Sylvie (Sporadic Updates!)

"It's practically fictional, except for the fact that it actually happened."

It Is the first line that ambitious New Yorker Elise Orsini ever writes about her year within London's inner circle. In 1998, amidst a frenzy of tech-booming ambition, Elise finds herself on the fringes of a society she neither knows nor understands.

Beyond the walls of one of London's trendiest restaurants, Le Richoux, there lurks a mysterious blend of history, class, money, and ambition. It is there that Elise meets Sylvie Winslow, a quirky and enigmatic young woman known by all---and by no one.

Sylvie is, in her own words, a creature of her own invention. Like the historic Richoux, she has the gift of taking friends, admirers, and even enemies into a place where the only moment that matters is the present. Some think Sylvie is a wealthy socialite, others claim she's a bohemian artist, still others whisper she's a kept woman. Whatever she is, being part of her world means allowing deep secrets and quiet desires to become visible.

As Elise finds herself more deeply entrenched in Sylvie's life, her suspicion grows, as does her admiration. One by one, the secrets of Sylvie's life and the legendary Richoux are revealed. The more the masquerade slips, the more the lines between fiction and reality remain blurred. In Sylvie's world, the champagne is poured even after the party is over.

Cover credit to the always talented @Avadel.