Penguin Random House has shared an excerpt from Isabelle in the Afternoon, a moving story of passion and heartbreak from Douglas Kennedy, the internationally bestselling author of The Pursuit of Happiness.

About the book

Before Isabelle I knew nothing of sex.
Before Isabelle I knew nothing of freedom.
Before Isabelle I knew nothing of life.

Paris in the early seventies. Sam, an American student, meets a woman in a bookshop. Isabelle is enigmatic, beautiful, older and, unlike Sam, experienced in love’s many contradictions. Sam is instantly smitten – but wary of the wedding ring on her finger.

What begins as a regular arrangement in Isabelle’s tiny Parisian apartment transforms into a true affair of the heart, and one which lasts for decades to come.

Isabelle in the Afternoon is a novel that questions what we seek, what we find, what we settle for – and shows how love, when not lived day in, day out, can become the passion of a lifetime.

• Read an excerpt from the book here (PDF)

Categories Fiction International

Tags Book excerpts Book extracts Douglas Kennedy Isabelle in the Afternoon New books New releases Penguin Random House SA