The woman in the fifth - Douglas Kennedy

Harry Ricks is a man who has lost everything.

A romantic mistake at the small American college where he used to teach has cost him his job and his marriage. And when the ensuing scandal threatens to completely destroy him, he flees to Paris.

He arrives in the French captial in the bleak midwinter, and ends up having to work as a night guard to make ends meet. Then Margit, a beautiful, mysterious stranger, walks into his life. But their passionate and intense relationship triggers a string of inexplicable events, and soon Harry finds himself in a nightmare from which there is no easy escape.

Douglas Kennedy's previous novels include the critically acclaimed bestsellersThe Big Picture,The Pursuit of Happiness,A Special RelationshipandThe Moment. He is also the author of three highly-praised travel books.The Big Picturewas filmed with Romain Duris and Catherine Deneuve;The Woman in the Fifthwith Ethan Hawke and Kristen Scott Thomas.

His work has been translated into twenty-two languages. In 2007 he was awarded the French decoration of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2009 the inaugural Grand Prix de Figaro. Born in Manhattan in 1955, he has two children and currently divides his time between London, Paris, Berlin, Maine and New York.

"Nail-bitingly compulsive... A thumping good read. Kennedy has done it again"
The Times

"An extraordinary tour de force"
Mail on Sunday

"I ended up missing my stop to finish it"
Daily Telegraph

Daily Mirror

"A grim, claustrophobic atmosphere is layered with sleazy transactions and the emotional flaws of the characters. It's all neatly captured in Kennedy's sharp, shoot-from-the-hip prose"
Independent on Sunday