Hello! January 1st I will be moving to France for 6.5 months to study. I am looking for novels that will allow me to be a dreamer -- nothing too serious. I love historical fictions like "The Birth of Venus" by Sarah Dunant and the "Through a Glass Darkly" series by Kathleen Koehn ----- Any further suggestions!?

Thanks!

Charlotte perdu le culotte..

Actually, because of your circumstances, I am going to recommend a rather serious book, "Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French". It's by Canadians Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow.

The title sounds trivial; the content is not. If you are going to be living in a country for over half a year,it is useful to have an understanding of how the French operate currently based on their past experience.

After reading this book, I now understand why on paper a few years ago, the French economy seemed to be going down the tubes and why in reality, just a few years later, France and Germany are holding up the Euro. I now understand that the LEAST of Charles de Gaulle's accomplishments was to be a leader of the Free French.

My husband did not believe me that any book with such a wifty title could be worthwhile; he now is raving about the book to his finance buddies.

Two Polly Platt books, more lighthearted but non the less true for it, "Savoir-Flair!" and "French or Foe?" are also so helpful. Again, these two books help one to interact on a practical basis with correct manners and so.

And let me be clear--I am very much a Francophile!

"The Road from the Past - Traveling through History in France" by Ina Caro. My favorite book on France (I'm a Francophile too!)

and Ina Caro's latest: 'Paris to the Past'

Veronica Van Loon,

Although you may think the French classics are "too serious", they really are incredibly engaging. Plus, they contain fascinating dissections of French culture that still have meaning today.

If you haven't read Madame Bovary, it's the story of a French woman who is a dreamer, dreaming to get out of the trap of a dull marriage, and it's gripping. Or pick up Balzac's very slim volume called (in most English translations) "The Wild Ass's Skin", the story of a suicidal young man in Paris who idles in an antique shop on his way to jump into the Seine, and end up buying an extraordinary antique that changes his life around.

(AlessandraZoe, are you reading the same newspapers as the rest of us? If the French are holding up the euro -- if anybody is holding up the euro -- it's not a very reassuring performance.)

A piano in the Pyrenees.
Tony Hawkes

Maybe not, Zeppole. Just finished "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis. FT and WSJ on my doorstop every day, Baron's on weekend, MSNBC/CNBC on constant drone in the background, stock ticker on my desktop. Bottom line: Two functioning economies, no matter how large, are hard pressed to prop up disastrous Italy, Greece and Spain. Am on "Eurozone watch" as I write. Will be willing to discuss in Lounge, not here.

Now, Back to OP's request...

If you like historical fiction, I think you would find "Angelique: The Marquise of the Angels", the first in a series of historical novels by Sergeanne Golon, to be delightful. A post on this board years ago got me hooked.

Problem is that most of the books in the series are out of print, but you can find used copies online.

The series is based on the actual life of life of Suzanne de Rougé du Plessis-Bellière, known as the Marquise du Plessis-Bellière, during the reign of Louis XIV.

The series was started in the 1950's by the husband/wife team of "Sergeanne Golon"--in reality, husband and wife Vsevolod Sergeivitch Goloubinoff (Serge Golan) and Simone Changeux,who took on "Ann Golan" as her last pen name.

There are a few websites that are devoted entirely to this series. Here is one of them:
http://www.worldofangelique.com/index.htm

I hope you can dig up a copy in time! You'll fall in love.

PS--Just found it--poster who got me started on Angelique series was Underhill. Thank you, Underhill.

"A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century" by Barbara Tuchman

A fascinating story of one of the most powerful men in France at the time.

The Ina Caro books mentioned above are excellent!

You might like 'Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution' by Michelle Moran. It's an easy, interesting read with lots of historical detail. Enjoy your time in France!

Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik. Not a novel, but written like one by the New Yorker Magazine's all-purpose cultural commentator. His young son helped Gopnik open doors, or at least windows, into the social dynamics of the city for his short, easy-to-read essays.

Lots of good suggestions here that I am adding to my list also! Another one that I think you would like: "Courtesan: A Novel" by Diane Haeger. Wonderful historical novel about Diane de Poitiers -- definitely good for us dreamers.

One more -- I love Colette and you can get "The Complete Claudine"

The Count of Monte Cristo - the full version. The book is fantastic. Historical fiction doesn't get better than that.

I have a friend who really like Mistress of the Sun, by Sandra Gulland, historical fiction about a mistress of Louis IV. I gather she did some other famous historical fiction, a triology of Josephine Bonaparte.

Awesome bood for me in the past just saw the 3D movie

very uplifting interesting historical so worth a careful read

Book Description: Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But ...

http://www.amazon.com/Invention-Hugo.../dp/0439813786

I second Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik.

Look at books by Joanne Harris. I loved Five Quarters of the Orange. She also wrote Chocolat.

Moveable Feast by Heminway; then Paris Wife (fiction); also No Reservations by A. Steinbach -- the last is a travelogue of a gal over a year whose first stop was Paris. These are easy and fast reads.

Aahh, the Angelique series -- I read (and have) all of them about 40 years ago! Time for a reread.

Les Mis -- I read it this summer for the first time since college. It is amazing. Hugo does like to thoroughly discuss battles and politics, so you may find yourself skimming through some sections, but what a story teller.