in the firing line. Soon he'll be forced to confront his worst fear - and the potential destruction of Paris itself.This is fiction, but based on the experiences of a real French spy. The knowledge and tradecraft that lie behind Jack Beaumont's taut plotting and brilliant eye for detail enliven every page, making The Frenchman all the more plausible, and all the more frightening.

    I’m talking about the amount of work, not the asking price, as we survey the dilapidated state of the 300-year-old house. He gives me a knowing look, purses his mouth in a French way and shakes his head. He’s going to do a deal. The truth is, too much work or not, it’s too late. The fairy-tale cottage has spun her magic web around us, and we are her willing captives. As I set out on my voyage of discovery, will I enjoy a leisurely existence close to nature where I can cook with produce from my garden, or will country life not be as cosy I imagined?This is the first enchantingly uplifting instalment in the Life at Les Libellules series and is perfect for fans of Janine Marsh, Frances Mayes and Peter Mayle.

    

    An interview with the owner of a renowned cheese shop for his first article nearly proves a disaster because he speaks no French. As he goes on to cover celebrities and couturiers and improves his mastery of the language, he gradually learns what it means to be truly French. He attends a cocktail party with Yves St. Laurent and has dinner with Giorgio Armani. Over a superb lunch, it’s his landlady who ultimately provides him with a lasting touchstone for how to judge food: “you must understand the intentions of the cook.” At the city’s brasseries and bistros, he discovers real French cooking. Through a series of vivid encounters with culinary figures from Paul Bocuse to Julia Child to Ruth Reichl, Lobrano hones his palate and finds his voice. Soon the timid boy from Connecticut is at the epicenter of the Parisian dining revolution and the restaurant critic of one of the largest newspapers in France. A mouthwatering testament to the healing power of food, My Place at the Table is a moving coming-of-age story of how a gay man emerges from a wounding childhood, discovers himself, and finds love. Published here for the first time is Lobrano’s “little black book,” an insider’s guide to his thirty all-time-favorite Paris restaurants.

    Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Lights slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. She takes their measurements and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hôtel Ritz—the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters. But when dashing René Touliard suddenly reenters her world, Lila finds her heart tangled between determination to help save his Jewish family and bolstering the fight for liberation.Paris, 1943. Sandrine Paquet’s job is to catalog the priceless works of art bound for the Führer’s Berlin, masterpieces stolen from prominent Jewish families. But behind closed doors, she secretly forages for information from the underground resistance. Beneath her compliant façade lies a woman bent on uncovering the fate of her missing husband . . . but at what cost? As Hitler’s regime crumbles, Sandrine is drawn in deeper when she uncrates an exquisite blush Chanel gown concealing a cryptic message that may reveal the fate of a dressmaker who vanished from within the fashion elite.Told across the span of the Nazi occupation, The Paris Dressmaker highlights the brave women who used everything in their power to resist darkness and restore light to their world.

    Fierce Protestant Isabelle is desperate to escape persecution by the Catholic King. Isabelle is tortured and harassed, her people forced to convert to the religion that rules the land. She risks her life by helping her fellow Protestants, which is forbidden by the powers of France. She accepts her fate - until she meets a handsome Catholic soldier who makes her question everything.She fights off an attack by a nobleman, and the only way to save herself is to flee to the colony of Canada as a Daughter of the King. She can have money, protection, and a new life - if she adopts the religion she's spent a lifetime fighting. She must leave her homeland and the promises of her past. In the wild land of Canada, Isabelle finds that her search for love and faith has just begun.Based on the incredible true story of the French orphans who settled Canada, Daughter of the King is a sweeping tale of one young woman's fight for true freedom. Kerry Chaput brings the past to life, expertly weaving a gripping saga with vivid historical details. Jump back in time on a thrilling adventure with an unforgettable heroine.

    That wasn’t who I wanted to be. My dreams of adventure and exploration were so far out of reach. I’d never become Tarzan. I’d never become Jacques Cousteau. But I was wrong. This is my story . . . From the award-winning author of Dancing with Death comes an epic memoir that will delight fans of The Glass Castle, Wild, and Unbroken, as well as Educated and Can’t Hurt Me. The thrilling I, Tarzan is a deep journey into the author’s innermost secrets that will have you questioning your own self-understanding and life goals.

    But they also tear you apart.’ Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the ShoreUnlike her daredevil husband, Susie Kelly is afraid of water, elevators, heights, skiing and flying upside down and she hates being in the spotlight. No matter how hard she tries, things seem to go wrong more often than they go right. Fortunately she can see the funny side of most things, even her cancer diagnosis. However, snoring transforms her from a sweet little thing into a pitiless monster. These often funny and sometimes poignant tales of travels through Susie’s muddled life confirm that, as Simon Reeve writes in his autobiography Step by Step, ‘…it is always worth remembering that some of the most memorable times can happen when things go a bit wrong.’ *****'Great storyteller and very funny.' Goodreads***** 'There are a handful of authors who will achieve that elusive trick of making you laugh out loud. For me it's James Herriot, Bill Bryson & Susie Kelly.' FrenchEntrée Magazine*****‘I just love reading Susie's books. Her travel books contain loads of helpful information, plenty of humor and often the odd tear. I even slowed down my usual reading pace to try and make it last longer. ’ Amazon US reader*****'Reading a Susie Kelly book is like sitting down for a cuppa and a chat with your best friend... your funny, witty, generous, big-hearted, kind, eloquent, compassionate, intuitive, sometimes poignant, often hilarious best friend.' Author Tanya Bullock

    Hannah Bond has always been a bookworm, which is why she fled Florida—and her unstable, alcoholic mother—for a quiet life leading Jane Austen-themed tours through the British countryside. But on New Year’s Eve, everything comes crashing down when she arrives back at her London flat to find her mother, Marla, waiting for her. Marla’s brought two things with her: a black eye from her ex-boyfriend and an envelope she discovered while cleaning out the attic of Hannah’s childhood home. Its contents? The deed to an apartment in Paris, an old key, and newspaper clippings about the death of a famous writer named Andres Armand. Hannah, wary of her mother’s motives, reluctantly agrees to accompany her to Paris, where against all odds, they discover great-grandma Ivy’s one-bedroom apartment frozen in 1940 and covered in layers of dust and cobwebs. As Hannah and Marla uncover clues about great-grandma Ivy in the nooks and crannies of the apartment—including a diary detailing evenings spent drinking and dancing with Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds—they trace her steps through the city in an attempt to understand why she never mentioned her life in Paris before settling in Florida during the war. A heartwarming and charming saga set in the City of Lights, Lost in Paris is an unforgettable celebration of family and the love between a mother and a daughter.

