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04/03/2008, 16:56 Editor - France Magazine Joined on 13/02/2008 Posts 2 Which Francophile authors do you like reading? Hello forum! I'm just wondering if you could tell me which books you would recommend to our readers? Do you like Joanne Harris? Or Maybe Stephen Clarke is more your cup of tea? Let us know... Thanks! Carolyn    Report

04/03/2008, 18:10 Catalpa Joined on 23/08/2004 Southern Manche - 50 Posts 1,455 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? They're a bit predictable, aren't they? Which isn't a dig at you... just that I expect a lot of people already interested in France have found those authors. A fiction author I've recently discovered is an American - Cara Black. Author, not tennis player.  Well, she may play tennis but not, I suspect, up to championship standard. http://www.carablack.com/ Her main character is a female French private investigator (Aimée Leduc) who reminds me of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone - but where Sue Grafton is writing a book per letter of the alphabet, Cara Black seems to be working her way through her own list of Paris locations. Murder in the Sentier Murder in the Bastille Murder in Clichy... etc Each book is a standalone story but there's more than a bit of mystery about Aimée's early life, so underneath the main plot in each book, there's a theme running through the series gradually explaining how Aimée's policeman father died, what happened to her mother - and information is revealed to us as Aimée herself discovers it. I don't know Paris well so the locations feel authentic enough for me, there are occasional mostly current French expressions dotted around the text that add to the sense of a foreign place but not in a way that interrups the story. They're well plotted, well-written; I've read two so far and will probably buy more. Hope the suggestion is of some help.    Report

04/03/2008, 19:17 crépuscule Joined on 19/01/2006 Scotland Posts 49 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? I have just finished reading the 4 Jacquot "roman policiers" by Martin O'Brien and, although I don't normally care for this genre, these are extremely enjoyable - well written and very atmospheric, being set in either Marseilles or around Cavaillon in Provence.     Report

05/03/2008, 19:38 Pads Joined on 24/05/2006 Cornwall/ Montage Noir Posts 3,120 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? I enjoyed C'est la folie by Micheal Wright It was a light and easy suitable for a fun read while on holiday, he was very witty and I enjoyed his discriptions of his surroundings. Also: Kate Mosses two books, a bit more heavey in all ways , not suitable for popping into your suitcase but a great way to dive into the atmosphere of the areas she wrote about, with a glass of wine in front of the fire this winter !! I was entranced by both of her books       Dirty Tom =^..^= Where ever I lay my paw thats my home    Report

05/03/2008, 23:10 Will Joined on 22/09/2004 Sussex & 50 (Mortainais) Posts 4,727 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? The Michael Wright book is, I believe, based on his column in the Telegraph on Saturdays. I personally prefer Helena Frith-Wood's books - she writes in the Sunday Times among others. She manages to provide a rather more balanced view than most of the  other France writers, who tend to be a bit 'fluffy' (but that's probably exactly what a rose-tinted glossy magazine wants). Though she still manages to present the French experience in a positive light and isn't at all off-putting. George East does much the same, but his stories, although all loosely based on truth, are a bit too embellished and a bit too earthy for some. My favourite France book is Signs of the Heart (subtitled Love and Death in the Languedoc) by Christopher Hope. This too is based on various press articles, and also shows the dark side of the immigrant life in France, but does it with wit and good humour. Will intentionally blank signature http://www.vienormande.com    Report

05/03/2008, 23:15 Dick Smith Joined on 23/08/2004 Surrey and Manche (Pays Mortainais) Posts 8,731 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? Georges Simenon. Regards Dick Smith Nowhere is there warmth to be found Among those afraid of losing their ground    Report

05/03/2008, 23:26 Russethouse Joined on 23/08/2004 Forum Moderator Posts 9,489 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? Sebastian Faulks www.quimperclub.org 99    Report

06/03/2008, 13:17 Renaud Joined on 23/08/2004 Barnes / Mirambeau Posts 589 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? I am with Dick Smith, in that I try and find and re-read Maigret novels. They provide vivid pictures into France in the decades either side of WW2. It was interesting that they used Prague to recreate Maigret's Paris in the Michael Gambon TV series. I am a lot less keen on Simenon's other books - they too show interesting facets of France but are more one dimensional. Last summer, whilst waiting to pick-up a daughter at La Rochelle airport, I got to chatting to a charming gentleman who had set up a tressle table and was selling a couple of self-published books. I bought one, a police procedual (sp?) about a homicide policeman in La Rochelle starting to deal with a child murder. Unfortunately the book fell victim to my absent mindedness and I am unlikely to ever know what happened next. Surprisingly there was not much sense of place which I would have thought to been a strong element of what I assume to have been a locally written book.  I too enjoyed C'est La Folie (I read the column every Saturday) and I am greatful to Catalpa for a new author to read. Gus www.relax-in-france.com    Report

06/03/2008, 14:07 Catalpa Joined on 23/08/2004 Southern Manche - 50 Posts 1,455 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading? I read a Simenon book years ago and it has never occurred to me to revisit him. The BookPeople have a set of 10 Maigret novels for the silly price of £9.99 + postage unless you choose books which total £25 or more in which case postage is free. Downside for anyone living in France is the BookPeople only deliver to the UK. Here's a link if anyone is interested. I have just placed my order so thank you Dick and Renaud for putting the thought into my head. http://tinyurl.com/25tf7t    Report

06/03/2008, 14:09 Eos Joined on 10/09/2007 Leinster / Herault Posts 161 Re: Which Francophile authors do you like reading?  Pads wrote: I enjoyed C'est la folie by Micheal Wright It was a light and easy suitable for a fun read while on holiday, he was very witty and I enjoyed his discriptions of his surroundings. Also: Kate Mosses two books... I was entranced by both of her books       I think I missed talking with you re Kate Mosse on another thread Pads! Enjoyed all of the above and am just finishing "The Albigensian Crusade" by Jonathan Sumption. Not such light reading, more a text book but very informative. An apology is a good way to have the last word.    Report

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France Forum » Leisure and Pas... » Books and Liter... » Which Francophile authors do you like reading?

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