Early in his career, Booth Tarkington (1869–1946) published three short novels set in Europe. This early collection (first published in 1907) gathered them together into a single work. Several modern editions of this collection are available in paperback, as are books that include the first two stories listed.

Tarkington is remembered primarily for novels based in the US Midwest in the first three decades of the 20th century. Thus these particular stories are unusual in setting, and reveal aspects of the writer's work not familiar to most readers. Monsieur Beaucaire (first published in 1900) is a light- hearted story of a French prince living in England in the 1800s under an assumed identity. In The Beautiful Lady (1905), an Italian man named Ansolini, down on his luck while living in Paris, accepts a position from the wealthy Lambert Poor to act as an escort and tutor for his son Rufus. Ansolini of course fails miserably, and what ensues is an amusing adventure with love triangles and social intrigue. His Own People ( 1907) traces the disreputable exploits of a young American man traveling in Europe and living well beyond his means. He becomes an easy mark for a motley group of con artists. By the end of the tale, he gladly returns to the US, chastened by his experience and ready to accept his place in American society. Following this work, Tarkington focused on writing about his own country, so the novel's theme loosely parallels the author's own change in perspective from Europe back to his own beloved Midwest.

These three novellas will mainly be of interest to readers who want to explore all of the author's literary works. Other readers may find them amusing enough, although several other works by the author have had much greater staying power over the past 100 years. ( )