Hermes in Paris

Sweeping, elegant and majestically cool, Hermes in Paris paints a glittering picture of Second Empire Paris under Napoleon III. Told from the perspective of Hermes, the Greek trickster-god here appearing as a dapper, detached gentleman in a crimson satin cravat, the tale skims almost plotless over the teeming, glamorous city. History is the true protagonist of British writer Peter Vansittart's jewel of a novel, and his sophisticated revisionist take on the era is intriguing. (Apr. 12)