The Underground City
A Novel
H.L. Humes
- Back
- in
- print
- after
- nearly
- fifty
- years–the
- acclaimed
- fiction
- debut
- of
- novelist
- H.
- L.
- Humes,
- co-founder
- of
- The
- Paris
- Review“Immensely
- intelligent
- and
- energetic,
- intensely
- dramatic
- and
- melodramatic,
- heroically
- overwritten
- yet
- sharp,
- insightful,
- and
- precise,
- The
- Underground
- City
- is
- an
- astonishing
- book
- by
- a
- writer
- of
- abundant
- gifts
- whose
- resurrection
- is
- long
- overdue.”
–Peter
- MatthiessenIt
- is
- the
- late
- 1940s
- and
- Paris
- is
- in
- turmoil.
- A
- man
- named
- Dujardin
- is
- sentenced
- to
- death
- for
- treason,
- sparking
- general
- strikes
- and
- threats
- of
- riots
- across
- the
- city.
- In
- the
- meantime,
- John
- Stone,
- a
- war-weary
- American
- and
- former
- secret
- agent,
- finds
- himself
- being
- investigated
- as
- a
- suspected
- Communist.
- What
- has
- brought
- these
- two
- men
- to
- their
- fates?
- H.L.
- Humes
- spins
- a
- thrilling
- account
- of
- the
- French
- underground
- during
- the
- last
- years
- of
- World
- War
- II,
- and
- the
- events
- that
- lead
- to
- the
- Dujardin
- affair.
- His
- many
- memorable
- characters
- include
- Adriane,
- loved
- by
- both
- Stone
- and
- Carnot,
- a
- fanatic
- Communist;
- Bruce
- Sheppard,
- the
- American
- ambassador
- to
- France,
- a
- statesman
- of
- vision
- and
- compassion;
- and
- Solange
- Récamier,
- the
- sophisticated
- young
- Parisian
- widow
- who
- finds
- meaning
- in
- trying
- to
- salvage
- Stone’s
- broken
- life.The
- Underground
- City
- displays
- H.L.
- Humes’s
- youthful
- literary
- skill
- and
- a
- striking
- capacity
- for
- fast-paced
- narrative.
- This
- is
- a
- brilliant
- tour
- de
- force.“A
- major
- achievement
- .
- .
- .
- [The
- Underground
- City]
- attains
- its
- full
- stature
- in
- poetry
- and
- truth.
- .
- .
- .
- [This
- is
- a]
- many-sided,
- absorbing
- novel,
- written
- on
- a
- grand
- scale,
- that
- holds
- the
- reader’s
- attention
- from
- the
- first
- to
- the
- last
- of
- its
- many
- pages.”
–New
- York
- Herald
- Tribune“Magnificent
- .
- .
- .
- [The
- Underground
- City]
- has
- verisimilitude
- and
- scope,
- action
- and
- depth
- of
- emotion.”
–Chicago
- Tribune“A
- work
- of
- power,
- maturity
- and distinction.”
–Newsweek
pro-mbooks3 : libris
