Alice Kaplan

A year in Paris... Since World War II, countless American students have been lured by that vision—and been transformed by their sojourn in the City of Light. Dreaming in French tells three stories of that experience, and how it changed the lives of three extraordinary American women. All three women would go on to become icons, key figures in American...

The first biography of the Algerian artist Baya Mahieddine, celebrated in mid-twentieth-century Paris, her life shrouded in myth. On a flower farm in colonial Algeria, a servant and field worker known as Baya escaped the drudgery of her labour by colouring the skirts in fashion magazines. Three years later, in November 1947, her paintings and fanciful clay beasts were featured...

States of Plague examines Albert Camus's novel as a palimpsest of pandemic life, an uncannily relevant account of the psychology and politics of a public health crisis. As one of the most discussed books of the COVID-19 crisis, Albert Camus's classic novel The Plague has become a new kind of literary touchstone. Surrounded by terror and uncertainty, often separated from...

States of Plague examines Albert Camus’s novel The Plague as a palimpsest of our own pandemic life, its account of the psychology and politics of quarantine uncannily relevant to our time. One of the most discussed books of the COVID-19 crisis, Albert Camus’s classic novel The Plague has been a touchstone for readers over the past two years. As people...