22 RUE MONTPARNASSE

Two former soldiers experience the highs and lows of 1920s Paris following the Great War in Helms’ historical novel.

At the age of 22, Beau Shipley fights in World War I alongside fellow soldier Keeby Styles. After being injured, the pair are recovering in a Paris hospital when the war ends. Keeby stays in Paris and tries his hand at writing, initially penning anonymous human-interest pieces for a Bolshevik broadsheet. Meanwhile, Beau returns home to Charleston, only to find that things have changed since he left for the frontlines (“he ruminated about the upended world to which he had returned, and how little of it made sense”). Victoria, the woman he loved, has become a depressed recluse, and his father wants him to take over the family’s tobacco shipping business. Disillusioned with life in his hometown, Beau returns to Paris and moves in with Keeby in 1921. While Keeby writes a book about Prince Grigorii, a Russian refugee who finds work as a gigolo, Beau becomes a painter after a disastrous meeting with Gertrude Stein. The pair is quickly swept up in the bohemian atmosphere of the city, sharing lovers and artistic aspirations as they hobnob with the likes of Georges Braque, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway. Helms does a phenomenal job of conveying the mood of postwar Paris with his prose: “The world had stopped in place for four years while the inbred crowned heads of Europe turned the countryside into an abattoir. Now, the war a fading memory, hedonism and celebration consumed Paris with a vengeance.” The theme of people finding themselves irrevocably changed by the Great War is similarly enthralling. Though there are some jarring plot devices thrown in at the 11th hour, Helms presents an incredibly engaging tale with quick-witted dialogue and a view into a historical period that feels both emotionally honest and charmingly nostalgic.

Riveting and humorous—a great choice for history buffs who enjoy a bit of decadence.