    But not for long. He dreams of being a vintner, his hands in the dirt, the grape on his tongue, blending his very own creation: a bottle of wine with his own label.Pascal has spent his life surrounded by French wine and winemakers. The idea that he could run his very own vineyard is tantalizing and keeps him up at night, dreaming of finding a small vineyard he can afford, somewhere in southwest France. His companion, Merle Bennett, the middle of five lawyer sisters, has her own aspirations. Two tiny cottages are begging to be renovated for summer rentals. Will the person camping in the back garden scuttle her plans?When Pascal puts an abandoned vineyard in his sights, he doesn't want to let go. But Château des Corbeaux, owned by two Brits, has a complicated history. Not just recently with vandalism and hostile neighbors, but long ago secrets that resurface. Reluctant sellers, his own finances, and more threaten to derail him as he struggles to work out a way to make his dream a reality.

    Now she’s facing prison for murder.It’s three days since Mel des Pittones threw in her job as an intelligence analyst with the French special forces to marry financial trader Gérard Rohlbert. But her dream turns to nightmare when she wakes to find him dead in bed beside her. Her horror deepens when she’s accused of his murder. Met Police detective Jeff McCracken wants to pin Gérard’s death on her. Mel must track down the real killer, even if that means being forced to work with the obnoxious McCracken. But as she unpicks her fiancé’s past, she discovers his shocking secret life. To get to the truth, she has to go undercover and finds almost everybody around her is hiding a second self.Mel can trust nobody. Can she uncover the real killer before they stop her? A stunning new thriller from the author of the award-winning Roma Nova series, fans of Daniel Silva or and Stella Rimington will love Double Identity.

    Raised for a life of parties and servants, Camille and Mariele have much in common, but it takes the horrors of war to bring them together to fight for the city and people they love.A few weeks after the abdication of Napoleon III, the Prussian army lays siege to Paris. Camille Noisette, the daughter of a wealthy family, volunteers to nurse wounded soldiers and agrees to spy on a group of radicals plotting to overthrow the French government. Her future sister-in-law, Mariele de Crécy, is appalled by the gaps between rich and poor. She volunteers to look after destitute children whose families can barely afford to eat.Somehow, Camille and Mariele must find the courage and strength to endure months of devastating siege, bloody civil war, and great personal risk. Through it all, an unexpected friendship grows between the two women, as they face the destruction of Paris and discover that in war women have as much to fight for as men.War has a way of teaching lessons—if only Camille and Mariele can survive long enough to learn them.

    After falling in love with a classically trained chef, they moved together to his ancestral home, a tiny fishing village off the coast of Brittany.But then Francois-Xavier breaks things off with her without warning, leaving her flat broke and in the middle of renovating the guesthouse they planned to open for business. Natalie's already struggling when her sister, Alex, shows up unannounced. The sisters form an unlikely partnership to save the guesthouse, reluctantly admitting their secrets to each other as they begin to heal the scars of their shared past.But the property harbors hidden stories of its own. During World War II, every man of fighting age on the island fled to England to join the Free French forces. The women and children were left on their own...until three hundred German troops took up residence, living side-by-side with the French women on the tiny island for the next several years.When Natalie and Alex unearth an old cookbook in a hidden cupboard, they find handwritten recipes that reveal old secrets. With the help of locals, the Morgen sisters begin to unravel the relationship between Violette, a young islander whose family ran the guesthouse during WWII, and Rainier, a German military customs official with a devastating secret of his own.

    Her mission is to assassinate Sasha Vasilev, a Russian mole who took the French secret service apart piece by piece and gave their secrets to the Kremlin.A PRISONER WHO CAN’T BE KILLED Ex-SAS trooper and MI6 Officer Aidan Snow is also in Ukraine. Sent by British Intelligence, he must extract Mohammed Iqbal, an innocent citizen caught up in the conflict in rebel-controlled Donetsk.A WAR THAT CAN’T BE WON As Snow and Racine find themselves drawn deeper into the crisis, their missions collide with devastating consequences. Outgunned and outnumbered, their only hope is to fight their way through and out of Donetsk before Russia closes its new iron curtain.

    Although the French court dazzles on the surface, beneath its glitter, danger lurks for the three women trapped in its coils as power shifts from one regime to the next. The story begins as Queen Anne lies dying and King Louis’s health declines. Their two daughters, Claude and young Renée, heiresses to the rich duchy of Brittany, become pawns in the game of control. Countess Louise d’Angoulême is named guardian to both girls. For years she has envied the dying Queen Anne, the girls’ mother. Because of her family’s dire financial problems, she schemes to marry wealthy Claude to her son. This unexpected guardianship presents a golden opportunity, but only if she can remove their protectress Baronne Michelle, who loves the princesses and safeguards their interests. As political tensions rise, the futures of Princess Renée and Baronne hang in the balance, threatened by Countess Louise’s plots. Will timid Claude untangle the treacherous intrigues Countess Louise is weaving? Will Baronne Michelle and Claude outflank the wily countess to protect young Princess Renée? And can Claude find the courage to defend those she loves?Praise for The Importance of Pawns:“Love, revenge, deceit, valour, struggle and bravery. These are the keystones of Keira Morgan’s fascinating new novel, The Importance of Pawns. Historical fiction at its best.”

    This was years back, in the blue mists of memory.Now it’s the 1950s and Henri is the last tailor on the street. With meticulous precision he takes the measurements of men and notes them down in his leather-bound ledger. He draws on the cloth with a blue chalk, cuts the pieces and sews them together. When the suit is done, Henri adds a finishing touch: a blue Tekhelet thread hidden in the trousers somewhere, for luck. One day, the renowned French artist Yves Klein walks into the shop, and orders a suit.Set in Paris, this atmospheric tale delicately intertwines three connected narratives and timelines, interspersed with observations of the colour blue. It is a meditation on truth and lies, memory and time and thought. It is a leap of the imagination, a leap into the void.

