Paris

Paris is the main setting for all of the events in the narrative and in many ways the novel serves as a love letter to this vibrant and inspiring city. Paris represents different things to different characters.

For Gabor, Paris represents artistic freedom and opportunity. He moved to Paris to pursue his ambition to become a photographer and his ability to capture engaging and magical moments in the streets of nighttime Paris launched his career, through his first collection of photographs.

For Lionel, Paris is an exciting alternative to his boring and uninspiring former life as a newspaper reporter with a wife and child in New Jersey. For Lionel, Paris is all about sex and romance.

Paris is Suzanne’s hometown and represents her family: when Suzanne returns to Paris after the Nazi occupation, her primary motivation is to get back to her mother who refused to leave...