Paris 1934
Second in a series of historical novels set in 1930s Europe
Sorbonne student Sandrine pursues amorous adventures in 1930s Paris while working with American reporters covering momentous political battles raging on the streets of Paris in Depression-era France.
Paris 1934...Fueled by public outrage at massive corruption in the French government, far-right street fighters topple a French cabinet in early 1934. A new premier moves to present another cabinet to Parliament. All Paris waits. On the chosen night, street fighters from a half-dozen far-right leagues converge on the Place de la Concorde to fight their way across the Seine River bridge and storm the Parliament. Shouting "drive the robbers and assassins out," the rioters battle Paris police on the bridge. The overthrow of the Third Republic seems imminent.
Democratic government in France hangs in the balance. With the memory of the Nazi coup d'etat in Berlin the year before fresh in the public mind, the world waits. American reporters from the struggling English-language Daily Bulletin fan out across Paris to cover the momentous clash of events.
Sorbonne student and part-time newspaper copy girl Sandrine Durand covers the riots from the Foreign Ministry at the Quai D'Orsay. She watches spellbound as a column of war veterans attempts to storm police lines and reach the Parliament building. While watching the violence outside, she meets a polished diplomat and specialist in German affairs. A mutual interest takes hold, a romantic adventure unfolds. The diplomat's beautiful wife plots other romantic intrigues.
In the spring, a young American reporter arrives after a year covering the excitement of Roosevelt's New Deal. He strikes up a friendship with Sandrine. He captures her interest at a midnight fete at swanky Longchamps racetrack while swing dancing to le hot jazz during the festive Grand Semaine social week. Friendship blossoms on the hard-partying streets of Paris during Bastille Day.
In the fall, the rising Nazi menace in Germany unlocks dark secrets from the 1920s French occupation of the German Rhineland. International questions of war and peace and the personal destinies of friends and lovers intersect in the shattering events of October 1934 when a Yugoslav king arrives in France for a high state visit.
Available early 2010 from Amazon.