10 Books Set in Paris

This is a fascinating account of literary giants in Paris in the 1920s. The current Shakespeare & Co. store in Paris is based on Sylvia Beach’s original store and lending library, which she opened in 1919. She published work in English and lent out books, so it became a consistent stop for expatriate writers in the time between World War I and World War II. Through her interactions with James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and every other famous author you can think of, Sylvia Beach chronicles her involvement in the establishment of Paris as the literary city of the 20th century. Though she was forced to close her store in 1941 during the Nazi occupation of Paris, her legacy lives on in the new store and writers coming to Paris for inspiration.

This collection pulls together two novellas by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (known as the mononymous Collete). Gigi is set in Belle Époque Paris, and follows a teenage girl learning the ways of being a courtesan from her family, who are all high-class courtesans as well. A family friend named Gaston eventually falls in love with Gigi. The next story, La Chatte, is about a couple who are fighting over his devotion to his cat. Alain loves his cat more than he could ever love Camille, and the cat is a symbol of his childhood that he yearns to return to. Though both stories are a little strange for modern readers, Colette is an overlooked literary icon who forged new pathways for women writers in France.

David is an American in Paris, and finds himself seduced by the city and its queer nightlife, despite his determination to live a regular heterosexual life. David is out of money and alone in Paris while his girlfriend is in Spain. Through borrowing money from a seedy character named Jacques, he meets Giovanni and goes back to his room and begins an affair. David is torn between his competing desires — to be who he truly is, or to live the life expected of him. Giovanni, however, is looking for true love. Baldwin’s signature style makes this a thrilling, complex read.

Julia Child’s memoir of her time in France with her husband, Paul, was the basis for the Julia section of Julie & Julia. One thing I’ve always appreciated about Julia Child is that she is a great, engaging writer — especially in her recipe books. Her description of the meal in Paris that sparked her desire to learn how to cook French food is truly transcendent. Her account of her cooking journey through Le Cordon Bleu and L’école des Trois Gourmandes with her cookbook cowriters are similarly captivating and hilarious.

After her best friend dies, Nicole-Marie decides to fulfill a lifelong dream and runs away to Paris. She comes across a photo of her father and a mystery woman with a loving message to the woman, and she tries to find out more about this woman and her connection to her. Nicole’s story takes place in the 1990s, and we follow the woman in the photo, Ruby, in the tumultuous 1950s. Both women were running away and chasing dreams, and there are even more connections than we initially see.

In 1882, a famous soprano at the Paris Opera gets the opportunity of a lifetime. Lilliet Berne is set to star in an opera whose plot is somehow full of secrets from her past that she had thought were long buried. By chance, someone found Lilliet’s diary and incorporated her dramatic life story into the libretto. She was born in Minnesota before becoming a star of the Opera. French society at the time was constantly embroiled in secrets and scandal. Come for the delicious backstage mystery, stay for the thorough descriptions of famous operas.

During middle school in the 1990s, Magali totally falls in love with The Beatles. She falls for them to the degree that her days re-orient themselves around the music of The Beatles. Magali’s graphic memoir is more about her struggles with school and growing up. The memoir picks up when Magali starts school at the Marsillon school in Paris. Her anxiety about school starts to make her literally sick to her stomach, so she begins homeschooling and seeing a therapist. Leaving behind childhood causes Magali so much anxiety because it seems like everything and everyone is changing: she wants to do well and be a good student, but her anxiety spins her out of control.

Juliette is a young woman who feels stifled by the routines of her life: from home to the office, office to home, and again. Her one joy is riding the métro (the commuter train in Paris) and spinning fantastical stories about the people she sees reading various books across from her on the train. Juliette walks through a gate and meets Soliman, who recruits her to take piles of books out into the world and match them with potential readers as she sees fit. He then asks her to move into his bookstore and look after his daughter Zadie while he’s away. Equal parts dreamlike and relatable to quarter-life malaise, this book indulges in the feeling of magic that always seems to be around the corner in Paris.