The Paris Affair
In the late 1880s, Gustave Eiffel met with a lot of resistance in building his tower – in fact, there was no guarantee that the tower would be built, given lack of financial support from the government and adverse public opinion. Fin Tighe, an English engineer and subordinate of Eiffel, is drawn into an elaborate scheme to fund the tower’s construction. He is the illegitimate son of an English noble and the caretaker and guardian of a cousin who is a budding ballet dancer. He is also gay and attracted to the creator of the funding scheme. He has kept these parts of his life compartmentalized, but the walls come crashing down as the story progresses.
This novel weaves in elements of romance and mystery but is focused on the human drama of the various characters. Most of the supporting characters are not just who Fin perceives them to be – their actions and motivations become clearer towards the end. All the characters are well-developed and feel accurate to their time and truth.
The novel closes on a happy note with the opening of the Eiffel Tower. This can perhaps be taken as a symbol of a new and more open order rising in the world. The book includes a Q&A section as well as detailed background to both the story and the author’s own history. A sequel featuring the Universal Exposition of 1889 and exploring the questions of race, gender, and inequality would be welcome, not to mention more of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley, who get minuscule cameos at the end. Overall, an absorbing novel well worth the reader’s time.
