Hearts on Fire, Paris 1968

2.5/5 ( ratings)

Hearts on Fire is an historical novel set in Paris, 1968, about Robbie Samberg, a young American studying abroad who comes of age, finds love, and uncovers an alarming state secret amidst the turmoil of that fateful year. It's a love story and a tale of intrigue that unfolds in the tumult of the events of that May in Paris, on the front lines of the student revolt at Nanterre, at the secret peace talks to end the Vietnam War, and inside the political skullduggery of Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. As if life for a student in Paris at this time were not complicated enough, Robbie falls in love with a beautiful Vietnamese girl, Le My Hanh, the daughter of Le Duc Tho, the Foreign Minister of North Vietnam, who is in Paris to negotiate secretly with the United States to end the bombing and start peace talks. Robbie soon discovers Richard Nixon's attempts to interfere with the peace process to protect his campaign from a last-minute settlement that might deny him the presidency and is drawn into a web of espionage, testing his love for My Hahn and challenging his loyalty to his country and his family at home. Robbie's escapade as a secret go-between Le Duc Tho and Lyndon Johnson is a political adventure story designed to thrill and amuse. As the story unfolds, the reader enjoys a bird's-eye view of the movements that rocked the period--anti-war, civil rights, woman's liberation, and the anti-Semitism and racism that stained and still stain France and America. It's a joyride through the chaos of 1968 with important lessons for the polarized climate of 2018, capturing the intense passions of a year of hearts on fire.