After nearly drowning, elderly fisherman Louis Paulhan decides to tell the story of his remarkable life. But with no one else to listen, can his legacy be entrusted to the young thief who saved him?

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France 1957: American youth Jack Reeves doesn’t care for old people, but when he saves the life of Frenchman Louis Paulhan he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic 73-year-old. Transported by his stories to Belle Époque Paris, Jack begins to identify with young Louis, while seeking old Louis’s help in finding the father he lost in World War II. Louis, meanwhile, is finally able to let go of his son who died in a tragic accident 20 years before. But Jack harbours a secret that will break Louis’s heart, and threaten the new life he has glimpsed for himself.

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Inspired by the real-life exploits of aviation pioneer Louis Paulhan (1883-1963) – a former circus acrobat and steamship sailor who for four months in 1910 was one of the most famous men in the world – The Little Mechanic is a work of Literary Fiction reminiscent of William Boyd’s Any Human Heart and Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins about a hero the world has forgotten, a youth it largely ignores and their journey together into a distant past, in search of adventure, identity and meaning.