In1995,theyoungTaiwanesewomanwriterQiuMiaojincommittedsuicideinParis’sMontmartredistrict,leavingbehindtheautobiographicalnovelLASTWORDSINMONTMARTRE.Twodecadeslater,thenovelwaspublishedinEnglishbytheprestigiousNewYorkReviewBooks,bringingQiurenowninWesternliterarycirclesandquicklypromptingtranslationsintootherEuropeanlanguages.QiuisconsideredthefirstopenlylesbiannovelistinthehistoryofChineseliterature;herdebutnovel,NOTESOFACROCODILE,becameaBiblefortheTaiwaneselesbiancommunityandanundergroundclassicinTaiwanandHongKong,withanofficialeditionfinallypublishedin2012.DEATHINMONTMARTREtravelsthroughTaiwan,Paris,andNewYorktotracethelifeofthisliterarystarwhoenjoyedfameonlyafterherdeath,interviewingliterarymastersfromTaiwan,France,andtheU.S.whilediscussingLGBTQcultureandlesbianliteraturefromaperspectiveofequality.
