Book Review: Even In The City Of Light, There Are Shadows

Paris: The Novel is a pretty dense piece of historical fiction written by Edward Rutherford.

The saga is presented through the eyes of several families and their descendants over a few centuries. Of course, Rutherford delves into the Reign of Terror, the French Revolution, and the Nazi Occupation. The story weaves back and forth between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries as several stories wind through way through time and place. Rutherford presents many facets of this city rich with culture, art, and violence.

This is a tricky read because it was hard to on the ability for retention since there are so many characters to follow, and Rutherford chose a more nonlinear approach in presenting this lengthy tale. There are a couple of maps and family tree to help out.

HIs prose is not especially verbose or difficult, but there is a kind of elegance to it that feels so rarely experienced in modern literature. Rutherford is known for these epic volumes about various well-known cities or locales that take place over long stretches of time.

This one is a somewhat intimidating read but still an enjoyable one. This is the second novel I have read by Rutherford, and I have no intention of it being my last.

I am back to a more familiar genre but takin on a new author. The next literary indulgence on tap is Death on the Island by Eliza Reid.