Category Archives: French

Robert Harris, “An Officer and a Spy”

Posted on February 10, 2014 by carolwallace

You know those historical events you should understand but don’t? The ones you try to read about but abandon when your mind kind of slides away from the confusing facts (too many names, too many shifting stories, too long a … Continue reading →

Posted in French, historical fiction, thriller | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Mary Blume, “The Master of Us All: Balenciaga, His Workrooms, His World”

Posted on March 13, 2013 by carolwallace

I’m going to start with a quotation here, and if you don’t like it you can just move on, because while I adored The Master of Us All, not every reader wants to devote a few hours to a long-dead … Continue reading →

Posted in art history, biography, French | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pierre Assouline, “Le Portrait”

Posted on January 17, 2013 by carolwallace

It’s not easy to buy me books, but Beloved Husband outdid himself this Christmas. And say what we will about the state of the book market, it’s pretty cool that he could find a French paperback published in 2007 and … Continue reading →

Posted in art history, French | 8 Comments

Andrew Miller, “Pure”

Posted on December 29, 2012 by carolwallace

If I describe Andrew Miller’s Pure as a novel about excavating a cemetery in 18th century Paris, you’re not going to want to read it. And maybe if you’re really, really squeamish the subject matter is going to be problematic. On … Continue reading →

Posted in contemporary fiction, French, historical fiction | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Carole DeSanti, “The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R.”

Posted on June 12, 2012 by carolwallace

It’s 1861. Goose-girl from the south of France runs away with her handsome lover. He sends her to Paris to wait for him but he never shows up and she has to become a prostitute. She sits for a painter … Continue reading →

Posted in contemporary fiction, French, historical fiction | Tagged | 4 Comments

Honore de Balzac, “Pere Goriot”

Posted on February 20, 2012 by carolwallace

Wouldn’t it be fun to know how many library books circulate without ever getting read? I haven’t had a library card in 25 years so I’m just getting used to the new freedom of choice that lets me bring books … Continue reading →

Posted in classic, French | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Julian Barnes, “Something to Declare”

Posted on January 25, 2012 by carolwallace

I tend to think of Julian Barnes as an all-English writer but I realize, that’s probably just because he used to rather famously play tennis with Martin Amis. (So very English!) But it turns out that Barnes is Francophone and … Continue reading →

Posted in classic, French, scholarly | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bel-Ami Alert: Rob Pattinson Seduces in a Top Hat

Posted on January 18, 2012 by carolwallace

As I’ve already made clear, I’m pretty eager to see the film version of Guy de Maupassant’s Bel-Ami. It’s a book I love (serial seduction in 1885 Paris!) and the casting is delicious, with Robert Pattinson as Georges Du Roy … Continue reading →

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Caroline Moorehead, “Dancing to the Precipice”

Posted on January 8, 2012 by carolwallace

Lucie Dillon de la Tour du Pin has been vaguely on my radar for a long time; her memoirs show up in  bibliographies when you’re reading about pre-Revolutionary Versailles, or for that matter, about the revolution itself — or even Napoleonic … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, French, nonfiction | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Irene Nemirovsky, “All Our Worldly Goods”

Posted on October 9, 2011 by carolwallace

I’m having a little French-bourgeoisie moment; last night I began watching Olivier Assayas‘ fabulous Les Destinées Sentimentales, which focuses on a big prosperous turn-of-the-century family that produces porcelain (one branch) and brandy (another branch). Hours earlier I had finished reading … Continue reading →

Posted in French | Tagged | 4 Comments