France week on the BookTrail
This weekend sees the annual Bastille Day celebrations in France – the day itself is July 14th but the festivities will last all weekend around the country with major parties in Paris in particular.
Bastille Day in fact marks the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789, by angry Parisian crowds.
This was the start of the French Revolution, the ending of the French Royal family and the creation of the modern French Republic. July 14th became a French national holiday in 1880 and has been observed ever since. What better way to celebrate than to delve into the fictional world of the French writers and books set in France?
French Week on TheBookTrail: every day a literary journey. Take your passport and come join us!
Monday is – Antonin Varenne and Retribution Road
Set – Burma, London, American Mid West
This is Monday’s highlight since Antonin Varenne is a force to be reckoned with in France. He’s won several prestigious awards and has been translated into English by Sam Taylor. It’s a French hulk of a book and an epic read but it’s one you should really read for the sheer scope of it – it’s a thriller, a serial killer story and an historical epic all rolled into one.
Arthur Bowman, a sergeant in the East India Company, is sent on a secret mission during the Second Anglo-Burmese War. But the expedition is foiled – his men are captured and tortured. Years later he returns to London. One day he discovers a mutilated corpse in a sewer but what’s worse is that Bowman recognises the injuries as being very similar to those he saw and experienced in the Burmese jungle. The word “Survival” has been daubed in blood by the body’s side. He comes to the shocking realisation that the culprit is one of the men who shared his captivity, and it’s up to him to track him down
Tuesday is – Don’t Let Go
Set – La Reunion
A French department right in the middle of the Indian Ocean. An island in the middle of nowhere….an idyllic resort on the island of Réunion…….
Martial and Liane Bellion are enjoying the perfect moment with their six-year-old daughter. Then Liane Bellion goes up to her hotel room between 3 and 4pm and never comes back. When the room is opened, it is empty, but there is blood everywhere. An employee of the hotel claims to have seen Martial in the corridor during that crucial hour. Then he too disappears, along with his daughter. An all-out manhunt is declared across the island. The hunt is on…but who is the hunter and who is the hunted?
Wednesday is – TheTemplars Secret
If you’ve not read any of the Martin Bruno series then you’re missing out!Set in the fictional town of St Denis but deep in the heart and soul of the very real Dordogne, this is a great series to immerse yourself into. It’s full of gourmand snippets, Dordogne history and in this episode, a mystery about the Dordogne hills and mountain caverns. Highly recommended!
Thursday – Summer at the Little French Guesthouse
Do you fancy spending time in a cute little French guesthouse? It’s somewhere in the Loire Valley – Pierre La Fontaine is modelled on Doue la Fontaine and you really feel that this could be a real place. Pack your suitcase when you read this as you’ll want to jet off straight away!
And now to Friday – Bastille Day itself – This is a great one as it’s published by the French Bookshop people in London :
The Portrait
Translated fiction for France Day itself and one with a cracking premise – Imagine finding a portrait in a shop that looks just like you!
