The Wide World: A Novel

This electrifying novel of passion, greed, murder, and revenge follows the sweeping saga of one prominent French family in postwar Paris, Beirut, and Saigon.

The Pelletiers are a prominent French family living in Beirut. The patriarch, Louis, has built a successful business that he hopes to pass on to his eldest son. With no head for management, Jean nearly runs the company into the ground, then marries a materialistic young woman who insists they emigrate to Paris and join high society. But there's another reason Jean must leave—he has committed a terrible crime...

Youngest son Etienne is sent to make his fortune in Saigon. Soon, he begins investigating a covert scheme to channel smuggled goods and cash to the Viet Minh. But the evidence he amasses presents a real threat to his own life.

François, the middle brother, arrives in Paris and tries his hand at journalism. His career begins to take off when he starts covering the brutal murder of an actress that seems part of a pattern of killings. But the killer he’s chasing is closer to him than he realizes.

Epic in scope, and a vivid depiction of French life in the booming postwar years, TheGreatWorld is a riveting saga at once gripping and classic.