Doubleday/Associated Press -
This book cover image released by Doubleday shows “Paris,”
by Edward Rutherfurd

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, April 30, 8:31 AM

“Paris: The Novel” (Doubleday), by Edward Rutherfurd

Paris has been both good and bad to the aristocratic de Cygne family over the centuries. While one generation was welcome at the nearby court of Versailles, another faced the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.

Edward Rutherfurd’s latest historical novel tracks the de Cygnes and a few other families in Paris from 1261 to 1968 as the city evolves from a medieval outpost to world-class metropolis. His primary focus is on the cohort born later in the 19th century who grew up to witness the existential threat to Paris in two world wars. Aside from the noble de Cygnes, the book follows the merchant Blanchard family, the working-class Gascons and the lefty Le Sourd clan. Action jumps from their day to points in the past. The fates of the families intersect over the centuries like lines on a Paris subway map.

The churches, gardens and back alleys of long-ago Paris are...read more HERE.

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