Having read Nina George's Little Paris Bookshop reviewed here, I was delighted to see that her new book is centred in Brittany.
I related so comfortably to the descriptions of the region in which we lived for twelve years, and it was a bit like going 'home' to read the village names and to think 'I was once there'! Every time I read a village name I had an immediate mental image of it, such is her descriptive ability.
The Little Breton Bistro
by Nina George.
Published by Abacus, 2nd March 2017
The story is about Marianne, a sixty year old lady, who is desperate to escape a loveless marriage. Her husband Lothar is cold and seemingly without much feeling -- he is a Sergeant Major in the Army and a total pain in the neck, sarcastic, belittling, and apt to clip money-off coupons and insist that she uses them even if the food is out of date. With him she has lost all sense of personal value.
On a trip from Germany to Paris, Marianne decides that she has had enough of being bullied and put down, and plans to end it all. Leaping from the Pont Neuf into the River Seine she welcomes death. Fortunately she is saved from drowning by a homeless man nearby.
Taken to hospital, she is told by Lothar that she can come home on her own, with a psychologist, as his ticket is only valid for the next day and he's using it to go.
Marianne escapes from the hospital, taking with her a little ceramic tile on which is a painting of a village in Brittany, Kerdruc. This seems to call to her.
Somehow she is determined to get there. She has adventures on the way, a visit to Ste Anne d'Auray (one of my favourite venues), a meeting in a Convent, bus journeys and finally a walk through the woods to Kerdruc where the aromas of salt, sea and spray wash over her.
A night afloat and she is picked up by one of the many characters who frequent the Auberge d' Ar Mor around which so much of the story is set.
I could go on to tell you of the many friends she makes, the transformation in herself as she realises that her previous life was 'unlived', the relationships between Jean-Remy the chef at the village Inn, and Laurine, between Pascale and Emile, Alain and Genevieve , the festivals in the village, and of course Yann, the painter of the little tile.
I could relate the return of her husband and the pull she feels to return to him, not in any sense for love, but more because she has been brainwashed into feeling that she is not worthy of anything else, has never known what it is to hope.
But more important than just retelling the story is the way that the book draws you in, the way it speaks to you so personally. How does the author know that you had been in that position, that you had suffered the same griefs and joys, that the words are spoken just for you? 'Yes, I was there with you!'
The reader becomes such a part of the story, feeling every step forward, every rejection through Marianne, feeling the burgeoning of a love in her relationships with so many people. We begin to see that her life before Kerdruc was no life, simply a life of being controlled, having no choices.
She says, tellingly " I don't know why women believe that sacrificing our desires makes us more attractive to men. What on earth are we thinking?"
Although the story is built around Marianne and her gradual awakening to the fact that she is lovable, worthwhile and beautiful to others, we see so much else entwined in the side stories of the friends who are part of Kerdruc. The Breton character is so well drawn, acceptance of newcomers is never immediate but once trust is built you are part of a family. The mysterious region of Brittany its beliefs, festivals and its histories are an essential part of the story, woven into Marianne's journey through a new life.
I loved this book, would give it 5 stars, and recommend reading it at least twice, to see what you missed the first time!
Thanks to Net Galley for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
**********
This post is part of a Blog Tour on the publication of the book.
Below are the other reviewers' details.
. .
I related so comfortably to the descriptions of the region in which we lived for twelve years, and it was a bit like going 'home' to read the village names and to think 'I was once there'! Every time I read a village name I had an immediate mental image of it, such is her descriptive ability.
The Little Breton Bistro
by Nina George.
Published by Abacus, 2nd March 2017
The story is about Marianne, a sixty year old lady, who is desperate to escape a loveless marriage. Her husband Lothar is cold and seemingly without much feeling -- he is a Sergeant Major in the Army and a total pain in the neck, sarcastic, belittling, and apt to clip money-off coupons and insist that she uses them even if the food is out of date. With him she has lost all sense of personal value.
On a trip from Germany to Paris, Marianne decides that she has had enough of being bullied and put down, and plans to end it all. Leaping from the Pont Neuf into the River Seine she welcomes death. Fortunately she is saved from drowning by a homeless man nearby.
Taken to hospital, she is told by Lothar that she can come home on her own, with a psychologist, as his ticket is only valid for the next day and he's using it to go.
Marianne escapes from the hospital, taking with her a little ceramic tile on which is a painting of a village in Brittany, Kerdruc. This seems to call to her.
Somehow she is determined to get there. She has adventures on the way, a visit to Ste Anne d'Auray (one of my favourite venues), a meeting in a Convent, bus journeys and finally a walk through the woods to Kerdruc where the aromas of salt, sea and spray wash over her.
A night afloat and she is picked up by one of the many characters who frequent the Auberge d' Ar Mor around which so much of the story is set.
I could go on to tell you of the many friends she makes, the transformation in herself as she realises that her previous life was 'unlived', the relationships between Jean-Remy the chef at the village Inn, and Laurine, between Pascale and Emile, Alain and Genevieve , the festivals in the village, and of course Yann, the painter of the little tile.
I could relate the return of her husband and the pull she feels to return to him, not in any sense for love, but more because she has been brainwashed into feeling that she is not worthy of anything else, has never known what it is to hope.
But more important than just retelling the story is the way that the book draws you in, the way it speaks to you so personally. How does the author know that you had been in that position, that you had suffered the same griefs and joys, that the words are spoken just for you? 'Yes, I was there with you!'
The reader becomes such a part of the story, feeling every step forward, every rejection through Marianne, feeling the burgeoning of a love in her relationships with so many people. We begin to see that her life before Kerdruc was no life, simply a life of being controlled, having no choices.
She says, tellingly " I don't know why women believe that sacrificing our desires makes us more attractive to men. What on earth are we thinking?"
Although the story is built around Marianne and her gradual awakening to the fact that she is lovable, worthwhile and beautiful to others, we see so much else entwined in the side stories of the friends who are part of Kerdruc. The Breton character is so well drawn, acceptance of newcomers is never immediate but once trust is built you are part of a family. The mysterious region of Brittany its beliefs, festivals and its histories are an essential part of the story, woven into Marianne's journey through a new life.
I loved this book, would give it 5 stars, and recommend reading it at least twice, to see what you missed the first time!
Thanks to Net Galley for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
**********
This post is part of a Blog Tour on the publication of the book.
Below are the other reviewers' details.
. .
