Extra material includes a deleted scene and a Q&A with Imogen Robertson
Maud Heighton came to Lafond’s famous Academy to paint, and to flee the constraints of her small English town. It took all her courage to escape, but Paris eats money. While her fellow students enjoy the dazzling joys of the Belle Époque, Maud slips into poverty. Quietly starving, and dreading another cold Paris winter, Maud takes a job as companion to young, beautiful Sylvie Morel. But Sylvie has a secret: an addiction to opium. As Maud is drawn into the Morels’ world of elegant luxury, their secrets become hers. Before the New Year arrives, a greater deception will plunge her into the darkness that waits beneath this glittering city of light.
Maud Heighton came to Lafond’s famous Academy to paint, and to flee the constraints of her small English town. It took all her courage to escape, but Paris eats money. While her fellow students enjoy the dazzling joys of the Belle Époque, Maud slips into poverty. Quietly starving, and dreading another cold Paris winter, Maud takes a job as companion to young, beautiful Sylvie Morel. But Sylvie has a secret: an addiction to opium. As Maud is drawn into the Morels’ world of elegant luxury, their secrets become hers. Before the New Year arrives, a greater deception will plunge her into the darkness that waits beneath this glittering city of light.
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Reviews
'Matchless storytelling, gripping and moving in equal measure. Addictive'
'Chillingly memorable...an extraordinary thriller'
Engaging and atmospheric, Imogen Robertson's historical thriller transports readers back to the Belle Époque, expertly evoking the artistic and glamorous side of the French capital as well as its murky underbelly.
A brilliantly atmospheric evocation of fin de siècle Paris and its art world. It's a perfect book to read beside an open fire. Or on the beach. Or on the bus for that matter. A page-turner from a writer to keep an eye out for
A charming, fast-paced thriller