In Depression-era France, Sorbonne student Sandrine covers news and fashion as a part-time reporter for an American paper in Paris. She banters with the Americans after work at the local bistro as red wine flows and stories grow in the telling. Early in 1934, with public outrage at government corruption peaking, she witnesses massive street riots by Far Right leagues that overthrow two French cabinets in a row. The very existence of the Third Republic is threatened. Then one bold man prevails against the forces of disorder.
Spring brings adventure as Sandrine listens to sweet assurances whispered in the soft light of a romantic Paris cafe. Summer brings new friends and midnight dancing to le hot jazz at swanky Longchamps racetrack during the Grande Semaine of the summer social season. Days later, vivacious Sandrine joins the hard-partying Americans as they drink and dance their way through the festive streets of Paris on Bastille Day.
In the fall, unknown to Sandrine and her friends, dark secrets from the 1920s French occupation of the German Rhineland cloud the present as the rising Nazi menace in Germany reveals unspoken threats. Destinies and events intersect in October 1934 when a Yugoslav king arrives in France for an important state visit in this novel of accurate historical event and captivating romance.