The Paris Insomniacs’ Society
Represented by Susanna Lea
In her Paris flower shop, 51-year-old Rosalie arranges bouquets the way authors write novels, dreaming up imaginary lives for her customers in an attempt to forget her own, turned upside down by a tragedy Rosalie won’t speak about.
Until one evening, whilst taking the metro, she witnesses a scene she wasn’t supposed to. Just a very quick movement through a window, but she gets the immediate sense that someone, somewhere, is in danger.
Perturbed, Rosalie decides to deliver flowers anonymously to that address, unaware that she is crossing into a secret Paris. Behind the ordinary facade, in the quiet of night, a circle of discreet and devoted aesthetes keeps watch over the City of Light. They call themselves The Paris Insomniacs’ Society. Privy to knowledge passed down through generations, they breathe new life into neglected monuments and things, repairing and preserving them with the patience of artisans and the elegance of guardians, much like others stitch dreams back together.
Among them is Lucien, a metro driver by day, and clandestine painter by night. He is an elusive man whose silences both unsettle and draw Rosalie in. As she delves into their world of antique locks, forbidden rooftops, and well-kept secrets, Rosalie reconnects with her own life, her wounds, and her buried dreams. What she is about to discover, however, could upend far more than just her own destiny.