In nineteenth century Paris, the young bohemian Charles Baudelaire roams the streets. Dressed impeccably - thanks to an inheritance that is quickly vanishing - and lost in the decadences of alcohol and opium, he is about to meet one woman destined to change his life forever: the beautiful Haitian cabaret singer, Jeanne Duval. Inspiring Baudelaire's most infamous poems - leading to the banning of his masterwork, Les Fleurs du Mal, and a scandalous public trial for obscenity - Duval becomes Baudelaire's muse, the catalyst for a legacy spanning centuries. Their volatile and passionate affair explodes through the Parisian literary scene but, as the ever-more fractious world catches up with them, the strength of their love will be tested to the end. Unfolding among the bars and salons during revolutionary times, Black Venus is an intoxicating story of love and betrayal in which drugs, absinthe and lust prove the making, and the destruction, of a great poet.

Author Biography

James MacManus is the managing director of The Times Literary Supplement. After studying at St Andrews University, he began his career in journalism at the Daily Express in Manchester. Joining the Guardian in 1972, he later became Paris and then Africa and Middle East correspondent. His debut novel, On the Broken Shore, was published in 2010, and his acclaimed book, Ocean Devil, about the life of the adventurer George Hogg, was made into a film starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He lives in London.