Douglas Kennedy's The Woman in the Fifth
Harry Ricks is a man who has lost everything.
A romantic mistake at the small American college where he used to teach has cost him his job and his marriage. And when the ensuing scandal threatens to completely destroy him, he flees to Paris.
Harry arrives in the French capital in the bleak midwinter and finds himself a job as a nightwatchman for a sinister operation. Just when he thinks that he has hit rock bottom, he meets Margit -an elegant, cultivated Hungarian émigré - widowed and, like Harry, alone.
But though Harry is soon smitten, Margit keeps her distance. She will only see him at her apartment in the fifth arrondissement, and is guarded about her work, her past, her life. When a man is found dead and the police look to Harry, he finds himself waking up in a nightmare from which there is no easy escape.
Analysis
General Impression
