What a thrill to have the great novelist Ron Hansen put his recommendation behind The War Begins in Paris! And even more so since Ron will be appearing with me, in conversation, at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington DC on January 13!

So many of Ron’s novels have been an inspiration to me. The prologue to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is something I always go back to when trying to write the opening pages of a novel. It’s perfect. And Mariette from Ron’s Mariette in Ecstasy was a model for the character of Mielle in my new novel.

Still buzzing over this. What a rare mix of generosity and genius.

“Theodore Wheeler’s informed and fascinating novel uses the invented character of fashion reporter Marthe Hess to float us through this dark milieu and acquaint us with the financial, antisemitic, and often unthinking justifications for a journalist’s alliance with evil. The War Begins in Paris is a great idea for a book and it’s insightfully and thrillingly told.”

-Ron Hansen, author of Hitler’s Niece

The War Begins in Paris will be published on November 14, 2023, but you can pre-order your copy now. (Order a signed copy here and have you shipped to you in November.)