As Paris slips from daylight into night, a taxi driver named Marc begins his ritual. From 5:15 p.m. to sunrise, he drives through the city's veins, carrying more than passengers. Each ride becomes a confession, each backseat a temporary refuge. A sommelier guarding a legendary bottle, a runaway bride at midnight, a weary nurse, a forgotten movie star, lovers hiding from daylight, gamblers, poets, thieves, saints of the ordinary - all pass through Marc's car, leaving behind fragments of their lives. Once a bookseller who lost everything, Marc has learned to listen. In the silence between traffic lights, he collects stories the city discards at night. Objects accumulate in his glove compartment: a cork, a ribbon, a medal, a feather. Each one bears witness to a human moment on the edge - loss, hope, regret, rebirth. The Ritual of Dusk is a poetic nocturnal novel, a love letter to Paris after dark and to the invisible lives that keep it alive. Written with the atmosphere of literary noir and the tenderness of human observation, it explores solitude, dignity, and the quiet heroism of ordinary people. This is a book for readers who love character-driven stories, urban poetry, and narratives where every encounter matters. A novel that reminds us that sometimes, the most important journeys happen in the backseat of a car - and that listening can be an act of grace.