Discovering books set in France...

Take me straight to the books! 

The first introduction to continental Europe for many, France is the setting for novels and movies galore. There are very few of us who don't at least have an idea of what France is about before going there for the first time. We have seen photographs of the Eiffel Tower, imagined ourselves sitting at the distinctive Paris cafe furniture, and looked forward to gazing at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. And in the books set in France we have selected for you below, you will find all of this - and much more.

While Paris is of course well represented, there is another whole genre of books set in the French countryside - the works of Joanne Harris bringing food and French culture together, and others like Julia Stuart highlight some of the wonderful idiosyncrasies of village life in books such as The Matchmaker of Perigord.

Literature and art are well-represented in novels set in France, some even fictionalising  the stories of well-known names who lived in Paris - Gertrude Stein in The Book of Salt and Auguste Renoir in Luncheon of the Boating Party are among those we have found.

And what would a collection of books set in France be if we didn't have some crime and spy novels?  Fred Vargas's Commissaire Adamsberg series and Alan Furst's The Foreign Correspondent are a good place to start.

So, let's take ourselves on a journey to La Belle France and choose some delicious novels from the collection below...toute de suite!

If you prefer to read a bit of discussion before choosing, visit our books set in France category on the blog.

And if you are visiting us from the Americas, you may be best making your way to our US site and start your travels from there...