    At 12.00 midnight, Maximilien Robespierre, the most prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety which had for more than a year directed the Reign ofTerror, was planning to destroy one of the most dangerous plots that the Revolution had faced.By 12.00 midnight at the close of the day, following a day of uncertainty, surprises, upsets and reverses, his world had been turned upside down. He was an outlaw, on the run, and himself wanted for conspiracy against the Republic. He felt that his whole life and his Revolutionary career weredrawing to an end. As indeed they were. He shot himself shortly afterwards. Half-dead, the guillotine finished him off in grisly fashion the next day.The Fall of Robespierre provides an hour-by-hour analysis of these 24 hours.

    From his perch atop a gargoyle on Notre Dame cathedral, he surveys his kingdom. He sees Sylvie Cloutier, art lover and ex-antiques dealer, making dinner for her bullying husband Henri, trapped in their loveless marriage like a bird in a gilded cage. He sees security guard, hopeless romantic and bookworm Philippe Moreau cycling through the streets of Paris in his crumpled uniform, late (again) for his night shift at the museum.When Sylvie begs her husband to let her go to work, he gets her a job as an evening cleaner at the Louvre. He thinks such a menial position will dispel any ideas about independence she might have, but his plan backfires when she falls in love with kind, gentle Philippe. They decide to run away together, but there’s a major problem: neither of them has any money.One stormy night in the Louvre, the answer to their prayers falls into their lap… But is it really the solution, or just another, even bigger problem?What follows is a romantic, wistful but madcap adventure through (and under) the city of lights, involving a stolen painting, an art heist in reverse, and Eric Cantona. Will love find a way?

    Six hundred and forty-three men, women and children were murdered in the nation’s worst wartime atrocity.Today, Oradour is remembered as a ‘martyred village’ and its ruins preserved, but the stories of its inhabitants lie buried under the rubble of the intervening decades.Silent Village gathers the powerful testimonies of survivors in the first account of Oradour as it was both before the tragedy and in its aftermath. A lost way of life is vividly recollected in this unique insight into the traditions, loves and rivalries of a typical village in occupied France.Why this peaceful community was chosen for extermination has remained a mystery. Putting aside contemporary hearsay, Nazi rhetoric and revisionist theories, Robert Pike returns to the archival evidence to narrate the tragedy as it truly happened – and give voice to the anguish of those left behind.

    

    Find a few special touchable berets on the cover and inside!Grand-père gifts Bella the hat she'd always wanted--a beret! But just as she places it on her head, a gust of wind whisks it away. When the beret lands in a chef's pan . . . hip, hip, soufflé! When it lands on the head of a dancer . . . hip, hip, ballet! The wind continues to sweep the hat farther and farther away. Will Bella ever get back her beloved beret?Children will love to read aloud this humorous and heartfelt story filled with repetition, rhyme, and hilarious wordplay. On the cover and inside of the book, find a few special touchable berets as an interactive and tactile element to engage young readers.

    His American wife Sophie, a wartime nurse, thinks she knows all his secrets. He hasn’t. She doesn’t.July 1939. The Parkers are looking forward to a long-delayed honeymoon in France before they sail home to Sydney. But visiting a site where Joe fought wreaks havoc with their itinerary and their marriage.When they arrive at Villers-Bretonneux, the location of Joe’s most brutal battle, his long-buried memories erupt, including the ones he never told Sophie. And an impromptu trip to the French Alps only makes things worse when they discover German war artifacts on pristine alpine trails and the walls of the miles-deep Chamonix valley close in on Joe like the deepest trench he ever experienced. All the defenses he uses to hold his memories at bay start crumbling as the world teeters on the brink of a second world war.Bonds of friendship and shared experience helped them endure the Great War, but Sophie begins to doubt how well she really knows her husband when the foundations of their relationship seem to shift out of control. Can their marriage survive this trip? Or will Joe’s need to keep his secrets break both their hearts?Join Sophie and Joe on their journey of love, loss, secrets, and redemption, from France to Australia and back again."Fans of historical fiction romance novels will be delighted to read the arch of Sophie and Joe's love." - The BookLife Prize by Publishers Weekly"This was a beautifully written story, with a rich sense of place, that had me fully emerged in the WWI era and 1939 France. Joe and Sophie were such engaging characters and I fully enjoyed following along as their story unfolded. I highly recommend this novel!" - Kimberly Sullivan, author of Three Coins"DARE NOT TELL is a poignant portrayal of the long-term impact of trauma and how visceral fears can create isolation and distance even in the best of relationships. Schroller's writing, command of history, and compassion for how relationships evolve through tragedy are superb." - Teri Case, author of Tiger Drive and In the Doghouse "Vividly evocative and steeped in history... Readers will be left impressed with Schroller's control over her historical atmosphere as well as her multilayered, intriguing characterizations. An engaging, poignant tale from an author to watch." - Prairies Book Review"The writing is replete with vivid descriptions and the kind of drama that keeps readers turning the pages. It is skillful, balanced, and emotionally rich." - Readers Favorite Five Star Review

    Michael Neiberg offers a dramatic history of the American response--a policy marked by panic and moral ineptitude, which placed the United States in league with fascism and nearly ruined the alliance with Britain.The successful Nazi invasion of France destabilized American planners' strategic assumptions. At home, the result was huge increases in defense spending, the advent of peacetime military conscription, and domestic spying to weed out potential fifth columnists. Abroad, the United States decided to work with Vichy France despite its pro-Nazi tendencies. The US-Vichy partnership, intended to buy time and temper the flames of war in Europe, severely strained Anglo-American relations. American leaders naively believed that they could woo men like Philippe P�tain, preventing France from becoming a formal German ally. The British, however, understood that Vichy was subservient to Nazi Germany and instead supported resistance figures such as Charles de Gaulle. After the war, the choice to back Vichy tainted US-French relations for decades.Our collective memory of World War II as a period of American strength overlooks the desperation and faulty decision-making that drove US policy from 1940 to 1943. Tracing the key diplomatic and strategic moves of these formative years, Shadow of Liberty gives us a more nuanced and complete understanding of the war and of the global position the United States would occupy afterward.

