'A brilliant love story' The Lady'Like finding a gem among the bric-a-brac in a local brocante' TelegraphFrom the bestselling author of The Red NotIn 1760, Guillaume le Gentil, astronomer to King Louis XV, sets sail for India. He hopes to record the transit of Venus, but rough seas - and war with the British - make his quest more complicated than he could have imagined.Two hundred and fifty years later, anxious, lonely Xavier Lemercier chances upon Guillaume's telescope. As he looks out across the rooftops of Paris, he glimpses an intriguing woman with a zebra in her apartment. Then she walks into his office, and his life changes forever...Translated by Louise Rogers Lalaurie and Megan Jones.Antoine Laurain was born in Paris and is a journalist, antiques collector and award-winning author of ten novels, including The Red Not and The President's Hat. His books have been translated into 25 languages and sold more than 200,000 copies in English. He lives in Paris, France.