Someone I Loved

by Anna Gavalda

Overview

Anna Gavalda has been hailed as an author "graced with the Gallic virtues of dry wit and almost involuntary elegance" (Vogue). Now, the prize-winning author of I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere returns with a novel of an abandoned wife, and the profound relationship that unfolds between her and her father-in-law.

Author Biography: Anna Gavalda is an internationally acclaimed bestselling author, widely regarded as one of France's newest literary stars. A former high-school French teacher and mother of two, she is also the author of I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781908313027
Publisher:	Gallic Books
Publication date:	05/28/2012
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

About the Author

Anna Gavalda is one of the most acclaimed authors writing in French today. Her books are published in over thirty languages and and include: Hunting and Gathering, I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere and Consolation

Editorial Reviews

Gavalda (stories: I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere, 2004, etc.) offers up a minimalist first novel as compelling as it is slight. Chloe, the mother of two young daughters, has just learned that her husband, Adrien, is leaving her for another woman. Over the protests of her mother-in-law, Suzanne, her heretofore remote father-in-law, Pierre, bundles the shaken Chloe and children into his car and drives them from Paris to his country house. Chloe is raw and desperate. It's the first time she has been alone with her father-in-law, until now distant and undemonstrative. At the house, she still feels fragile, uncertain, suspended, but Pierre shops and cooks for her, serving her his finest wines. The two develop an unexpected intimacy, and the latter part of the story consists mostly of a dialogue between them. Chloe describes her pain, and he tells her about his own affairs, and about the moment when his wife confronted him but confessed she was too fond of the comforts his income brought to leave him. He tells her of Mathilde, the translator he met in Hong Kong and was involved with for years. He describes how he might have left Suzanne for Mathilde if it hadn't been for his secretary, whose husband left her around that time, transforming a dependable employee into a distraught woman. He reveals to Chloe that watching his secretary suffer this betrayal convinced him that he should stick with his wife and family rather than cause a breakup. In retrospect, he has regrets. Clearly, he is vicariously aware that Chloe and Adrien are setting forth on the path he never had the courage to take. "I would rather see you suffer a lot today than suffer a little bit for the rest of your life,"he tells Chloe. Intense and immediate as a late-night conversation between lovers, this should draw readers to the bestselling Gavalda.

Kirkus Reviews

‘Gavalda’s talent for writing and her gift for dialogue make reading her work a delight’ World Literature Today ‘Gavalda sees through ordinary appearances to people’s hidden longings… A gifted literary stylist.’ Vogue ‘The emotional balance has been rendered perfectly … An author who deserves to be read by many outside her native France.’ Book Diva ‘Throughout this beautifully written book, conversations between Chloé and her father-in-law reveal a tale of betrayal, happiness and devotion to duty. This book above all shows that love in any time in our lives can conquer all.’ Julie Knowles, Waterstones Lancaster 'Gavalda sees through ordinary appearances to people's hidden longings - A gifted literary stylist.' Vogue 'A novel full of grace and uncluttered prose.' L'Express 'A literary phenomenon - Anna Gavalda raises the bar with her first novel.' Le Monde 'Gavalda's talent for writing and her gift for dialogue make reading her work a delight' World Literature Today 'Gavalda writes warm hearted fiction with plenty of emotion, culture and thoughtfulness' - Telegraph

From the Publisher