    Although Gainsbourg’s music has been discovered by new generations, his life has rarely been illuminated and contextualized with such style and insight." - BECK Why has Serge Gainsbourg crossed over to the English-speaking world when so many of his contemporaries have remained largely confined to the Francosphere? What is it about this unshaven provocateur that so appeals to us? And who was the real Serge Gainsbourg anyway? Was he the sensitive seducer and songwriting colossus of the 60s and 70s? Was he Lucien Ginsburg, the son of Russian Jewish refugees who had to wear a yellow star during the Nazi Occupation of Paris? Or was he Gainsbarre, the deplorable, attention-seeking drunk who shamelessly propositioned Whitney Houston on live TV? Gainsbourg’s cult has only grown since his death in 1991, and Histoire de Melody Nelson is now regarded as a classic in France and internationally. The 1971 album had only sold eighty thousand copies by 1986 when it finally went gold fifteen years after its release; its canonical elevation is a remarkable story, and there are many more remarkable stories attached to all of Gainsbourg’s genre-defying, transgressive long-players. In Relax Baby Be Cool, writer Jeremy Allen takes each studio album in turn while exploring themes pertinent to Gainsbourg’s life and music: performance, provocation, theft, dandyism, avant-gardism, muses, Nazis, film and TV, Surrealism, vice, posterity, and fame. French pop music is more popular than it’s been since the mid-90s, when the French touch was breaking. Gainsbourg’s influence has also been huge on alternative music: from Pulp to Massive Attack, De La Soul to Danger Mouse, Black Grape to Kylie, David Guetta to Die Antwoord, Air to Iggy Pop. This book is full of new interviews from people who knew him, but also younger artists who discovered him after his death. Contributors include Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jacqueline Ginsburg (Gainsbourg’s sister), Anna Karina, Mike Patton, Etienne Daho, Sly Dunbar, Alan Hawkshaw, Jean-Claude Vannier, Tony Frank, Mick Harvey, Bertrand Burgalat, Acid Arab, Jehnny Beth, Alan Chamfort, Metronomy, David Holmes, Blonde Redhead, Nicolas Godin of Air, Russell Mael of Sparks, Will Oldham, and many more.

    He remains in France to search for his only remaining family, his father, whom he doesn't know. She told him that his father is an Impressionist painter. His mother's friend, Georges Clémenceau, finds Oscar in the hospital and gets him a job as a gardener for Claude Monet. As a career garden designer, Oscar jumped at the opportunity to further his career by working in Monet's world-famous garden. The most famous and well-connected Impressionist could help Oscar locate his father. Monet hires him as a painting assistant and traveling companion in addition to his gardening duties.Monet, tired and disheartened by his deteriorating physical condition failing eyesight, visits some of his previous painting venues and brings Oscar along as his traveling companion and confidant. It excites Oscar to learn more about Monet and to meet some of his friends who may assist him in his quest. Oscar meets a beautiful young woman, Isabelle, on a train returning from Paris. Isabell, an artist, introduces Oscar to the emerging post-war fashions and mores. She captivates Monet as she is the beautiful daughter of one of his largest American clients who is a donor to the Art Institute of Chicago. Over Monet's daughters' objections, she becomes a guest at his family gatherings along with Oscar. Monet introduces Oscar to his friends, who provide Oscar with insights into Monet's character and personality. Monet sends Oscar and Isabelle on a mission to deliver a package to Auguste Renoir in the south of France. This trip ignites their love affair, and Renoir provides clues that Monet is Oscar's father. Once Oscar discovers Monet is his father, he wrestles with the challenge of how to tell him. In the meantime, Monet's children accept Oscar as a member of their family. Oscar wants to tell Monet but fears that confronting him with his parentage may cost him the love and trust of his father and the other family members. His anger at his father dissipates when he learns that Monet never knew Oscar's mother was pregnant.Isabelle returns to Chicago, where she discovers she's pregnant with Oscar's child. After becoming engaged to another man, she returns to France to have the child and put it up for adoption before her wedding in Chicago. Her engagement severs her relationship with Oscar. He and Isabelle become parents of the daughter of a friend who dies in childbirth. She cancels her wedding plans and chooses to make her life with Oscar. He continues to love Isabelle but fears he can't trust her. Oscar can't bear to have his child with Isabelle grow up without a father as he did, so he marries Isabelle on the eve of the child's birth. As Isabelle is undergoing labor, Oscar confronts Monet with the fact that he is his father. Devastated, Monet tells his family about his son, Oscar, and the news receives a warm reception. Oscar realizes he not only has the father he has longed for but also a large family that loves him. His life is complete until the next episode.

    Inspired by the ideal of the pursuit of happiness, she has become a gifted millinery apprentice by day and a street revolutionary by night. In the treasonous world of coffee houses and night rebellions, she meets Luc Chatillon, the only son of a family that has made great wealth breeding thoroughbreds for the royal stables. Luc, recently returned from America, is inspired by the notion of liberty and freedom. Still, caught in the mores of his wealthy father’s world of arranged marriages and conventional mistresses, he has become cynical about love and marriage. In Nicole he finds the strength and purpose he craves for his own life.As their passion intensifies, secrets from Nicole’s past emerge, which could send her to the guillotine. She must decide if she can truly depend on Luc as dangerous intrigues threaten to destroy her and those she loves.

