History infuses all of Eric D. Lehman’s books, whether fiction or nonfiction. 

He has authored a dozen books of local history, travel and fiction, including “Homegrown Terror: Benedict Arnold and the Burning of New London," “A History of Connecticut Food,” “A History of Connecticut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard,” “Afoot in Connecticut” and “Becoming Tom Thumb: Charles Stratton, P. T. Barnum, and the Dawn of American Celebrity.”

Lehman’s mostly recently published novel, “Shadows of Paris,” is a story about the developing relationship between William Brynes, an American, who takes a teaching job at a private school in Paris to flee the “sins” of his past, and fellow expat Lucy Navarre, who has a cheating husband and an equally mysterious history. The novel poses the question of whether, together in The City of Lights, they can find redemption and heal their pasts.

A professor of literature and creative writing at the University of Bridgeport, Lehman is married to poet Amy Nawrocki.

In the following Day interview, Lehman talks about his new novel, and the “pros and cons” of writing historically-based fiction versus non-fiction history books.

Q. Why did you choose to write a short novel — a novella — versus a full-length novel?

A. I’ve written some full-length novels. One will be published this year. But I started writing this on my honeymoon in Paris, and the story ended where it ended — naturally. The demands of the story decide (its length) rather than some artificial word count. It hurt me in a sense that it took me eight years to get it published because not a lot of publishers are publishing short fiction.

Q. What do you like about writing in this shorter form?

A. A short book like this is an exploration of character. Even though it tells a full story, it’s one little season in the lives of these characters and the changes that their decisions bring to their lives. I’ve written several of these. I love them. I think readers appreciate that I’m not telling the characters’ full stories. It demands more than a short story, but it also doesn’t need to be 90,000 or more words.

Q. Did you purposely fuse your love of travel and food and history with literature in “Shadows of Paris”?

A. Yes, it kind of jams all those things I love in there. Part of that is those are my interests, and part of that is this is a book about the difference between life and not life. At the beginning, William rejects what life has to offer, and throughout the story he’s confronted with all these things, which include food and art and literature and love. And also, it’s about the dangers of doing those things and overdoing it. Both he and Lucy in their former lives transgressed in some ways and paid for it. The French teacher, Monsieur Cygne, who introduces William back to life, takes its Epicureanism too far.

Q. The novel has mystery and subtle suspense, romance — or the potential of a romance. How did this story come to you?

A. I had the basic idea of this sort of broken man who goes to a place, a city in this case, and is healed. The first day we were in Paris at Notre-Dame and walked down the hill and sat in the church, the characters and the story just started to flow. I finished two-thirds of it on my honeymoon.

Q. Is the theme of redemption in the book something that particularly interested you?

A. Obviously, it’s one of the great themes in literature. But I’ve always been interested in the idea of a character who has done somebody wrong in some way and seeks redemption. How do we get past that and start to live again and live right this time?

Q. You’ve written numerous nonfiction books on various aspects of Connecticut history. Do the same rules apply to writing nonfiction-history and fiction in a historical context?

A. Structure is absolutely important for fiction and nonfiction. I don’t think the demands of pacing, structure, even things like “character building,” are taken into consideration enough in history writing. If you’re writing a nonfiction history book, you have to build the characters just as much as you would fictional characters. You could be the greatest researcher in the world and still write a boring book. As a history writer, you should try to understand the principles of fiction writing: character building, pacing and architectonics.

Q. Is one harder to write than the other?

A. They naturally will be different. You’re constricted in ways that sometimes can be difficult in writing nonfiction history books. In the case of my book “Becoming Tom Thumb,” there was little hard information out there, so I was restricted by a lack of information. In my book “Homegrown Terror” on Benedict Arnold, there was a lot of information, so that was a completely different challenge. I had to decide what to include and what not to include. There are advantages and disadvantages to writing both fiction and nonfiction. One of the advantages to fiction is that you don’t have to worry about the absolute truth. On the other hand, it can be difficult because you do have to make everything up. I like them both for different reasons.

Q. “Shadows of Paris” got very good reviews. What’s your critique?

A. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. I absolutely I love it because it takes me back to Paris every time I read it. It takes me back to my honeymoon, and it reminds me of what’s good in life and how to live. It’s also one of the few books I can read over and over and not wish I had written at all differently.

If you go

THE BOOK

"Shadows of Paris" (Homebound Publications) by Eric D. Lehman is $15.95, softcover

THE EVENT

Lehman will join with David K. Leff and James Powers — also Connecticut-based history writers published by local press Homebound Publications — at 2 p.m. Feb. 19 at Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St., Mystic.

The authors will read from their latest works. Lehman will feature his historical novel "Shadows of Paris." Leff will read from "Canoeing Maine's Legendary Allagash," his nature memoir and history of the area. And Powers will read from his book "Seeing the Past: Stories on the Trail of a Yankee Millwright." Copies of their previous historical works will be available for purchase.

Following the readings, the authors will join in a panel discussion about writing both nonfiction history and historically-based fiction.

The event is free. More information is available at banksquarebooks.com or by calling (860) 536-3795.