In this luminous novel, Dominic Smith reinvents the life of one of photography’s founding fathers. In 1839, Louis Daguerre’s invention took the world by storm. A decade later, he is sinking deep into delusions brought on by exposure to mercury, the very agent that allowed his daguerreotype process. Believing the world will end within one year, he creates his “Doomsday List,” ten items he must photograph before the final day. It includes a woman he has always loved but has not seen in half a century.
Paris in 1847 was a city of Bohemian excess and social unrest. Into this strange and beguiling world, Louis Daguerre sets off to capture his doomsday images, with the help of the womanizing poet Baudelaire and a beautiful prostitute named Pigeon, in this moving story of ruined love, fame unraveling, and a prodigious mind coming undone.
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"About the creator of the daguerrotype photographic process, his life and art, and his health troubles (including madness) from the mercury used in his work. Also includes a love story, of the tragic, wistful unrequited variety. I loved it!" — Jamilah (5 out of 5 stars)
"About the creator of the daguerrotype photographic process, his life and art, and his health troubles (including madness) from the mercury used in his work. Also includes a love story, of the tragic, wistful unrequited variety. I loved it!"
“Stephen Hoye narrates with joy and expertise. Here is listening intensity that makes the brain create an imaginary world that diminishes reality…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
“Highly entertaining.”
“Smith renders a clear-eyed portrait of Daguerre and his thinking, against a backdrop of tumultuous times.”
“Smith’s beautifully written debut uses the life of photography’s inventor as the framework for a touching tale of youthful love regained in maturity…A compelling psychological study, a thoughtful tracing of the birth of a new art form, and an atmospheric portrait of nineteenth-century France: impressive on all three counts.”
" Pretty boring...made it almost all the way through and just couldn't bring myself to finish it. That being said the other book by this author is FABULOUS. Beautiful Miscellaneous was a must read. This one....not so much. "
" The author mentions a woman wearing a brassiere...in the mid-19th century. An obvious sign that this book was not well researched, and the plot wasn't good enough for me to overlook such inaccuracies. "
" This is a wonderful story of 19th century paris. Well told. well researched or very, very inventive. "
" Not a perfect book but lovely, hallucinatory descriptions make it worth the read. "
" Enjoyable book. The historical detail and discussion of photography was great. The ebb and flow of insanity was fascinating. However, the conclusion was a little trite, and not particularly satisfying. "
" very interesting for those who like historical fiction and photography. "
" This book had an intriguing premise, but it sort of petered out. By the end I almost forgot the main character was Louis Daguerre. Reasonably well done for what it is, but I got the feeling it wanted to be something else. "
" Read this with book club and appreciated it more after the discussion. Glad we talked about it. "
" Filled with historical detail that brings 19th century Paris alive. An interesting novel about the man responsible for developing the 'daguerreotype' (the precursor to our modern day photograph) and his muse. A good read for those interested in art and photography. "
" I really enjoyed this book. I will read other by him to see... "
" This wasn't as good as I thought it would be...his discovery of the daguerrotype was sort of in the background. It was mostly a just ok love story. "
" So far it is a delightful read, with sumptuous descriptions of the light, color, & texture of 19th century Paris. "
" Everything I hoped it would be. "
" This fictitious account of the life of Louis Daguerre is at a vivid and sensuous tale. Small nuggets of fact coated with a candy sheen of fiction. "
" Loved this little book. It is a fictional account of the life of Louis Daguerre -- inventor of the daguerrotype. "
" Very interesting from a historic perspective; author was good at putting the reader right into Paris at the time that Daguerre lived. He dragged it on at the end. "
Dominic Smith is the author of six novels, including The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, which was a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and was named a best book of the year by Slate, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Kirkus Reviews. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Texas Monthly, the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and The Australian, among other publications.
Stephen Hoye has worked as a professional actor in London and Los Angeles for more than thirty years. Trained at Boston University and the Guildhall in London, he has acted in television series and six feature films and has appeared in London’s West End. His audiobook narration has won him fifteen AudioFile Earphones Awards.
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