    Lotharingia is a fictionalised re-telling of her youth, as she grapples with the constraints of femininity in her quest for self-definition, power, and love.Recipient of the HFC Book of the Year 2021 Gold Medal for World Historical Fiction, shortlisted for the 2020 Page Turner Awards, and a 2022 Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice, Lotharingia brings to life the intrigue-filled world and the larger-than-life characters that dominated European politics at the dawn of the second millennium.Countess Matilde is the sole heir to Tuscany, a descendant of Charlemagne, and a trained warrior, but a woman can only rule with a powerful husband at her side. Even her formidable mother's mysterious relics and diplomatic nous cannot change Rome’s mind about her betrothal to the duke of Lotharingia, a man who fills her with dread. Across the Alps, Matilde’s overlord, King Heinrich of Germany, is coming of age, in a court rife with intrigue. His request to divorce sends shock waves through Christendom, and Rome, alarmed at the potential political consequences, decides that Matilde's marriage can no longer wait.When, after a chance meeting, Heinrich rescues Matilde from her abusive husband, friendship blossoms into forbidden love, a love with unexpected consequences.A sweeping medieval drama - Star-crossed love, power, Machiavellian intrigue, and relic hunting.

    . .They carry his order to seize the Dupres, A Huguenot family. But what is Clare's crime?1680 France. Clare Dupres is not your average midwife. Her successful career relies on an ancient family secret formula (the magic elixir) which provides a pain-free birthing experience, offered solely to her wealthy aristocratic patients. In return, she is richly rewarded with gold and jewels. Clare's husband Jacques resents her working outside the home but is too weak to stop her.King Louis XIV detests Huguenots and is determined to convert them to Catholicism or eradicate them. He begins to tighten the noose by quartering troops in their homes until they abjure their religious beliefs. Bans them from singing psalms or leaving France without official permission. In 1682, he issues an edict forbidding Huguenot midwives from delivering babies, which delights Jacques. But Clare rightly senses that things will only get worse. She urges her husband to relocate their family to England, where she can resume her profession. Jacques blindly refuses, relying on the Edict of Nantes to protect their religious freedoms.UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE! in 1685, the Edict is revoked. A vengeful servant wrongfully accuses the Dupres of violating the restrictions. Jacques is devastated. Clare's only hope of saving her family is to devise a clever escape plan, but she must act quickly.Full of twists and turns, this fast-paced adventure will keep the reader in suspense until the final page.Recommended for readers who enjoy stories about strong women and are eager to learn about a dark chapter in 17th century French history. Perfect for fans of Call the Midwife, The Midwife of Hope River, and The Huguenot Chronicles.Editorial Reviews"...a beautiful and flowing story with elements of history, romance, and storytelling brought together by a colourful case of characters. Clare is a strong female lead dealing with issues that are timeless." Literary Titan"A gripping historical novel. A finalist and highly recommended." The Wishing Shelf Book Awards"...well-written, well-paced, with a story that carries you along." The Coffee Pot Book Club" Clare Dupres' story is completely entertaining. And there is subtle humor. I like that. " Mike Bove, author of The Bruce DelReno Mysteries.

    The organization’s F section sent more than four hundred agents into France, thirty-nine of whom were women. But while some are widely known—Violette Szabo, Odette Sansom, Noor Inayat Khan—others have had their stories largely overlooked. Kate Vigurs interweaves for the first time the stories of all thirty-nine female agents. Tracing their journeys from early recruitment to work undertaken in the field, to evasion from, or capture by, the Gestapo, Vigurs shows just how greatly missions varied. Some agents were more adept at parachuting. Some agents’ missions lasted for years, others’ less than a few hours. Some survived, others were murdered. By placing the women in the context of their work with the SOE and the wider war, this history reveals the true extent of the differences in their abilities and attitudes while underlining how they nonetheless shared a common mission and, ultimately, deserve recognition both collectively and individually.

    . . [Saltzman] has written a distinctive study that transcends both art and history and forces us to explore the connections between the two." --Roger Lowenstein, The Wall Street JournalA captivatingstudy of Napoleon's plundering of Europe's art for the Louvre, told through the story of a Renaissance masterpiece seized from VeniceCynthia Saltzman's Plunder recounts the fate of Paolo Veronese's Wedding Feast at Cana, a vast, sublime canvas that the French, under the command of the young Napoleon Bonaparte, tore from a wall of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, on an island in Venice, in 1797. Painted in 1563 during the Renaissance, the picture was immediately hailed as a masterpiece. Veronese had filled the scene with some 130 figures, lavishing color on the canvas to build the illusion that the viewers' space opened onto a biblical banquet taking place on a terrace in sixteenth-century Venice. Once pulled from the wall, the Venetian canvas crossed the Mediterranean rolled on a cylinder; soon after, artworks commandeered from Venice and Rome were triumphantly brought into Paris. In 1801, the Veronese went on exhibition at the Louvre, the new public art museum founded during the Revolution in the former palace of the French kings.As Saltzman tells the larger story of Napoleon's looting of Italian art and its role in the creation of the Louvre, she reveals the contradictions of his character: his thirst for greatness--to carry forward the finest aspects of civilization--and his ruthlessness in getting whatever he sought. After Napoleon's 1815 defeat at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington and the Allies forced the French to return many of the Louvre's plundered paintings and sculptures. Nevertheless, The Wedding Feast at Cana remains in Paris to this day, hanging directly across from the Mona Lisa.Expertly researched and deftly told, Plunder chronicles one of the most spectacular art appropriation campaigns in history, one that sheds light on a seminal historical figure and the complex origins of one of the great museums of the world.

    It may be envied. We recommend vigilance when using it in public.—Paris bus public noticeIn fall 2014 Lauren Elkin began keeping a diary of her bus commutes in the Notes app on her iPhone 5c, writing down the interesting things and people she saw in a Perecquian homage to Bus Lines 91 and 92, which she took from her apartment in the 5th Arrondissement to her teaching job in the 7th.Reading the notice, she decided to be vigilant when using her phone: she would carry out a public transport vigil, using it to take in the world around her and notice all the things she would miss if she continued using it the way she had been, the way everyone does—to surf the web, check social media, maintain her daily sense of self through digital interaction. Her goal became to observe the world through the screen of her phone, rather than using her phone to distract from the world.During the course of that academic year, the Charlie Hebdo attacks occurred and Elkin had an ectopic pregnancy, requiring emergency surgery. At that point, her diary of dailiness became a study of the counterpoint between the everyday and the Event, mediated through early twenty-first century technology, and observed from the height of a bus seat. 91/92 is a love letter to Paris, and a meditation on how it has changed in the two decades the author has lived there, evolving from the twentieth century into the twenty-first, from analog to digital.

