Noam is a young man when the Flood wreaks havoc on the world, destroying the peaceful lakeside village he called home, and turning his whole life upside down. Destined to live forever as an immortal, Noam travels through the centuries in search of the meaning of life, and the events which shaped who we have become today.


Paradises Lost is the first installment of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s monumental project of recounting the history of humanity, the fruits of more than thirty years of research. The first in a series, and in the form of a stylistic novel much like Yuval Noah Harari crossed with Alexandre Dumas. Schmitt combines his scientific, religious and philosophical research to propel readers from one world to another, and from pre-history to today.

Translated by: Steven Rendall, Addie Leak