Howard Curtis Pořadí knih (chronologicky)

The Carousel of Desire is a sexual and romantic saga told with a master storyteller's feel for character and plot and a philosopher's abiding preoccupation with what makes life truly worthwhile. With tenderness and infectious delight, Schmitt tells an exuberant tale about class and community and about the vastness of human experience. Schmitt's love of coincidence and serendipity is surpassed only by his affection for his flawed, all-too-human characters: Zachary Bidermann, the powerful European Union commissioner; Faustina, the fashionable book publicist; François-Maxime de Couvigne, the happily married banker with more than a few secrets; Marcelle, enamored with a handsome illegal immigrant; Miss Beauvert, who makes love with her parrot, Copernicus. These and many more unforgettable characters animate this story of simmering desire and the antics of the mischievous and playful god, Eros.

This is a sequel to Victor Hugo's classic epic of revolutionary France, Les Miserables. It is two months since the death of Jean Valjean, yet in September 1833 his daughter Cosette lives a seemingly idyllic life. Eighteen and married to wild and carefree Marius, she is unaware of his unfortunate penchant for getting involved in questionable enterprises with dubious characters. But there are other more sinister concerns. In the shadows, Thenadier the hangman bides his time while Inspector Javert, saved from suicide at the last minute, contemplates his quest for redemption. From the Paris of the July Monarchy to the penal colony where Marius, like Jean Valjean before him, is condemned, the characters criss-cross each other against a backdrop of the events of 1833 to 1836.