    “Riess uses words as an artist uses a paint brush; the pages come to life.” –Joseph Epstein, Ph.D “Mystery. Passion. Crime. What more could a book-lover want!” –Elizabeth Cooke, author of the Hotel Marcel Series

    Diffident despite her talent and thoughtfulness, she struggles to understand and speak to the people closest to her, especially Alex: an exchange student from Florence, whom she feels intimately connected to despite his elusive, almost aloof disposition. As she travels through Paris and rural northeast France to meet with the poet and pursue an idea for her own book, she reckons with the distance between herself and Alex and begins to speak of the life she wants for herself. A meditation on what is often said and unsaid between people—in silence, translation, interpretation, and miscommunication—and an account of an artist coming into her own, Subjects We Left Out is a novel that sees the reader as correspondent, inviting us to hear and be heard, see and be seen, and summon the courage to speak clearly.

    Discover the studios and shops where artisans hand­craft and sell exquisite items on-site in charming Parisian locations where the skill has been passed on for decades—or centuries—of continuous operation. These often-hidden gems provide unique details that will inspire designers, artists, and creatives of all stripes. To source the unique elements that can define the character of a room, clients—such as the Metro­politan Museum—have ordered custom decorative curtain tassels from Passementerie Verrier since 1753. A visit to Boiseries Féau can transform even the humblest apartment into a château interior with a restored carved door or elaborate molding. A la Providence and its array of hardware and fittings from every decorative period is a home renovator’s heaven. For the artist—the finest supplies and the dreamiest ateliers are peppered through the capital. Degas’s graceful dancers were drawn with pigments from the Maison du Pastel, which has hand-rolled a mesmer­izing palette of colors according to their secret trademarked formula since 1720. Fashion designers have chosen from the thousands of hat trimmings, buttons, ribbons, and sumptuous fabrics in stock at Ultramod since 1832. Revel in the city’s artisanal traditions; this book is a vibrant source of inspiration in twenty quaint, time­less spaces.

     Everybody wants a piece of grand chef Sophie Valroux. With her once-destroyed reputation fully recovered and then some, Sophie is making her mark in the culinary world. She's running the restaurants of Château de Champvert, the beautiful estate that she inherited from her grandmother. She and her fiancé, Rémi, are closer than ever, and she's even bonding with his daughter Lola. Everything should be perfect.Yet, Sophie still feels something in her heart is missing.When she's invited to cook at an exclusive event her culinary idol is attending, she thinks this could be the thing to catapult her to greater heights, maybe even bring her one step closer to her one and only dream of achieving the stars--Michelin stars.But fate has other plans for Sophie. After she accepts to cook for the Parisian elite, her world crumbles. She suffers a fall and loses her senses of smell and taste. Certain that her career will vanish if people find out, she keeps this secret to herself, not even telling Rémi. She fakes it all: the menus for every meal, the taste of fresh figs, the juicy cherries in the orchard. All she has to do is get through life--and the event--tasteless without missing a single step. Fake it 'til you make it...right?

    Why should death be any different?Abandoned mansions boasting mysteries. Dark liaisons conducted post-midnight. The dangers of love and addiction. Karma. Passion. Dread. Revelations abound - if only they can be survived. 'Transformations: A Collection' depicts a multitude of windows onto the world's mysteries.Reality is a kaleidoscope. Taste the dark. Be transformed.

    For as his conquering army cut a swathe through Europe and North Africa, Napoleon demanded of his defeated enemies their most valuable statues and paintings. And the Emperor wanted nothing but the best, directly targeting the most magnificent works of the High Renaissance - the sculptures of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, the paintings of Raphael, Titian and Veronese. This unrivalled haul was placed on display in in the Louvre, the former palace of the French kings which Napoleon transformed into the greatest museum in the world - a museum that professedly belonged to the French people, but which was, too, a monument to Napoleon's power.In a wonderful narrative voice, Cynthia Saltzman interweaves the stories of Napoleon's military campaigns, uncovering the intricate negotiations through which he obtained his loot, with the histories of the plundered works themselves, exploring how these great masterpieces came into being. As much as a story of military might, this is an account of one of the most ambitious cultural projects ever conducted. The author ends with a reflection on the nature of art collecting in the past and the controversy surrounding the provenance of art today.

    

    She's following her sister, Meg, who was torn from their convent home and sent to London. But Cat isn't like other people - she thinks differently - and for a girl like her the world holds many perils. Luckily she befriends a young actor, Jacques, and together they follow Meg's trail to a wondrous place called the Field of Cloth of Gold. But here, they discover that the kingdoms of England and France are both in terrible danger ...

    The daring race for glory in the skies, alongside the likes of Wilbur Wright andLouis Blériot, is told through the eyes of Latham's young apprentice, who finds himself drawn, by a chance encounter in the countryside, into the rushing tailwinds of the dashing and aristocratic pilots who would make aviation history.This brilliantly told tale, set just before World War I in the high society of Belle Epoque France, blends the mad risks of early flight with the passion and heartbreak Latham shared with Antoinette, namesake of his signature aeroplane, and beloved daughter of his main financier.

    

    This is the little-known account of the CFA Franc and economic imperialism. The CFA Franc was created in 1945, binding fourteen African states and split into two monetary zones. Why did French colonial authorities create it and how does it work? Why was independence not extended to monetary sovereignty for former French colonies? Through an exploration of the genesis of the currency and an examination of how the economic system works, the authors seek to answer these questions and more. As protests against the colonial currency grow, the need for myth-busting on the CFA Franc is vital and this exposé of colonial infrastructure proves that decolonization is unfinished business.

    Growing the cuttings into trees is personal for Andre since the apples can heal people with serious illnesses, like his mother who’s suffered a stroke. But a mysterious stranger constantly thwarts Andre’s work, sending harassing calls and menacing effigies, stalking Andre, and vandalizing his trees. Andre doesn’t understand why anyone would do this, but he wonders if it’s related to a project from his past that went wrong and resulted in a deadly mistake. So with the help of his new friend Renia (The Forgetting Flower) and her street smarts, he works to outmaneuver his enemy while uncovering a larger, more dangerous plot that threatens the foundation of all that Andre holds dear, including the woman he secretly loves.Harvesting the Sky is the second book in the Botanique Noire series which combines vivid literary prose and a thriller plot, while enticing readers with the wonder and magic of plants.

