FrenchBookFriday – Paris with Antoine Laurain
#FrenchBookFriday comes round again
There’s some true French set gems here by a French author, Antoine Laurain and all beautifully translated by Gallic Books and Jane Aitken. These three have been chosen today for their gorgeous covers and their one author who with all his novels shows off the most iconic wit and style.
The President’s Hat
Surreal and meaningful all at once -this is about the power of a hat that takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through French life during the Mitterrand years. It’s quite a historical novel too since it takes place on the eve of the presidential elections in which Francois Hollands became the second socialist President of the Republic, following Mitterand. France of the 1980s comes to life with Minitel, Canal + and all those other forgotten items of nostalgia. But it’s the power of the hat which is passed one from one person to the next that really shines.
French Rhapsody
Talking of nostalgia – even the mixed tape on the front will get your memories tingling if you’re off a certain age. And many of you no doubt will be itching to get your hands on a pencil and sort that tape out. Yes remember that?
This story looks at a missing letter which turns up 33 years later. Inside is an invitation to attend a meeting at a French record company – but now it’s obviously 33 years out of date. The letter’s recipient Alain is overcome by nostalgia, and is tempted to track down the members of the group. But in a world where everything and everyone has changed . . . where will his quest take him? A journey down memory lane for the reader as well as Alain.
The Portrait
My favourite of the three – What would you do if you saw a portrait in a shop that looked like you? The man who finds it, avid collector Pierre-Francois Chaumont is stunned to discover his portrait of an eighteenth-century man when he’s wandering through an antiques shop in Paris. Now, even the fact the novel places you in such a place in Paris, got me immersed in the dusty Parisian world before the story had even started. The rest is a fascinating journey!
The Red Notebook
Perhaps the most ‘French’ of the novels. An homage of sorts to the streets, the people and the essence of Paris. A treasure trail of sorts inspired by a lost handbag…There’s something typically Parisian about a notebook, a search through the cobbled streets and a man drinking coffee in a street cafe…
There are many literary references too and for an extra treat – the language will immerse you in a love story with the city and its people.
