13, Rue Thérèse

A magical and wonderfully inventive story about passion - and Paris.

An American in Paris falls in love with two women, one of whom he can only only imagine, in this wonderful debut.

As he settles into his new office in Paris, American academic Trevor Stratton discovers a box full of century-old artifacts. The pictures, letters and objects in the box relate to the life of Louise Brunet, a Frenchwoman who lived through both World Wars.

Trevor begins to piece together the story of Louise's life: her love for a cousin who died in the war, her marriage to a man who works for her father, and her attraction to a neighbour in her building at 13 Rue Therese. As he becomes enamored with the charming, feisty Louise of his imagination, he notices another alluring Frenchwoman, his clerk Josianne, who planted the mysterious box in his office, and with whom he decides he is falling in love.

Elena Mauli Shapiro was born and raised in Paris, and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband.