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Dear Violette, At one point in Asphyxia (2020, tr. Derek Coltman. Original: L’Asphyxie, 1946), the unnamed narrator is standing on the sidewalk, peeking through a window at…… Read more “My mother never held my hand”
Tag: France
Violette Leduc
Violette Leduc (7 April 1907 – 28 May 1972) was a French author. Born out of wedlock to the son of a wealthy family for whom her…… Read more “Violette Leduc”
Fauna smiles upon the love of intertwined women
Dear Renée, For the past couple of days, I’ve been trapped inside a stuffy Victorian room heavily decorated with rich furnishings, intricate pieces of furniture, some middle…… Read more “Fauna smiles upon the love of intertwined women”
Renée Vivien
Renée Vivien (née Pauline Mary Tarn; 11 June 1877 – 18 November 1909) was a British French-speaking writer. Born in London to a wealthy British father and…… Read more “Renée Vivien”
André Gide
André Gide (André Paul Guillaume Gide, 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer. Born into an austere Protestant family, Gide was educated mostly at…… Read more “André Gide”
We were overcome with a kind of reverse vertigo,
Dear Annie, Reading The Years. tr. Alison L. Strayer (2017. Original: Les Années, 2008) feels very much like leafing through an old photo album, opening the contents of…… Read more “We were overcome with a kind of reverse vertigo,”
Annie Ernaux
Annie Ernaux (born Annie Duchesne; 1 September 1940) is a French author. She attended a Lycée and studied at the Universities of Rouen and Bordeaux. Ernaux became a certified teacher, then…… Read more “Annie Ernaux”
My name, here, is the name of my fracture
Dear Albertine, Astragal (1965) opens with a leap into the sky, from one kind of prison to another – but our protagonist doesn’t know it yet. The…… Read more “My name, here, is the name of my fracture”
Albertine Sarrazin
Albertine Sarrazin (17 September 1937 – 10 July 1967) was a French-Algerian author. She was abandoned shortly after her birth, in Algiers, and put in the care…… Read more “Albertine Sarrazin”
I believe in the god of carnage
Dear Yasmina, Threading the thin line between civility and barbarity, you manage to convey, with acerbic wit, how civility and good intentions are slowly but steadily sacrificed…… Read more “I believe in the god of carnage”
Yasmina Reza
Yasmina Reza (1959) is a French writer of Jewish, Iranian, and Hungarian descent. She studied theater and sociology at the University of Paris X, Nanterre. She works as actress, novelist,…… Read more “Yasmina Reza”
To disentangle true from false
Dear Delphine, Based on a True Story (2017, tr. George Miller. Original: D’aprés une histoire vraie, 2015) is an atmospheric book that revolves around a woman who…… Read more “To disentangle true from false”
Delphine de Vigan
Delphine de Vigan (1966) is a French writer. She studied at L’École des hautes études en sciences de l’information et de la communication (Celsa – Sorbonne Université). De…… Read more “Delphine de Vigan”
Marriage had been shockingly debased
Dear Amantine, In a strange way, your novel Valentine (1832) made me feel at home. Not a home I currently inhabit, nor a place where I am particularly…… Read more “Marriage had been shockingly debased”
George Sand
George Sand (née Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876) was a French writer. Raised by her grandmother, Sand got married in 1822 and had two…… Read more “George Sand”
I’ll describe my insanity through a sudden insight
Dear Christine, Do you know that feeling we have when we know where a book was going, and we know it could have worked – but it…… Read more “I’ll describe my insanity through a sudden insight”
Christine Angot
Christine Angot (born 7 February 1959) is a French writer. She was brought up by her single-parent mother. She went to university in Rheims, specialising in English and Law, but…… Read more “Christine Angot”
All this has been described a thousand times
Dear Jean, I am writing to you in haste, just to share my impressions on 1914: a novel (tr. Linda Coverdale), which I read for Caroline’s Literature and…… Read more “All this has been described a thousand times”
