Anticipating Paris in July 2026

 

I have been compiling some titles for Paris in July this Summer, so eager to begin, in fact, that I have already read two of them. I have published my thoughts on Your Promise by Camille Laurens, sent to me by Other Press, here. I have scheduled the post for Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac to be published on July 1. 

So, you see a mix of contemporary fiction, as well as classics. I’m highlighting them here in case you feel drawn to any yourself; in case you are looking to compile a list for yourself. They are as follows:

Your Promise by Camille Laurens, winner of the Prix Femina (sent to me by Other Press)

“An ingenious legal thriller in the vein of Anatomy of a Fall, this gripping story of a writer’s toxic relationship exposes the gap between who we are and who we seem to be.”

Madame Chrystanthème by Pierre Loti, (sent to me by Espresso Publishing Company)

“Madame Chrysanthème was one of the most widely read French novels of its era. From it descended a short story, a Broadway play, and finally Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. This is its first new English translation in over a century.”

The 6:41 to Paris by John Philippe Blondel (sent to me by New Vessel Press)

“This is a psychological thriller about past romance. With all its pain and promise.”

Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac:

“ Honoré de Balzac’s great theme was money, and in his best-loved novel, Old Goriot, he explored its uses and abuses with the particularity of a poet.”

Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah:

“From the bestselling author of The Lost Vintage, a rare and dazzling portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier’s college year abroad in postwar Paris, an intimate and electrifying story of love and betrayal, and the coming-of-age of an American icon – before the world knew her as Jackie.”

The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola:

“Part of Emile Zola’s multigenerational Rougon-Macquart saga, The Belly of Paris is the story of Florent Quenu, a wrongly accused man who escapes imprisonment on Devil’s Island. Returning to his native Paris, Florent finds a city he barely recognizes, with its working classes displaced to make way for broad boulevards and bourgeois flats. Living with his brother’s family in the newly rebuilt Les Halles market, Florent is soon caught up in a dangerous maelstrom of food and politics. Amid intrigue among the market’s sellers–the fishmonger, the charcutière, the fruit girl, and the cheese vendor–and the glorious culinary bounty of their labors, we see the dramatic difference between “fat and thin” (the rich and the poor) and how the widening gulf between them strains a city to the breaking point. 

Are you planning to read for Paris in July 2026? It is always one of the highlights of my reading year; I hope I have enticed you with some of these French titles.