    But when the body of a small boy washes up on a beach, Margot is drawn into a dangerous world of drug smugglers and people trafficking, and forced to cross paths with two feuding gangsters.

    A Velvet Empire is a new global history of French imperialism in the nineteenth century, providing new insights into the mechanisms of imperial collaboration that extended France's power from the Middle East to Latin America and ushered in the modern age of globalization.David Todd shows how French elites pursued a cunning strategy of imperial expansion in which new and conspicuous commodities such as champagne and silk textiles, together with loans to client states, contributed to a global campaign of seduction. French imperialism was no less brutal than that of the British. But while Britain widened its imperial reach through settler colonialism and the acquisition of far-flung territories, France built a velvet empire backed by frequent military interventions and a broadening extraterritorial jurisdiction. Todd demonstrates how France drew vast benefits from these asymmetric, imperial-like relations until a succession of setbacks around the world brought about their unravelling in the 1870s.A Velvet Empire sheds light on France's neglected contribution to the conservative reinvention of modernity and offers a new interpretation of the resurgence of French colonialism on a global scale after 1880. This panoramic book also highlights the crucial role of collaboration among European empires during this period--including archrivals Britain and France--and cooperation with indigenous elites in facilitating imperial expansion and the globalization of capitalism.

    The citizens who shouted “Death to Kings” now chant “Vive l’Empereur!” for Napoleon, who is seeking to consolidate his power. While the peace and prosperity he promised is decadently enjoyed in Paris, fear spreads across Europe, and a new coalition has united against him. In Poland, Andre Valiere’s efforts to serve out his conscription and return home to his family are complicated when he finds himself lured into a plot to seize a hidden fortune. Containing enough riches to bestow glory and wealth upon whoever delivers it to Napoleon, this elusive cache soon draws other, more powerful forces, wishing to claim it. In Normandy, Sophie Valiere strives to manage the family estate in Andre’s absence, but her efforts are imperiled by an influx of refugees and their growing friction with the local farmers. Amidst the infighting that threatens to unleash chaos on the entire province, she is visited by an intriguing Count returning from exile. It isn’t long before this mysterious nobleman has his sights on a new prize. In Paris, retired republican lawyer and former revolutionary, Jean-luc St. Clair, finds himself returning to politics. As his fortunes grow so does his list of enemies, and the opulent streets prove just as dangerous as Napoleon’s battlefields. Inspired by the mysterious origins of the famed Rothschild’s fortune, the bloody battles of the Napoleonic wars, the notorious gangs of nineteenth century Naples, and the real-life mistress who charmed Napoleon into granting Poland a nation-state, Searchers in Winter sets a cast of unforgettable characters—against epic historical events—into thrilling motion from the opening pages.

    They arose in France, in a hamlet close to Paris, and grew to prominence under the crusading fervour of that time, taking them from leadership in the Albigensian wars to lordships around the Mediterranean. They marry into the English aristocracy, join the crusade to the Holy Land, then another crusade in the south of France against the Cathars.The controversial stewardship of Simon de Montfort (V) in that conflict is explored in depth. It is his son Simon de Montfort (VI) who is perhaps best known. His rebellion against Henry III of England ultimately establishes the first parliamentary state in Europe.The decline of the family begins with Simon's defeat and death at Evesham in 1265. Initially they revive their fortunes under the new king of Sicily, but they scandalise Europe with a vengeful political murder. By this time it is the twilight of the crusades era and the remaining de Montforts either perish or are expelled. Eleanor de Montfort, the last Princess of Wales, dies in childbirth and her daughter is raised as a nun.

    Two new characters make their appearance in this book, and through their stories we are taken to shark-infested waters and treasure-hunting in the Pacific, to village fairs, rugby matches, broken hearts, and behavior unbefitting neighbors–which continues to this day. Thank goodness young Sophie and her puppets are around to keep these old men in check.And in "The Magician", peaceful country living consisting of leaky roofs, puppet shows, and drinks and arguments at the local tavern is disturbed when a rare species of grasshopper is discovered in a local field, and suddenly environmentalists, politicians, hunters, Big Pharma, union people, mushroom pickers and geriatric anarchists are all loudly fighting for what they believe is the right approach to things. In the midst of all this, one love story may be blooming in spite of a curse, another may be doomed for good and for poop, and questions of paternity arise yet again.The Old Geezers is an international bestseller, regularly topping the graphic novel bestseller lists across Europe ― with hundreds of thousands of copies sold.Come find out why the geezers have won the hearts of so many...in this gorgeously illustrated, beautifully written graphic novel series.

    A forgotten woman of history - Napoleon's last love, the audacious Albine de Montholon - narrates their tale of intrigue, passion, and betrayal. After the defeated Emperor Napoleon goes into exile on tiny St. Helena Island in the remote South Atlantic, he and his lover, Albine de Montholon, plot to escape and rescue his young son. Banding together African slaves, British sympathizers, a Jewish merchant, a Corsican rogue, and French followers, they confront British opposition - as well as treachery within their own ranks - with sometimes subtle, sometimes bold, but always desperate action.Interspersed within the exile story, Napoleon finishes his real novel "Clisson" that he started writing as a young man. Now it's a father's message to the young son whom his enemies took from him, but how can they get it to the boy?When Napoleon and Albine break faith with one another, ambition and Albine's husband threaten their reconciliation. To survive, Albine must decide whom to betray. To succeed, Napoleon must learn whom to trust.Two hundred years after Napoleon's death, this elegant, richly researched novel reveals the man history conceals.

