Parapluie: A Fable (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781971363011)

In the rain-washed streets of Belle Époque Paris, a magical umbrella passes from hand to hand, transforming every life it touches.

When a mysterious stranger brings master craftsman Guillaume an exquisite parrot-headed handle, he forges it into an umbrella unlike any other. But the gift comes with three unbreakable rules: Pas à vendre. Pas à garder. Pour un coeur vrai. Not to be sold. Not to be kept. For a true heart.

From the crooked shop on Rue des Martyrs, the umbrella begins its journey-sheltering a timid clerk who discovers his voice, a grieving widow who finds her song, an orphan boy who learns his name. In each pair of hands, it becomes more than shelter from storms: a catalyst for grace, a mirror for the soul, quiet magic woven into the fabric of everyday life.

But not every heart is true. When greed, cruelty, and pride claim the umbrella, the city itself darkens, and Paris-luminous, fickle, ever-watching-demands an accounting. The umbrella reveals what lies beneath: the courage we hide, the kindness we hoard, the smallness we mistake for safety.

Spanning decades and interconnected lives, Parapluie is a love letter to Paris and a meditation on what we owe one another. Told by a mysterious storyteller on a stormy night, it reveals the beauty hidden in ordinary things, the power of kindness passed forward, and the truth that some gifts are never meant to be kept.