Why a Booktrail?
1870: Three wandering souls find themselves in a city set to descend into war.
1870: Three wandering souls find themselves in a city set to descend into war.
Anne is a former patient from a women’s asylum trying to carve out a new life for herself in a world that doesn’t understand her. Newcomer Lawrence is desperate to develop his talent as a photographer and escape the restrictions of his puritanical upbringing. Ellis, an army surgeon, has lived through the trauma of one civil war and will do anything to avoid another bloodbath.
Each keeps company with the restless beasts of Paris’ Menagerie, where they meet, fight their demons, lose their hearts, and rebel in a city under siege.
Paris 1870s
Enter the world of Haussmann’s newly built City of Light. A diverse group of memorable characters find themselves in Paris during the build up to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
It is based around one of the many riots and revolutions in Paris in the 1800s.
The author says:
“Paris is thought of as a city of pleasure and culture (and of course it is), but its history contains many dark and disturbing chapters, and The Beasts of Paris is set during one of them. This short (less than a year), shockingly turbulent time was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Siege of Paris, which took place over the winter of 1870-71, when the city was bombed and then starved by the invading Prussian army, and the subsequent uprising that led to the short-lived Paris Commune in the spring of 1871.”
Destination/location: Paris Author/guide: Stef Penney Departure Time: 1870
Back to Results