October 15, 1793: the eve of Marie-Antoinette’s execution. The Reign of Terror has descended upon revolutionary France, and thousands are beheaded daily under the guillotine. Edmond Coffin and Jonathan Gravedigger, two former soldiers now employed in disposing of the dead, are hired to search the Parisian neighborhood of Haarlem for a mysterious mixed-race "leopard boy," whose nickname derives from his mottled black-and-white skin. Some would like to see the elusive leopard boy dead, while...

**This stunning novel from Tatiana de Rosnay, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Sarah's Key, plumbs the depths of complex family relationships and the power of a past secret to change everything in the present.A Secret Kept is now a major motion picture starring Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds), Laurent Lafitte (The Crimson Rivers), and Audrey Dana (Roman de Gare)!**It all began with a simple seasid...

The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire, but who was this woman who became one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? From the internationally bestselling author of Nefertiti and Maria comes a “rollicking drama” (Good Housekeeping) that is “intimate and entertaining” (Associated Press).“Both a gripping, fictionalized biography of an intriguing woman and a well-paced, illuminating chronicle of the French...

⭐ Out now: The Land in Winter, shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 ⭐Pure: an enthralling tale of an extraordinary year in pre-revolutionary ParisWinner of the Costa Book of the Year Award'Irresistibly compelling' Sunday Telegraph'Dazzling' Guardian'A work of beauty' The TimesDeep in the heart o...

“Tantalizing descriptions and cliff-hangers will leave the reader rapidly turning the pages in anticipation…A wickedly delightful read.” —New York Daily NewsThe first book in a historical fiction trilogy that follows the lives of the five extraodinary Nesle sisters, four of whom were the first mistresses to King Louis XV of France.Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is ti...

And you thought sisters were a thing to fear. In this captivating follow-up to Sally Christie’s clever and absorbing debut, we meet none other than the Marquise de Pompadour, one of the greatest beauties of her generation and the first bourgeois mistress ever to grace the hallowed halls of Versailles.The year is 1745 and King Louis XV’s bed is once again empty. Enter Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, a beautiful girl from the middle classes. As a child, a fortune...

An epic romantasy saga where vampires and Lifebloods are bound by ancient bloodlines, forbidden magic, and fated love in a hidden war for the future of the vampire race.Clarity Parker thought discovering the truth about her supernatural bloodline would finally give her answers.Instead, it started a war.The hidden world she only recently uncovered is fracturing. Ancient alliances are breaking. Long-forgotten enemies are awakening. And every revelatio...

In the final installment of Sally Christie’s “tantalizing” (New York Daily News) Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, Jeanne Becu, a woman of astounding beauty but humble birth, works her way from the grimy back streets of Paris to the palace of Versailles, where the aging King Louis XV has become a jaded and bitter old philanderer. Jeanne bursts into his life and, as the Comtesse du Barry, quickly becomes his official mistress.“That beastly bourgeois Pom...

‘Enormously enjoyable’ Evening Standard‘Charming’ The Times‘What would you have me paint instead of a battle, Madame?’Geneviève de Nanterre’s eyes gleamed.‘A unicorn.’Keen to demonstrate his new-found favour with the King, rising nobleman Jean le Viste commissions six tapestries to adorn the walls of his château. He expects soldiers and bloody battlefields. But artist Nicolas des Innocents instead des...

A thriller of war that never was—of survival in an impossible city—of surreal cataclysm. In The Last Days of New Paris, China Miéville entwines true historical events and people with his daring, uniquely imaginative brand of fiction, reconfiguring history and art into something new.“Beauty will be convulsive. . . .”In the chaos of wartime Marseille, American engineer—and occult disciple—Jack Parsons stumbles onto a c...

A career is blooming...A glittering French aristocrat is on the run, disguised as a British governess. England's top spy has a score to settle with her family. But as they're drawn inexorably into the intrigue and madness of Revolutionary Paris, they gamble on a love to which neither of them will admit.

The Grand Budapest Hotel recounts the adventures of Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. Acting as a kind of father-figure, M. Gustave leads the resourceful Zero on a journey that involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting; the battle for an enormous family fortune; a desperate chase on motorcycles, trains, sledges and skis;...