Every week An Accidental Blog, hosts a meme devoted to any and all things French. You can post on anything from a wonderful French recipe, a work of art, literature or your trip to France. Happily I just became aware of this meme as I began my participation in Paris in July 2016 (Host Webpage for Paris in July 2016).
So far this month I have posted on two wonderful writers, Iréne Nemirovsky and Mavis Gallant who are very much thought of as focused on Paris. In common they have that neither was French by birth. Iréne Nemirovsky came as a teenager with her parents, fleeing harsh anti-Semetic pograms in the Ukraine. Tragically and shamefully the French government was complicit in sending Nemirovsky at age 41 to die at Aucshwitz. Mavis Gallant moved to Paris from Canada by herself at age 28, fell in love with Paris, and spent the remainder of her life living in exhile. Both women depended on their writings for a living, at least in part. Both were very into the reading life. I was very moved to learn that The Note Book of Katherine Mansfield was the last thing Nemirovsky read. Nemirovsky wrote about a book a year so If she had lived as long as Gallant, the world would well have been blessed with forty more novels and countless short stories.
Mel u
1 comment:
I've read Suite Francaise but I haven't seen In Transit before. Now I'll have to put it on my list.
Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Here’s my Dreaming of France meme
Post a Comment