"A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life" - Thomas Jefferson.

Whether you are an armchair traveller or a get up and go traveller, the setting of a book can be inspirational, and none more so than the City of Lights - Paris. Language barriers fall away and time periods pose no problem. The following novels are all set in Paris. 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Muriel Barbery
Renee is the concierge in an elegant apartment in the centre of Paris. She is highly cultured but hides this fact from the tenants in the building. Twelve-year old Paloma who lives with her family on the fifth floor, also has a secret. It’s not until a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building that Renee and Paloma discover they are kindred spirits. the tenants in the building. 

Murder in the Marais. Cara Black
Aimee Leduc is a private investigator in Paris. She is asked by a Rabbi to investigate an old photograph and to present the results to Lili Stein, an elderly Jewish woman who lives in the Marais. Instead, Aimee finds herself investigating something bigger and more sinister, involving unmasking the identity of a collaborator from World War 2, who destroyed lives and families.

Sarah's Key. Tatiana de Rosnay
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Many years later, on the 60th anniversary of Vel'd'Hiv', journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about the event, and discovers the story of Sarah and her ordeal in the camps and beyond.

The Betrayal. Kate Furnivall
Paris, 1938. Twin sisters are divided by fierce loyalties and by a terrible secret. The drums of war are beating and France is poised, ready to fall. One sister is an aviatrix, the other is a socialite and they both have something to prove and something to hide.

The Travelling Companion. Ian Rankin
For recent college graduate Ronald Hastie, landing a summer job at the legendary Shakespeare and Company Bookshop offers the perfect opportunity to explore Paris, the city once visited by his literary hero, Robert Louis Stevenson. Things only get better when Ronald meets a collector who claims to have the original manuscripts of both the first draft of Jekyll and Hyde and the never-published The Travelling Companion (both thought to have been destroyed).

The Age of Light. Whitney Scharer
Paris, 1929. Lee Miller has left behind her successful modelling career at Vogue in New York to pursue her dream of becoming a photographer. She soon catches the eye of surrealist artist, Man Ray, and he hires her as an assistant. They embark on a passionate affair, but as Lee becomes successful and recognised in her own right, Man’s jealousy spirals out of control and leads to a betrayal that threatens to  destroy them both.

SEE ALSO:

Paris Echo. Sebastian Faulks
The Little Breton Bistro. Nina George
The Woman in the Fifth. Douglas Kennedy
The Other Woman. Daniel Silva
The Necessary Angel. C K Stead
Loving Sylvie. Elizabeth Smither