A book where the hero is…....The Hilton Arc de Triomphe, Paris!
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A book where the hero is…....The Hilton Arc de Triomphe, Paris!
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Category: Europe
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2006-01-11
The beautiful Hilton arc de Triomphe, Paris, located a stone’s throw away from the Champs Elysées, has captivated an author so much as to inspire a novel. The author, Hubert de Maximy, wrote the fascinating story of Alice, a New York businesswoman staying in Paris, ‘Snowing on Palm Trees’ and based it on the hotel and its surrounds.
A hotel is a place of life, where a multitude of people come and go and interact, all with different pasts. This diversity has inspired Hilton Arc de Triomphe to launch a collection of bilingual novels (French-English) with the hotel itself as a backdrop under the name ‘Ebony & Safran’, published by Tamahak.
The first novel, entitled ‘Snowing on Palm Trees’: begins in 1967 in South Vietnam and continues in December 2005 in the Hilton Arc de Triomphe, Paris. Alice, a New York businesswoman and central character in the novel, is spending a few days at the Hilton in Rue de Courcelles. From flash backs to war-torn Saigon to a meeting almost 40 years later in the middle of Paris, we discover little by little the secrets of Alice’s past.
The author, Hubert de Maximy, has woven intricate details of the hotel’s finest attributes into the plot, and the reader is invited to discover for themselves the magnificent Art Déco entrance hall, ‘Le Safran’ restaurant and even the sumptuous suite in room 118.
Eight pages of colour images placed at the centre of the book enable the reader to vividly imagine the events and their stunning surroundings.
The hotel is already planning a second novel.
Hubert de Maximy, author
A keen reader of Alexandre Dumas, Walter Scott, Conan Doyle, Paul Féval and Zevaco, Hubert de Maximy first became inspired by the whodunit after reading ‘Le Juge Ti’ by Robert Van Gulik.
Passionate about art, he worked as a scriptwriter on Métal Hurlant during the comic book boom. He became one of the pioneers of the computer generated image with the establishment of Thomson Digital Image where he worked as Director. He then set up his own production company where he directed over a hundred films for television and various companies.
He is also recognised as an expert on judicial matters in audiovisual media and is passionate about legal matters.
The combination of legal knowledge, writing talent and an interest in the past has naturally led Hubert de Maximy into the period whodunit genre: ‘L’Ecrit Rouge’ (1999, ed. Albin Michel), L’Ombre du Diable (1999, ed. Albin Michel), La Bande Noire (2001, ed. Cheminements), ‘Les Loups du Mardi-Gras (2005, ed. Hors Commerce).
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