An Englishman, Graham Vane, comes to Paris on a secret quest to trace a woman called Louise Duval, and falls in love with the gifted Italian singer Isaura Cicogna. Around them moves the whole society of the late Second Empire, from aristocrats and financiers to journalists, revolutionaries and adventurers, heading toward the siege of Paris and the Commune.
A broad social panorama by the author of The Last Days of Pompeii, published in 1873 after his death. Download the free EPUB.