Paris Winter (Robertson)

The Paris Winter 
Imogen Robertson, 2014
St. Martin's Press
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250051837


Summary
There is but one Paris. —Vincent Van Gogh

Maud Heighton came to Lafond's famous Academie to paint, and to flee the constraints of her small English town. It took all her courage to escape, but Paris, she quickly realizes, is no place for a light purse.

While her fellow students enjoy the dazzling decadence of the Belle Epoque, Maud slips into poverty. Quietly starving, and dreading another cold Paris winter, she stumbles upon an opportunity when Christian Morel engages her as a live-in companion to his beautiful young sister, Sylvie.

Maud is overjoyed by her good fortune. With a clean room, hot meals, and an umbrella to keep her dry, she is able to hold her head high as she strolls the streets of Montmartre. No longer hostage to poverty and hunger, Maud can at last devote herself to her art.

But all is not as it seems. Christian and Sylvie, Maud soon discovers, are not quite the darlings they pretend to be. Sylvie has a secret addiction to opium and Christian has an ominous air of intrigue. As this dark and powerful tale progresses, Maud is drawn further into the Morels' world of elegant deception.

Their secrets become hers, and soon she is caught in a scheme of betrayal and revenge that will plunge her into the darkness that waits beneath this glittering city of light. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Darlington, England, UK
• Education—Oxford University
• Currently—lives in London, England


Imogen Robertson grew up in Darlington, studied Russian and German at Cambridge and now lives in London. She directed for film, TV and radio before becoming a full-time author and won the Telegraph’s "First thousand words of a novel" competition in 2007 with the opening of Instruments of Darkness, her first novel.

Her other novels also featuring the detective duo of Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther are Anatomy of Murder, Island of Bones and Circle of Shadows. The Paris Winter, a story of betrayal and darkness set during the Belle Epoque is a stand-alone novel published in 2014. She has been short-listed for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger twice and is married to a freelance cheesemonger. (Adapted from the publisher.)

Book Reviews
Set in Paris in 1909, this standalone from Robertson falls short of the high standard of her Westerman and Crowther historicals .... Robertson fans will miss her customary strong lead and supporting characters with depth. Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Once the seeds of intrigue are planted, the scope of the book is expanded to encompass murderous plots, shady Parisian undersides, upper-class dealings, gems of history and gems—as in jewels. The women are heartwarming as friends and delightfully effective as crime fighters. With a twisty, well-crafted plot, this novel is rich in historical detail and robust with personality.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. How do you think the flooding of Paris in 1910 fits in to the narrative of Paris Winter? Why do you think the author choose this event as a backdrop to the story?

2. The city with its different areas, populations and architectures is almost a character in the story itself. Could the story have been set in any other city? What would have been the affect of setting it in a different period?

3.  Maud in the first part of the book is something of an innocent. How is this shown and in what ways does she change in the second part of the book?

4. How does Maud’s work as an artist affect the way she sees the world? How does this affect the writing?

5. In Gertrude Stein’s salon, Tanya and Maud are confronted with the art of Picasso. How do you think you would have reacted in their place?

6. Do you think Maud should have taken the chance to go home quietly at the beginning of the second part of the book? Is her quest for revenge understandable or just destructive?

7. How important is the Countess in the story? Do you feel she is fair or unfair in her treatment of the girls? Are they fair or unfair to her?

8. What do you think Maud’s feelings are for Sylvie at the end of the book?

9. The book tells the stories of a number of women trying to find out how to survive and how to exist in the world. Do you feel women are facing the same problems as Maud, Tanya and Yvette today?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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