The Paris Hours

“What a design! George expertly crosscuts between various plots, coaxing them closer and closer as evening draws on. The tinder has been set and the fire is lit as the action converges on a raucous cabaret in Montmartre.”—The New York Times Book Review

“No other recent novel both embraces and transcends its Parisian setting like Alex George’s new book, The Paris Hours . . . Brims with beauty, music, tragedy, uncertainty, and hope . . . Resonate[s] deeply.”—Chicago Review of Books

“Exquisite . . . A testimony to the life-changing power of a single day, the book reads like a Jazz Age Les Miserables.”—Columbia Tribune

"What makes this tale work so well? . . . George knows his way around the world . . . He writes with a keen edge . . . [He takes] readers through the streets of Paris—not the Paris that tourists flock to but the Paris that houses real Parisians."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“The story explores the effects and events of World War I and the magnificence of Paris through the lens of the four characters, and the climax brings their paths together in an exciting read that you won't be able to put down.”—CNN.com

“George masterfully concocts a story of people seeking solace, redemption, and answers to the questions that plague them. Like All the Light We Cannot See, The Paris Hours explores the brutality of war and its lingering effects with cinematic intensity. The ending will leave you breathless.”—Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train and A Piece of the World

“A feast of the human soul. In this stunning novel, George goes behind the glitter of Paris in 1927 and takes you to the rooftops, the skinny alleyways, the flower-strewn parks, and darkened bar rooms to mine the wisdom of humanity. Beautifully rendered; gorgeously told.”—Jessica Keener, author of Strangers In Budapest

“The kind of novel I always dream about finding: a completely engrossing story that had me canceling plans. I read The Paris Hours without pausing, desperate to see if these marvelous characters could escape the ache of their past. And I gasped when I got to the end.”—Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club and Books for Living

“Although Josephine Baker, Marcel Proust, Ernest Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein drift along the edges of this exquisitely written, lovely jewel of a book, the characters who win our true affection are those created with appealing sympathy by George.”—George Hodgman, author of Bettyville

“George writes movingly of human connection, lost and found. His vivid portrayal of lives intersecting in early 20th century Paris will delight you with its lyricism and touch you with its humanity. The main protagonists are so beautifully drawn they will haunt you long after you reach the end.”—Melanie Benjamin, author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and Mistress of the Ritz

“A thrilling, irresistible marvel. In lyrical prose, George weaves together memory, loss, and yearning, portraying his characters with such vivid immediacy that I could imagine myself walking beside them along the winding streets of Paris, sharing their stories. Riveting, heartbreaking, and compassionate.”—Lauren Belfer, author of And After the Fire and City of Light

“A journey of memory, The Paris Hours is a sensory feast that had me gobbling pages and dreaming myself into the heyday of Paris prestige. You know a novel is great when you finish reading and wish the fiction could be true history.”—Sarah McCoy, author of Marilla of Green Gables

“The Paris Hours is a kaleidoscope of a novel: intricately constructed, glittering with color and history, playful, poignant, and a joy to hold in your hands. I was transported, seduced, and ultimately moved by spending this day with George’s rich and big-hearted imagination.”—Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men

“The Paris Hours explores, in the course of a single day, the loves, sorrows, and secrets of four ordinary people whose lives touch lightly on the more famous of 1920s Paris: Ernest Hemingway, Marcel Proust, Gertrude Stein, and Josephine Baker. This extraordinarily wise and moving novel is one of the loveliest looks at the world’s most charming city, and at humanity, that I have read. I hated for it to end.”—Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Last Train to London

“Atmospheric . . . George’s Proustian homage to a lost time will be a Francophile’s madeleine.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Enchanting . . . Like the film Midnight in Paris . . . the novel has put us under the spell of the City of Light yet again . . . Stunning.”—Booklist

“Engrossing . . . By evoking fictional characters and historical figures with equal vividness and wisely using repeated motifs, George unites his narratives in a surprising yet wholly convincing denouement. Elegant and evocative, this will have special appeal for lovers of Paris and fans of Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife.”—Publishers Weekly