Worldwide Women Writers in Paris examines a new literary phenomenon consisting of an unprecedented number of women from around the world who have come to Paris and become authors of written works in French. It takes as its starting point a series of filmed interviews conducted in the French capital, a set of recorded conversations motivated by a desire to pay homage to these discrete voices and images at a moment characterized by impressive diversity. Their individual paths to France and to French are noteworthy, and these authors of different generations and varying places of origin emphasize their singularity. However, the juxtaposition of their reflections reveals that many have faced similar difficulties when learning the French language, adapting to life in France, and many have encountered forms of prejudice in the publishing world related to their ethnicity or gender. These challenges have led them, each in an idiosyncratic manner, to tackle tough topics in their work and to respond to adversity by finding effective creative expressions. Taken together, the innovations and interventions in oral and written form of these authors collectively contribute to significant change in the specialized score that is the Parisian literary landscape: Hélène Cixous (Algeria); Zahia Rahmani (Algeria); Leïla Sebbar (Algeria); Bessora (Belgium); Julia Kristeva (Bulgaria); Pia Petersen (Denmark); Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe); Eva Almassy (Hungary); Shumona Sinha (India); Chahdortt Djavann (Iran); Yumiko Seki (Japan); Evelyne Accad (Lebanon); Etel Adnan (Lebanon); Nathacha Appanah (Mauritius); Brina Svit (Slovenia); Eun-Ja Kang (South Korea); Anna Moï (Vietnam).

Worldwide Women Writers in Paris examines a new literary phenomenon consisting of an unprecedented number of women from around the world who have come to Paris and become authors of written works in French. It takes as its starting point a series of filmed interviews conducted in the French capital, a set of recorded conversations motivated by a desire to pay homage to these discrete voices and images at a moment characterized by impressive diversity. Their individual paths to France and to French are noteworthy, and these authors of different generations and varying places of origin emphasize their singularity. However, the juxtaposition of their reflections reveals that many have faced similar difficulties when learning the French language, adapting to life in France, and many have encountered forms of prejudice in the publishing world related to their ethnicity or gender. These challenges have led them, each in an idiosyncratic manner, to tackle tough topics in their work and to respond to adversity by finding effective creative expressions. Taken together, the innovations and interventions in oral and written form of these authors collectively contribute to significant change in the specialized score that is the Parisian literary landscape: Hélène Cixous (Algeria); Zahia Rahmani (Algeria); Leïla Sebbar (Algeria); Bessora (Belgium); Julia Kristeva (Bulgaria); Pia Petersen (Denmark); Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe); Eva Almassy (Hungary); Shumona Sinha (India); Chahdortt Djavann (Iran); Yumiko Seki (Japan); Evelyne Accad (Lebanon); Etel Adnan (Lebanon); Nathacha Appanah (Mauritius); Brina Svit (Slovenia); Eun-Ja Kang (South Korea); Anna Moï (Vietnam).

"Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You is aimed at first-time visitors to France as well as long-term expatriates. Designed to help readers 'crack the code,' avoid common mistakes, and get off on the right foot with the French, the book begins with five easy-to-follow essential tips 'for even brief encounters' by introducing a few French phrases and how to say them that will pave the way for a positive experience in France. The tips are followed by 10 chapters that go into a deeper explanation of French habits, manners, and ways of viewing the world. Hulstrand shares the perspective she has gained in nearly 40 years of time spent living, working, teaching, and traveling in France, and illustrates the principles she is discussing with sometimes touching, and often amusing, personal anecdotes... Reflections contributed by David Downie, Adrian Leeds, Harriet Welty Rochefort, and other well-known commentators on Franco-American cultural differences provide additional perspective and depth. A glossary of French terms that is both substantive and whimsical provides surprising insights into historical as well as cultural reasons for the French being 'the way they are.' Aimed mainly at an American audience, this book will be helpful for anyone who wants to better understand the French, and have fun while doing so."--Amazon.com.

