In the summer of 1885, three Frenchmen arrived in London: a prince, a count, and a commoner with an Italian name. Novelist Julian Barnes brings great flair to this tale of gynecologist Samuel Pozzi, a man of science with a famously complicated private life who was the subject of one of John Singer Sargent's greatest portraits. Barnes's chronicle of the three travelers also includes Henry James, Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, and Marcel Proust, and his unflinching view of a violent and prejudiced Belle ?poque reveals some parallels with our own era.

"Arguably the most versatile writer alive…. [His] wit, intellect, and pleasant irony incite a lasting thrill in us." —Los Angeles Review of Books