Best Books about Paris

Best Books on Paris to Get You Inspired

Paris is a famously literary city. Not only has it been the home of many historical authors like Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, and Ernest Hemingway, but it also acts as the backdrop for many classic and contemporary works of fiction and nonfiction.

There are many books set in Paris, from classics to new releases, so what to choose for your Paris book list?

Here, travel experts and friends share the best books on Paris and alternative travel books about Paris that will get you excited for your next trip to the City of Light. Some are great books to read before going to Paris to get inspired, while others can be ideal travel companions during your wanderings in Paris.

We have divided this post about the best books set in Paris into the following sections:

• Best Novels About Paris
• Alternative Travel Books About Paris
• Best Books About Paris History
• Best Books about Paris Food & Wine
• Best Books on Paris Fashion
• Paris Books for Kids

1. A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway

This list of the best books about Paris can only start with A Memorable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. A memoir of one of the great literary golden ages, Hemingway’s chronicle of Paris in the Roaring Twenties unites the stories of two of the 20th century’s greatest writers: Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Follow Hemingway in Paris during his early years as a young journalist and writer. Pieced together from letters, notes, and manuscripts after his death, Hemingway’s book brings to life that Paris which was always a moveable feast. This is the Paris that visitors to places like Les Deux Magots, Café de Flore, and Brasserie Lipp try to touch.

2. Almost French – Sarah Turnbull

Funny and inspiring, Almost French is a must about Paris for tragic Francophiles! Sarah was an Australian TV journalist working for SBS when she met a Frenchman and moved to Paris. Her quest to fit in and to live up to the standards/stereotypes of French women is hilarious.

This Paris book is also about fitting into Parisian culture: how do you have perfect skin, ballet flats, bedhead hair, a wardrobe full of classics that you put together each morning with a certain unique flair – and therefore be quintessentially nonchalantly French?

3. The Room on Rue Amélie – Kristin Harmel

The Room on Rue Amélie takes place during the Nazi Occupation of Paris, focusing on how the war and day-to-day presence of the Germans affected the lives of American Ruby, her French husband Marcel, their neighbor and Jewish teenager Charlotte, and British Pilot Thomas. Told from alternating points of view, Kristin weaves their stories together as their lives intertwine.

4. Paris Letters – Janice Macleod

Paris Letters reads like the diary of a writer. In fact, Janice is a writer. However, she lives a life she doesn’t love in a job that she finds unbearably stressful. One day, amid her inner turmoil and loneliness, she asks herself how much money she would need to quit her job. She soon finds herself at loose ends in Paris and begins to discover not only herself but her creativity and zest for living.

This book about Paris is delightful. The author, the writing, the pictures that she paints of Paris, both with her watercolors and words…are all wonderful. I also laughed at her descriptions of her struggles with the French language and French bureaucracy.

5. Waking up in Paris – Sonia Choquette

“If I am going to be traumatized, then it might as well be in Paris,” was the desperate thought of American Sonia Choquette on the implosion of her 32-year-old marriage.

Joined by adult daughter Sabrina, spiritual teacher and author Sonia arrives in Paris reeling from the shocking Charlie Hebdo massacre. In the following years, she and Paris share a soul-searching journey and, inevitably, a new reality.

Moving through a succession of apartments and arrondissements, she shares honest, funny, and unfortunate experiences along the way. With this book about Paris, you are taken on long therapeutic walks, discovering each Quartier’s distinct character, visiting a long line of soul-nourishing cafés, and discovering the Paris Sonia loves.

6. Paris – Edward Rutherfurd

This is one of the best novels about Paris that spans centuries, combining historical facts with fictional characters. Among these characters are two brothers, one of whom works on building the Eiffel Tower, the other who becomes embroiled in the Pigalle underworld.

The 800+ pages are well worth the effort, as you learn a huge amount of history, all the while becoming intimately involved with the families whose stories link the past with present-day Paris.

The most interesting chapters detail the development of Paris from the Belle Époque through to World War II, a time which really helped to shape Paris into the city we know today.  A city of art, culture, resistance, and a center for creatives, writers, and forward-thinkers.

7. Les Misérables – Victor Hugo

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. First published in 1862, Les Misérables is one of the best historical novels set in Paris.

The story is set in the period of the restoration of the French monarchy, which took place in the first half of the 19th century. Its theme revolves around good, evil, ethics, justice, and faith.

The plot of this book focuses on the story of Jean Valjean, sentenced to prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his nephews. Upon release from prison, Valjean repeats the robbery, but the goodwill of a priest makes him reform his life. Inspector Javert becomes obsessed with capturing him again.

The novel examines the values ​​in force in French society in the mid-19th century and reflects on human nature in the face of adversity. It became famous thanks to a Broadway musical a later a movie. But the novel is even better! Every page is packed with profound ideas expressed in beautiful language.

8. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

If you’re interested in literature and learning more about the decadent Paris of the Twenties, this novel is a must-read. The cafés of Montparnasse, particularly, capture the essence of Paris in the Twenties, a heady time when so many literary figures, artists, and ex-pats made the City of Light their home – Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Hart Crane, and John Dos Passos to name a few.

Written in 1926, The Sun Also Rises captures the post-World War I generation as few novels can, with a cast of characters representing a jaded world-weary attitude that seeped into the bars, cafés, and literature of the time.

9. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code is one of the most famous novels set in Paris. It follows Professor of Harvard and symbolist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu to solve a murder in the Louvre Museum. Their search leads them to a member of Opus Dei trying to find the Holy Grail.

The trail leads our protagonists and us around Paris. The Ritz Hotel, where Robert Langdon is staying, the Left Bank, Saint-Sulpice Church, and the Louvre.

Flâner is to wander aimlessly through a city. The word is so quintessentially French that this word has no English equivalent.

The author of this book about Paris is intimately acquainted with the city, having wandered its streets for nearly twenty years. Through his wanderings along the city’s main avenues and lesser-known streets, the odd little stores, the eccentric museums, and the many tucked-away places, White takes us into parts of Paris virtually unknown to visitors and, indeed, to many Parisians.

Along the way, he recounts everything from the background of each site to juicy gossip or the latest debates among French lawmakers.

This is one of the best books to read in Paris. Mostly, White looks at modern Paris. So much is passé, so much is a cliché, but there is still something to Paris. The book doesn’t reside in the tourist spots, in the museums, or on the runway, but in the details of daily life that make Paris beautiful, orderly, and timeless.

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