5 Books to Read Set in France
5 Books to Read Set in France
1. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
From the publisher: Ernest Hemingway’s classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, now available in a restored edition, includes the original manuscript along with insightful recollections and unfinished sketches.
Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway’s most enduring works. Since Hemingway’s personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined the changes made to the text before publication. Now, this special restored edition presents the original manuscript as the author prepared it to be published.
Featuring a personal Foreword by Patrick Hemingway, Ernest’s sole surviving son, and an Introduction by grandson of the author, Seán Hemingway, editor of this edition, the book also includes a number of unfinished, never-before-published Paris sketches revealing experiences that Hemingway had with his son, Jack, and his first wife Hadley. Also included are irreverent portraits of literary luminaries, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ford Maddox Ford, and insightful recollections of Hemingway’s own early experiments with his craft.
Widely celebrated and debated by critics and readers everywhere, the restored edition of A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the unbridled creativity and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.
2. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
From the publisher: With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France―a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
3. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
From the publisher: Monsieur Perdu can prescribe the perfect book for a broken heart But can he fix his own Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine he prescribes novels for the hardships of life Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs Perdu mends broken hearts and souls The only person he can t seem to heal through literature is himself he s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared She left him with only a letter which he has never opened After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef Perdu travels along the country s rivers dispensing his wisdom and his books showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.
4. Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
From the publisher:
August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.
But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?
Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…
5. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter
From the publisher: From the author of Immoveable Feast and We’ll Always Have Pariscomes a guided tour of the most beautiful walks through the City of Light, including the favorite walking routes of the many of the acclaimed artists and writers who have called Paris their home. Baxter highlights hidden treasures along the Seine, treasured markets at Place d’Aligre, the favorite ambles of Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Sylvia Beach, and more, in a series of intimate vignettes that evoke the best parts of Paris’s many charms. Baxter’s unforgettable chronicle reveals how walking is the best way to experience romance, history, and pleasures off the beaten path . . . not only of La Ville-Lumière but also, perhaps, of life itself.