    Sixteenth-century lawyers fill the air with bluster, heckled and cheered by spectators as they defend or prosecute accused animals facing penalties of being hanged or burned alive at the stake. Spotte deftly unveils a story of opposing attorneys facing off against each other in ever-more opaque, convoluted, and dilatory trials. By the end of this novel, Spotte uses his considerable, critically-acclaimed storytelling skills to explore still-relevent theories on legal precedent, the church vs. the state, mankind’s place in nature, and animal rights. Bears in the Backyard author Ed Riccuti notes, “Threaded with unique and sardonic humor, full and powerful, ANIMAL WRONGS is an off-beat exploration of human nature.” And Library Journal raves, "Spotte is a master storyteller."

    

    However, the Vichy forces were keen to defend the French colony and prevent it becoming part of the British Empire.A Strange Campaign: The Battle for Madagascar gives a detailed account of this fascinating but little-known period of military history. Even at the time, the conflict was a controversial one, pitting two colonial empires against each other.However, it was also ground-breaking as it was the first time Allied forces had staged a major amphibious invasion. The lessons learned on the shores of Madagascar would prove to be invaluable two years later during the D-day landings in Normandy.Military historian Russell Phillips examines the tactics used in the battle for Madagascar which included secret agents, dummy paratroopers and attempted bribery.But just how did the British finally break down months of resistance by the French? And how did a tug-of-war over an island in the middle of the Indian ocean influence the rest of the Second World War?

    Provence Style showcases the best of the region, with Shauna Varvel’s quintessential 18th-century Rhône valley farmhouse—Le Mas des Poiriers—as its centerpiece. Named for the working pear orchard on the grounds, the property was reimagined by noted local architect Alexandre Lafourcade, who transformed a rough structure into a luxurious expression of the Provençal aesthetic, referencing historical influences, rural traditions, and Parisian taste. Set amid a garden of allées, arbors, and terraces designed by the architect’s mother, renowned landscape designer Dominique Lafourcade, this exemplar of Provençal style is the starting point for exploring the region’s characteristic interior details and exterior features. The book includes chapters on the public spaces of the home, from entrances to living rooms, the private realm of bedrooms and bathrooms, and outdoor areas including patios and kitchen gardens, transporting the reader on a captivating stylistic journey.

    It was not until 1962 that France fully relinquished control. Once decolonization took hold across the subcontinent, Western-led ashrams and utopian communities remained in and around the former French territory of Pondicherry--most notably the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the Auroville experimental township, which continue to thrive and draw tourists today.Unsettling Utopia presents a new account of the history of twentieth-century French India to show how colonial projects persisted beyond formal decolonization. Through the experience of the French territories, Jessica Namakkal recasts the relationships among colonization, settlement, postcolonial sovereignty, utopianism, and liberation, considering questions of borders, exile, violence, and citizenship from the margins. She demonstrates how state-sponsored decolonization--the bureaucratic process of transferring governance from an imperial state to a postcolonial state--rarely aligned with local desires. Namakkal examines the colonial histories of the Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville, arguing that their continued success shows how decolonization paradoxically opened new spaces of settlement, perpetuating imperial power. Challenging conventional markers of the boundaries of the colonial era as well as nationalist narratives, Unsettling Utopia sheds new light on the legacies of colonialism and offers bold thinking on what decolonization might yet mean.

    

    Paris was his home, on and off, for most of his life and the photographs he took of the city and its people are some of his most recognizable and beloved images.In this volume are 160 photographs taken from a career lasting more than fifty years. Mostly in black and white, this selection reveals the strong influence of pioneering documentary photographer Eugene Atget (1857–1927) on Cartier-Bresson, and the clear visual links with surrealism that infused his early pictures. After an apprenticeship with cubist painter André Lhote in 1932, Cartier-Bresson bought his first Leica, a small portable camera that allowed him to capture the movement and rhythms of daily life in Paris. Camera in hand, Cartier-Bresson observed the Liberation from the Nazis in August 1944 from close quarters and the civil disturbances of May 1968. For decades he also thrived in capturing native Parisians going about their lives in the city, as well as photographing celebrated artists, writers, politicians, and anonymous citizens.This collection is not only a superb portrait of Paris in the twentieth century, but a testament to Cartier-Bresson’s skill as a supreme observer of human life.

    This book situates overlooked voices at the center of the Enlightenment, shedding light on the social and material contexts in which knowledge was produced"--

    What drove this quest for a more peaceful order? In this highly original account, John Shovlin reveals the extent to which Britain and France sought to divert their rivalry away from war and into commercial competition. The two powers worked to end future conflict over trade in Spanish America, the Caribbean, and India, and imagined forms of empire-building that would be more collaborative than competitive. They negotiated to cut cross-channel tariffs, recognizing that free trade could foster national power while muting enmity. This account shows that eighteenth-century capitalism drove not only repeated wars and overseas imperialism but spurred political leaders to strive for global stability.

    --The French ReviewIn The Disappearance of Jim Sullivan, disappearance is both a theme and a stylistic device. Indeed, this publication narrates the disappearance of Dwayne Koster, who, fascinated by the story of Jim Sullivan, commits suicide in the New Mexico desert which was the setting of the rocker's disappearance in 1975. But this novel is for the most part set in the metanarrative tale of its own genesis, and, as a result, is partially eclipsed: its -fictitious- author doesn't relate it in its entirety and keeps adding bits and pieces of first drafts and preliminary sketches to his text, thus blurring its boundaries. Tanguy Viel's work can therefore be perceived as a double response, existential and aesthetic, to the question of the end.

    In a vast range of texts and images, it appears as a carefree time full of joie de vivre, fanfare and frills, artistic daring, and scientific innovation. The Moulin Rouge shared the stage with the Universal Exposition, Toulouse-Lautrec rubbed elbows with Marie Curie and La Belle Otero, and Fantómas invented automatic writing.This book traces the making--and the imagining--of the Belle Époque to reveal how and why it became a cultural myth. Dominique Kalifa lifts the veil on a period shrouded in nostalgia, explaining the century-long need to continuously reinvent and even sanctify this moment. He sifts through images handed down in memoirs and reminiscences, literature and film, art and history to explore the many facets of the era, including its worldwide reception. The Belle Époque was born in France, but it quickly went global as other countries adopted the concept to write their own histories. In shedding light on how the Belle Époque has been celebrated and reimagined, Kalifa also offers a nuanced meditation on time, history, and memory.