Paris: Secret Gardens, Hidden Places, and Stories in the City of Light, Mary McAuliffe’s multi-layered exploration of Paris, weaves a narrative that takes the reader into secret and hidden places, even in the midst of the most well-known of Paris destinations.

McAuliffe’s hidden places can be small but are always revealing, like a bas-relief on an ignored corner of Notre-Dame or an overlooked courtyard inside an ancient and busy hospital. She takes the reader below the streets and sidewalks of Paris to discover ancient aqueducts and a lost river, and she prompts the reader to notice overlooked treasures in the most trafficked of museums.

Always, McAuliffe’s focus is on people and their stories. Evil queens, designing noblemen, bold chevaliers, and desperate lovers mingle with resistance fighters and obsessed artists rising out of abject poverty into unexpected fame and fortune, adding to the tidal wave of creativity that is the life blood of the City of Light.

One person, place, and story lead to another, each linked by a common thread within the layered richness of Paris’s past. The story of Paris is not a chronology but an exploration of the many layers of this remarkable city throughout the ages.