Montparnasse - by Thierry Sagnier (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

It is 1919, and France is beginning its recuperation from the ravages of World War I.

Henri Désiré Landru, seducer and murderer of war widows, has just been caught and is in prison, plotting his escape. Frederick and Easter Cowles, American newlyweds, are in Paris on their honeymoon. Easter, a hopeful artist, is fascinated by the young painter Amedeo Modigliani and wants to study painting.

Frederick's tastes are simpler; he has no interest in artists or Paris nightlife, but hopes to use this trip as an opportunity to begin a successful, stable marriage with a woman who he is rapidly coming to realize he barely knows. And then, there is the opium...

Review Quotes

"Sagnier takes us to vividly realized, lovesick Montparnasse, weighted with upheaval and rebirth in the aftermath of the first world war. Drawing together intimate lives, period authenticity and lurid twists, Sagnier has composed a must-read for historical fiction buffs, Francophiles and fans of Caleb Carr alike." -- Taylor Zajonc, Bestselling author of The Maw and winner of the 2018 Clive Cussler "Grandmaster" Adventure Writers Competition

"Montparnasse is a fascinating, utterly compelling read set in avant garde Paris, specifically the artists' haven of Monparnasse, just after World War I. Life in Monparnasse, where at this time anything goes and nothing is forbidden, unfolds before the reader in a series of delightful anecdotes held together by two main stories, one of a serial murderer of well-off widows, of whom there were plenty after the trench massacres of the war, and the other seen through the eyes of a pair of mis-matched American newly weds. Famous artists drink absinthe in the cafes and walk the cobbled streets in a delightful depiction of a city and a land coming back to life after the tragedy of war." -- Jane Feather, New York Times bestselling author of The Blackwater Brides series