Book Reviews: The Streets of Paris by Susan Cahill

For centuries the City of Light has set the stage for a coterie of larger-than-life characters – from medieval lovers Héloïse and Abelard and a defiant King Henri IV to Resistance hero Jean Moulin; not to mention Madame Curie and the tortured Édith Piaf.

In this beautifully illustrated book, Susan Cahill retraces the eminent footsteps of 22 famous Parisians, winds her way through the quartiers where they lived and loved, wanders past the scenes of their greatest triumphs and tragedies and idles on the terraces of their favourite cafés.

From the Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité to the Père Lachaise cemetery with a segue through Montmartre, the tome pieces together and sheds an intimate light on the often tumultuous lives of France’s cultural elite, most inscrutable figures and political players.

Let yourself be guided through history along Paris’s sweeping avenues and tapered passages, with the odd pitstop in the capital’s coveted patisseries!

The Streets of Paris, by Susan Cahill, List price $19.99, published by St Martin’s Press

From France Today magazine

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