A tale inspired by the Russian mail-order bride industry finds young engineer Daria landing a secretary job at a foreign firm and redirecting her licentious boss toward a more willing mistress before taking work with a matchmaking agency, through which she meets an American teacher who fails to attract her as strongly as an irresponsible mobster. Includes reading-group guide. Reprint.

FINALIST FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY A New York Times Notable Book of 2017 The flâneur is the quintessentially masculine figure of privilege and leisure who strides the capitals of the world with abandon. But it is the flâneuse who captures the imagination of the cultural critic Lauren Elkin. In her wonderfully gender-bending new book, the flâneuse is a “determined, resourceful individual keenly attuned to the creative potential of the city and the liberating possibilities of a good walk.” Virginia Woolf called it “street haunting”; Holly Golightly epitomized it in Breakfast at Tiffany’s; and Patti Smith did it in her own inimitable style in 1970s New York. Part cultural meander, part memoir, Flâneuse takes us on a distinctly cosmopolitan jaunt that begins in New York, where Elkin grew up, and transports us to Paris via Venice, Tokyo, and London, all cities in which she’s lived. We are shown the paths beaten by such flâneuses as the cross-dressing nineteenth-century novelist George Sand, the Parisian artist Sophie Calle, the wartime correspondent Martha Gellhorn, and the writer Jean Rhys. With tenacity and insight, Elkin creates a mosaic of what urban settings have meant to women, charting through literature, art, history, and film the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes fraught relationship that women have with the metropolis. Called “deliciously spiky and seditious” by The Guardian, Flâneuse will inspire you to light out for the great cities yourself.

For fans of The Paris Wife, a sparkling glimpse into the life of Edith Wharton and the scandalous love affair that threatened her closest friendship They say that behind every great man is a great woman. Behind Edith Wharton, there was Anna Bahlmann—her governess turned literary secretary and confidante. At the age of forty-five, despite her growing fame, Edith remains unfulfilled in a lonely, sexless marriage. Against all the rules of Gilded Age society, she falls in love with Morton Fullerton, a dashing young journalist. But their scandalous affair threatens everything in Edith’s life—especially her abiding ties to Anna. At a moment of regained popularity for Wharton, Jennie Fields brilliantly interweaves Wharton’s real letters and diary entries with her fascinating, untold love story. Told through the points of view of both Edith and Anna, The Age of Desire transports readers to the golden days of Wharton’s turn-of-the century world and—like the recent bestseller The Chaperone—effortlessly re-creates the life of an unforgettable woman.

"A top-notch walking tour of Paris. . . . The author's encyclopedic knowledge of the city and its artists grants him a mystical gift of access: doors left ajar and carriage gates left open foster his search for the city's magical story. Anyone who loves Paris will adore this joyful book. Readers visiting the city are advised to take it with them to discover countless new experiences." —Kirkus Reviews (starred) A unique combination of memoir, history, and travelogue, this is author David Downie's irreverent quest to uncover why Paris is the world's most romantic city—and has been for over 150 years. Abounding in secluded, atmospheric parks, artists' studios, cafes, restaurants and streets little changed since the 1800s, Paris exudes romance. The art and architecture, the cityscape, riverbanks, and the unparalleled quality of daily life are part of the equation. But the city's allure derives equally from hidden sources: querulous inhabitants, a bizarre culture of heroic negativity, and a rich historical past supplying enigmas, pleasures and challenges. Rarely do visitors suspect the glamor and chic and the carefree atmosphere of the City of Light grew from and still feed off the dark fountainheads of riot, rebellion, mayhem and melancholy—and the subversive literature, art and music of the Romantic Age. Weaving together his own with the lives and loves of Victor Hugo, Georges Sand, Charles Baudelaire, Balzac, Nadar and other great Romantics Downie delights in the city's secular romantic pilgrimage sites asking , Why Paris, not Venice or Rome—the tap root of "romance"—or Berlin, Vienna and London—where the earliest Romantics built castles-in-the-air and sang odes to nightingales? Read A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light and find out.