I struggled about halfway through this and finally gave up. It’s a mystery set in 1893 Paris about a young bookseller, Victor, but it is too steeped in characterization for my taste. There’s the unnamed gentleman in the prologue, which begins in 1891, with his recollection of the terror of over 20,000 executions in the Paris of 20 years earlier, during the civil strife in French government. Then we move to 1893, and meet the criminal Frederic Daglan, and shortly thereafter, Victor Legris and his assistant Joseph Pignot. Other characters include Mademoiselle Iris (Joseph’s fiancee and Victor’s half-sister), Monsieur Kenji Mori (Iris’s dad), Blanche de Cambresis, a customer in the bookstore, Mademoiselle Tasha Kherson, who paints a portrait of Iris, Madame Djina Kherson, Tasha’s mother who is giving Iris painting lessons, Maurice Laumier, a painter friend of Tasha’s who tries to seduce Iris, which in turn enrages Joseph and he decides to postpone the wedding indefinitely, Euphrosine, Joseph’s mother, Anchise Giacometti, a bistro owner who gives advice to Frederic, Enrico Leopardi, Frederic’s father AND finally, Mousieur Daglan, a teacher of Frederic’s. And that was only in the first chapter!
I would recommend this to a reader who enjoys French history and intense characterization in a novel.