The Girl at the Lion d'Or
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Author | Sebastian Faulks |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
| Released | August 1989 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 253 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0091734517 (first edition, hardback) |
The Girl at the Lion d'Or. Author's 2nd novel. Together with Birdsong and Charlotte Gray it makes up Sebastian Faulks' France Trilogy. The character Charles Hartmann is common to all three books.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
Set in the tiny French village of Janvilliers in 1936, a passionate adulterous love-affair between the book's two central characters has the nation's unstable political scene as its backdrop.
France is depicted as a society hopelessly caught between the disaster of the 1914-1918 War and the inevitability of an imminent second international conflict.
[edit] Plot summary
A wet and dark winter night sees young Anne Louvert arrive in Janvilliers from Paris to take up a lowly position at the village inn, The Lion d'Or. She gets to know the staff- the formidable Madame Concierge, the drunken Cook,the sex starved Porter- and to meet the mysterious Patron. Then there are the customers: the evil Mattlin and the sensitive Hartmann most prominent among them. The continuing destructive influence of the war on people and State is one of the themes which binds the personal to the political in the novel. The power of vindictive slander is another . The false allegation of desertion made against the historical figure Minster Salengro, the poison-pen campaign carried out against Anne Louvert's mother and the anti-Semitic lies spread about Hartmann are dark currents running the book. The mood is down beat- in fact mock Gothic in the Poe inspired sub-plot involving the renovation of the Manor House- and the book is shot through with mordant wit but there are also lighter moments of tenderness and near slapstick.
On its publication, The Girl at the Lion d'Or was lauded in reviews for Faulks' ability to evoke a sense of time and place and for his adroitness in creating engaging characters.
[edit] Characters in "The Girl at the Lion d'Or"
- Anne Louvert
- The 'Girl' in the title of the novel.Indigent. Tragic past.Traumatised by loss, she equates abandonment with unbearable tragedy. Honest, brave and humane she is allowed to hope at the end of the book.
- Charles Hartmann
- Jewish vetern of First World War. A successful lawyer he lives at the Manor with wife Christine. Has affair with Anne.Hopes to Redeem her past. Puts her up in a flat. Ultimately he Doesn't want to cause any more unhappiness. Politically aware, the national situation is reported to us through his conversations with other characters.
- Mattlin
- A vile and disgusting Uriah Heep-like character with racism added.
- Christine Hartmann
- Wronged wife
- Mme Bouin
- Manageress of the Lion d'Or. Initially unsympathetic, her true nature is later revealed. Devoted to 'M. the Patron'.
- M. the Patron
- Owner of the Lion d'Or. Agoraphobic due to experiences in the war. Pessimistic and angry about future. Caring.
- Bruno
- Chef at the Lion d. Involved in the novel's overtly comic scenes
- Roland
- Porter at Lion d. Bored, idiotic youth. Voyeur.
- Antoine
- Friend of Hartmann's since the war. Now a senior civil servant whose minister is involved in a scandal. Asks Hartmann to give legal advice.
- Louvert
- Anne's Guardian after her mother's suicide. Not an active character in the narrative he is reported to us by the narrator and through Anne's memories of him. Considered himself a philosopher. Tells Anne that Courage is all and that all emotional suffering is caused by abandonment. He abandons Anne for America when she refused to be his mistress. A member of a Crypto-NaziFrench league, he is depicted mockingly in the text.
[edit] The France Trilogy
The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray are historical fiction novels largely set in France and collectively covering the periods 1936; 1910-1918 and 1942-1944.
The Girl at the Lion d'Or is the only one of the three books set exclusively in France and with an all French cast of characters. Although published before the other novels, it is the middle section of the triolgy's narrative.
[edit] See also
- Paths of Glory by Humphrey Cobb
- The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
