What Book to Read in France
 

Going to France on Sat, mainly Normandy, but doesnt matter. Like to read on vacation and like something relevant to the destination.
I'm asking for suggestions for fiction, not a travel guide. Please not Proust. It's too heavy.
Have enjoyed everyone's suggestions about Paris and Rouen, etc.

Thanks,
Carol

What about the DiVinci Code? Not exactly romantic reading but definitely about France, the Louvre, etc.

A Very Long Engagement, by Sebastien Japrisot

Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War, by Sebastian Faulks

Any of the Peter Mayle novels--or even his classic non-fiction book "A Year in Provence." "The Debt to Pleasure," a delightfully off-beat novel set mostly in France.

I have found "A year in Provence" a very boring book.
How about Bonjour Tristess, by Francoise Sagan.It was made into a movie; I read it years ago.

Murder in the Marais by by Cara Black.

Well, I hated "The DaVinci Code." Chacun à son goût.

Very much liked "The Magic of Provence" by Yvonne Lenard. It`s just a light hearted travel story, kind of like Peter mayle writes. it`s mainly about the south but it was fun reading. It`s not a travel guide. You might consider some of Joanne Harris`s novels too, but I liked Yvonne Lenards book more. Also, just read Victorine, the novel about a french woman who ends up moving to Indochina with her lover. A lot of the book is about France though. Pat

For Normandy, "On Rue Tatin."
Brittany, "Horse of Pride."
Provence, "Two Towns in Provence"."
The Southwest, "The Lost Upland."
And the Wonderful, "Lost King Of France,"
The true story of Louis XV11, son of Marie Antoinette that is a detective story that moves along to hold your interest.

I found "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo a lot easier to read than I imagined.
"The perfume" by Patrick Suskind is a marvelous book.
"The elementary particles" by Michel Houellebecq was the talk of the town a couple of years ago.
If you don't mind a bit of eroticism how about "Salt on my skin" by Benoite Groult? Or even more... "The history of O" or "The sexual life of Catherine M." although the last 2 aren't really ment for reading in public I think :-)
Plenty of classics as well, but won't bother you with that...

Hello. I've read three Peter Mayle books recently and have loved them all. Loads of lovely stuff about food, wine and wonderful French characters. Brilliant recommendation. They really got me in the mood for France, only problem is we aren't going until April/May next year!
Lisa

Underhill,
I did not care too much about the D.V.Code either. I enjoyed Angels and Demons better..

All easy summer reading :)


The Last Life ? Clare Messud
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...357132-2294232

Instructions for Visitors ? Helen Stevenson
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...357132-2294232

Women in Evidence ? Japrisot
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...357132-2294232

lady in a car with glasses - Japrisot
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...357132-2294232

Underhill, you and I may have "discussed" A Debt to Pleasure here before, but you're the only other person I've ever heard mention it! I loved the way the eerie darkness slowly took over the cheerful content at the beginning.

Recommend also: Alain Fournier's Le Grande Meaulnes, an atmospheric, coming-of-age novel.


I liked Cara Black's Murder in the Marais, but cannot say the same for her Murder in Belleville. Anyone else?

A Home in France by Ann Barry. Not fiction but an interesting account of a woman's wish to own a house in France even though she could spend only a few weeks per year there.

I liked the Magic of Provence a lot. And for the region you are visiting, perhaps On Rue Tatin (both were suggested by others).

For fiction, perhaps Madame Bovary or Les Miserables. I've never read Le Divorce, but liked the movie.

Grandmere,

How nice to find another fan of "The Debt to Pleasure"--our book group read it last year, and all liked it quite a lot. Knowledge of France is a plus for reading the book, I think.

Have you read "Perfume," another odd (even bizarre) novel set in France? That one takes place in earlier days and is partly set in the Grasse region.

I also did not especially like "Murder in Bellevue."

For an all-purpose good read, part of which takes place in Paris, Alice Steinbach's "Educating Alice." Each chapter is set in a different part of the world, and the author is a Pulitzer-Prize winner for reporting.

A truly wonderful book set in Normandy is "The Tides of Mont St-Michel," recently reprinted and available at Amazon.

Madame Bovary, since you'll be in Normandy. But for something light and fun, Le Divorce. I hadn't seen the movie, and enjoyed this on my recent trip to Provence. Agreed, Proust is way too heavy for a trip, in more ways than one!

and, if food is near and dear to you, M K Fisher is a favorite...she has a dry sense of humor

Underhill, thanks for the recommendation for Perfume! I'd like my book club to read Debt to Pleasure, too!

Another recommendation: Alan Furst's The World at Night, fiction set in France during WW II.