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Vérité et amour by Claire Legendre
Women in French Studies
  • Michèle Schaal, Iowa State University
Document Type
Book Review
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
1-1-2013
DOI
10.1353/wfs.2013.0015
Abstract

Vérité et amour is Claire Legendre’s ninth publication and seventh novel. It is a first-person narrative made up of 89 brief chapters. Francesca, the narrator, moves to Prague with her husband—nicknamed “vice-consul” and whose name readers never learn (20)—shortly after Nicolas Sarkozy’s election. The novel ends during the “printemps d’érable” in Québec and on the night François Hollande is elected president (the final chapter, “Le changement,” undeniably echoes the latter’s campaign slogan). Because of its episodic structure, Vérité et amour reads like a cathartic diary where Francesca depicts her life abroad: the dissolution of her marriage, her becoming a free-lance teacher of French, her making friends, or her unfulfilled affair with a student, Roman Svoboda. Some chapters take a third-person perspective and focus on auxiliary characters. However, they might be interpreted as the narrator’s projections.

Comments

This is a book review published as Schaal, Michèle A. "Vérité et amour by Claire Legendre." Women in French Studies 21, no. 1 (2013): 111-113. doi:10.1353/wfs.2013.0015. Posted with permission.

Copyright Owner
WIF Studies
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Michèle Schaal. "Vérité et amour by Claire Legendre" Women in French Studies Vol. 21 (2013) p. 111 - 113
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michele_schaal/12/