Born in Northern France, Marie-Jose Gransard studied English at the Sorbonne. Her career has been in language and culture. She has worked with Hilary Spurling on her biography of Matisse and with Anthony Holden for his life of Lorenzo da Ponte. She divides her time between London and Venice, where she is still researching on the literary legacy of visitors to the city and has written Venice, A Literary Guide For Travellers.
Twentieth Century Paris is stuffed full of fascinating information about the denizens of Paris during the first half of the century [...] also contains a number of illustrations and maps, so it really is the perfect guidebook. * Shiny New Books * a roll call of creativity, based on wide research, with a wealth of anecdote. * The Spectator *