Books Set in France - Five Novels to Read Before You voyage

Books Set in France - Five Novels to Read Before You voyage

So you are about to set off on the trip of a lifetime to one of the most-loved countries in the world -- France! You have been practicing your 'bonjours' and your 'mercis', and studying maps of Paris to work out how to get around, but there is one more thing you can do to make sure your trip is extra special. And that is to immerse yourself in French life by reading some books set in France.

Reading novels set in Paris or the French countryside will give you an comprehension into the country which is impossible to get from the guide books. As the characters walk along the Seine or drink their coffee at a table on the Parisian pavement, it will fill you with anticipation to do the same -- making the perceive so much sweeter when you ultimately get to do it yourself. If the novel is set in the past, you will have more appreciation for France's history, bringing many of the places and old buildings alive when you visit them on your trip. And if the novel is set in the gift day, there's nothing more fun than trying to find the streets, bars and restaurants that might be mentioned in the story.

So what books should you read? Here is a choice of five novels which do a great job in bringing France to life, even before you set foot on that plane.

'Foreign Tongue' by Vanina Marsot

Nursing a broken heart, Anna Moves to Paris from Los Angeles. She begins working as the translator of a cryptic erotic novel and of course, finds herself some romance. The book is a love-letter to the city, with fullness of wanderings straight through the streets as well as descriptions of French life, food and cafes.

'The Coral Thief' by Rebecca Stott

History, mystery, romance and intrigue intertwine in this novel set in post-Napoleonic Paris. It is 1815 and a young Englishman travels to Paris to take up a position at the noted Jardin des Plantes. But when the range of rare coral specimens he is carrying is stolen by a beautiful woman, he is drawn into a plot captivating revolutionaries, spies and the intelligentsia. Victorian Paris comes alive in this novel, which will no ifs ands or buts enhance any gift day visit to the Jardin des Plantes, France's main botanical garden.

'Luncheon of the Boating Party' by Susan Vreeland

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Luncheon of the Boating Party' is a noted painting depicting a group of Parisians enjoying lunch on the terrace of a cafeteria on the Seine. In this novel Vreeland tells the story of those in the painting and how they came to be there. It is a glorious look at Paris at the time of the Impressionists, and you can still eat at the cafeteria itself today.

'Five Quarters of the Orange' by Joanne Harris

Now we Move out of Paris and into the Loire Valley with this novel by Harris that takes us to a village busy by the Germans in Wwii. The book Moves between Wwii and the gift day, giving us an comprehension into the long-term effects the Nazi occupation had on the French people. And as it is a book by Joanne Harris, there is a of course lots of time spent exploring French food!

'The Matchmaker of Perigord' by Julia Stuart

We halt up with something fun and quirky, in a fictional village in France's south-west. Amour-Sur-Belle might not be a real place, but it gives a taste of some of the declining villages of rural France. Here, the town barber decides to reinvent himself as a match-maker, quite a task when there are only 33 residents to match up. Filled with deLightful characters and semi-ridiculous situations, this novel should just leave you giggling and enjoying the French temperament.

So if you have your tickets booked for Charles de Gaulle airport or you just Wish you had a holiday planned for France, try the books above to immerse yourself in a bit of French life and culture. And if you find yourself enjoying them...well, there's fullness more to explore...Bon Voyage!

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