Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780061713781)

A richly imagined and stunningly inventive literary masterpiece of love, art, and betrayal, exploring the genesis of evil, the unforeseen consequences of love, and the ultimate unreliability of storytelling itself.

Paris in the 1920s shimmers with excitement, dissipation, and freedom. It is a place of intoxicating ambition, passion, art, and discontent, where louche jazz venues like the Chameleon Club draw expats, artists, libertines, and parvenus looking to indulge their true selves. It is at the Chameleon where the striking Lou Villars, an extraordinary athlete and scandalous cross-dressing lesbian, finds refuge among the club's loyal denizens, including the rising Hungarian photographer Gabor Tsenyi, the socialite and art patron Baroness Lily de Rossignol; and the caustic American writer Lionel Maine.

As the years pass, their fortunes--and the world itself--evolve. Lou falls desperately in love and finds success as a race car driver. Gabor builds his reputation with startlingly vivid and imaginative photographs, including a haunting portrait of Lou and her lover, which will resonate through all their lives. As the exuberant twenties give way to darker times, Lou experiences another metamorphosis--sparked by tumultuous events--that will warp her earnest desire for love and approval into something far more.

Author: Francine Prose
ISBN-10: 0061713783
ISBN-13: 9780061713781
Publisher: Harper
Language: English
Published: 04/22/2014
Pages: 448
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.60w x 1.60d
Award: Lambda Literary Awards - Finalist

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 12/01/2013 pg. 69
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2014
Booklist 02/01/2014 pg. 30
Publishers Weekly 02/17/2014
Library Journal 03/01/2014 pg. 85
New York Times Book Review 04/20/2014 pg. 1
New York Times Book Review 04/27/2014 pg. 30
Shelf Awareness 04/29/2014
Entertainment Weekly 05/09/2014 pg. 69
New Yorker (The) 06/30/2014 pg. 75
Kirkus Best Fiction 11/15/2014 pg. 42
NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/07/2014 pg. 27
Booklist Editors Choice/Adult 01/01/2015 pg. 11
BookPage 05/01/2014
New York Times Book Review 05/31/2015 pg. 52
Library Journal 12/01/2013