Henry Miller left the United States in 1930 and settled in Paris, where he lived for about ten years. This period was crucial for his development as during it he wrote his works: "Tropic of Cancer" (1934), "Black Spring" (1936), "Tropic of Capricorn" (1939), which established him as a writer. It is worth noting that these books were not published in the USA until the 1960s, after prolonged legal battles as they were considered pornographic.

"Tropic of Cancer," one of the most catalytic novels in the history of literature, the author's magnum opus, was completed and published in 1934. In France and Europe, the "Tropic" immediately won over the most demanding readers. Lawrence Durrell wrote that he had never read anything like it, Blaise Cendrars said that no one had written about Paris like Miller, even the "cardinal" T. S. Eliot called it a very remarkable book, while more enthusiastically, Sir Herbert Read declared it the most charming book since Joyce's "Ulysses."