1956 original publication date ( )

This definitely tasted like champagne. I loved the aesthetic of this book, the images of the French Riviera still linger in my mind. I will say that it seemed like Sagan was going for a much more mature tone than I anticipated. It's a bildungsroman surrounding a tragedy brought on by the protagonist, but something about it all felt out of place, the tone didn't quite match up to the plot. Maybe it was just the translation. ( )

309

just another heartbreaking work of staggering genius ( )

Françoise Sagan - [Bonjour Tristesse]

Rich teenager behaves badly in the South of France.

I picked out [Un sang d'aquarelle] Sagan's 1987 novel from my local library, then realised that I had not read her first and most famous novel [Bonjour Tristesse] still lurking on my shelf and so I read that instead. At the time of publication 1954, it was a great success and reading it today I can understand why. It is totally irreverent and depicts a lifestyle that some may find attractive. It certainly upset the catholic french author François Mauriac who wrote a critical review, which may have added to its success.

The story is written in the first person: Cecile is on holiday with her father (Raymond) who has rented a villa by the seaside for a couple of months. Cecile admires her father's easy charm and is not surprised when they are joined on holiday by Elsa, her 40 year old father's younger lover. Raymond has also invited Anne a woman of his own age who was a friend of his deceased wife. Raymond falls in love with Anne, Elsa moves out and Anne tries to take Cecile under her wing. Cecile is enjoying a first romance with Cyril who is staying in a neighbouring villa and doesn't take kindly to Anne's attempts to reign her in, and make her study for her school exams. Cecile plots to drive Anne away from her father.

This sounds like a plot for a Young Adult novel, but Sagan has captured the egotistical life style of Cecile so well, that there can be no moral conclusions for those younger readers. It is well plotted, well written and captures a hedonistic lifestyle quite superbly. Sagan was 17 years old when she started Bonjour Tristesse and its publication the next year was an immediate success and must have hit a chord with readers ready to forget the austerity of the war years. It is Cecile's point of view that drives this novel: her nascent love affair and struggles to assert her freedom against a background of fast cars, dilettante rich men, and their women, make this a fascinating read 4 stars. ( )