The night light in the blue-tinged glass on the mantleshelf burned behind a book, which cast a shadow across half the bedroom. The quiet glow spreading over the bedside table and the chaise lounge, bathed the wide folds of the velvet curtains, and flooded the mirror on the rosewood cupboard between the two windows with … Continue reading A Love Story | Émile Zola
Tag: French
Let me look into that…
Once upon a time there used to be a lovely meme that I would join in occasionally called Wondrous Words Wednesday hosted by Bermuda Onion. It was a great way to deep dive into a word, phrase or saying that was unusual or unknown to me. Sadly, her blog has long since disappeared from view … Continue reading Let me look into that…
Maigret’s Memoirs | Georges Simenon
It was in 1927 or 1928. I have no memory for dates, and I am not one of those people who carefully keep written records of everything they do: a not uncommon activity in our profession, and one that has proved quite useful to some, even occasionally profitable. Maigret may not remember the dates exactly, … Continue reading Maigret’s Memoirs | Georges Simenon
A Girl’s Story | Annie Ernaux #ReadtheNobels
Books first published: 1996 | 2000 | 2008 | 2001 | 2016 There are beings who are overwhelmd by the reality of others, their way of speaking, of crossing their legs, of lighting a cigarette. They become mired in the presence of others. After Annie Ernaux won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022, five … Continue reading A Girl’s Story | Annie Ernaux #ReadtheNobels
Misunderstanding in Moscow | Simone de Beauvoir
She looked up from her book. How irritating all these old refrains on noncommunication were! If we really want to communicate, we manage to do so more or less successfully. Not with everyone, of course, but with two or three people. Trying to find the provenance of Misunderstanding in Moscow has been a challenge. My … Continue reading Misunderstanding in Moscow | Simone de Beauvoir
Pietr the Latvian | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly2023
Detective Chief Inspector Maigret of the Flying Squad raised his eyes. It seemed to him that the cast-iron stove in the middle of his office with its chimney tube rising to the ceiling wasn't roaring properly. Maigret the first! I began my Maigret/Simenon journey back in 2017 with #43 of 75, Maigret's Mistake. Every year … Continue reading Pietr the Latvian | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly2023
The Inseparables | Simone de Beauvoir
When I was nine years old I was a good little girl, though this hadn’t always been the case. Have you ever noticed that the books you really enjoyed reading - a lot - and would like to read again, are the ones you find the hardest to write something about? The Inseparables has been … Continue reading The Inseparables | Simone de Beauvoir
Maigret and the Minister | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly
As always when he returned home at night, Maigret paused at the same place, just past the gas lamp, and looked up at the lit windows of his apartment. Every July since 2017, there has been one rainy, cold, miserable weekend that becomes my Maigret weekend. This past weekend was it! There is nothing sweeter … Continue reading Maigret and the Minister | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly
Maigret Goes to School | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly
Some images you record unconsciously, with the precision of a camera, and when you find them later in your memory, sometimes you rack your brains to recall where you saw them. Maigret Goes to School is my ninth Maigret. I'm well and truly hooked! This story sees Maigret leave Paris to help out with a … Continue reading Maigret Goes to School | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly
Zoladdiction 2022
182 years ago today, Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was born in Paris and for the past nine years, Fanda @Classiclit has hosted Zoladdiction throughout April. I joined in the first two with the only Zola's on my TBR pile - Germinal (1885) and Nana (1880). At that point I didn't really understand how the whole Rougon-Macquart thing … Continue reading Zoladdiction 2022
Prieres Dans L’Archen | Prayer’s from the Ark #poems
For those of you who know me well, you will know this is not my usual fare. But, I do like to research poems that have been used as epigraphs in the books I'm reading, or by authors I'm curious about. Obviously I am curious about all things Rumer Godden, at the moment. Rumer Godden … Continue reading Prieres Dans L’Archen | Prayer’s from the Ark #poems
Committed Writings | Albert Camus
Committed Writings by Albert Camus contains Letters to a German Friend, Reflections on the Guillotine and The Nobel Speeches (Acceptance Speech and Create Dangerously) with a Foreword by Alice Kaplan. Books come into my life for all sorts of reasons. Before working in a bookshop, I bought books for myself very deliberately and carefully. I … Continue reading Committed Writings | Albert Camus
Nothing Holds Back the Night | Delphine de Vigan #FRAmemoir
My mother was blue, a pale blue mixed with the colour of ashes. I find myself drawn to memoirs that dive deep into difficult, complicated mother-daughter relationships. It's a dynamic fraught with push me/pull me tensions. Tensions that seem to only evolve with time. Is it possible to work them out? Come to terms with … Continue reading Nothing Holds Back the Night | Delphine de Vigan #FRAmemoir
Laura | George Sand #FRAfiction
When I met M. Hartz, he was a naturalist and dealer who ran his business affairs in a quiet way, selling minerals, insects or plants to collectors. Thankfully I read and thoroughly enjoyed Mauprat a decade or so ago. If I had started my George Sand journey with Laura: A Journey into the Crystal, it … Continue reading Laura | George Sand #FRAfiction
Gratitude | Delphine de Vigan #FRAfiction
Have you ever wondered how many times a day you say thank you? This week I have been determined to catch up on some of my outstanding book reviews. Don't judge me for focusing on the easier, slimmer ones! I promise I will one day soon, very soon, write up my thoughts on The Pea … Continue reading Gratitude | Delphine de Vigan #FRAfiction