Escapism is the new travel in 2020, which means we’re turning to our literary friends to take us where we need to go, ces jours.
Since my personal collection of French reads—memoirs, novels, historical fiction and nonfiction—is ever growing, I’ve curated a book club selection to share personal favorites and newer titles that top my never-ending “To Read” list.
I hope you’ll enjoy curling up with one—or all—of these, and taking a journey to France through the eyes of these wonderful writers.
I welcome you to share vos pensées, as well as any suggestions for next month!
Take a look back at September’s picks here.
Top 5 French Reads for October 2020
By Elaine Sciolino
Nonfiction
“Elaine Sciolino came to Paris as a young foreign correspondent and was seduced by a river. In The Seine, she tells the story of that river from its source on a remote plateau of Burgundy to the wide estuary where its waters meet the sea, and the cities, tributaries, islands, ports, and bridges in between.”
By Luke Barr
Memoir
“Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now.”
By Nina George
Fiction
“Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.”
By Janine Marsh
Memoir
“One grey dismal day, Janine Marsh was on a trip to northern France to pick up some cheap wine. She returned to England a few hours later having put in an offer on a rundown old barn in the rural Seven Valleys area of Pas de Calais…Janine eventually gave up her job in London to move with her husband to live the good life in France. Or so she hoped.”
By Jennifer Robson
Historical Fiction
“Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford wants to travel the world, pursue a career, and marry for love. But in 1914, the stifling restrictions of aristocratic British society and her mother’s rigid expectations forbid Lilly from following her heart. When war breaks out, the spirited young woman seizes her chance for independence. Defying her parents, she moves to London and eventually becomes an ambulance driver in the newly formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps—an exciting and treacherous job that takes her close to the Western Front.”
