Colette

Aftonstjärnan [Bok / Inbunden]

'<i>I was an independent, stray dog who answered to no one...</i>'<br/><br/>Claudine lives in a large house with a rose-filled garden and a vegetable patch smelling of tomato leaves and apricots. Beyond her house is the village, where travelling performers stop for the night and wedding feasts take place under a bright summer moon. Inside her house are Mama, who loves animals, and Papa, who lost his leg in the war, and a library full of forbidden and irresistible books...<br/><br/>Based on Colette's own early life, <i>Claudine's House</i> is a rich and enchanting depiction of childhood, animals, flowers, trees, books, families and love in late-nineteenth-century France.

Cheri: spoiled, petulant, beautiful, aged twenty-five. Lea: magnificent, brilliant, remorseless, aged forty-nine. They are in love, but their relationship exists beyond the bounds of social acceptability and must one day come to an end, no matter the cost.<br/><br/>A <i>succ</i><i>es de scandale</i> on publication for its depiction of transgressive love, Colette's celebrated novella is also a profound and compelling exploration of the passage of time, the body and ageing, mirrors, self-perception, self-knowledge and the tragedy of mortality.

<i>'Fine teeth, my girl. With teeth like that I'd have gobbled up Paris and the rest of the world.'</i><br/><br/>Gigi, a teenage girl in <i>fin-de-siecle </i>Paris, is being groomed by her family to become a high-class courtesan, just like her aunt and grandmother before her. But despite their best efforts, their timid protegee may have other ideas for her future...<br/><br/>Colette's famous novella is a sly and delicate depiction of exploitation and resistance, and is paired here with the wonderful short story 'The Cat'.

Renee, aged thirty-three and divorced from her serially unfaithful husband, reinvents herself as a dancer in France's music halls. When a wealthy suitor appears promising marriage and stability, Renee must choose between the security he represents and her hard-won life as an artist.<br/><br/>Colette's great novel of the stage was based on her experiences as a struggling music hall performer following her own divorce. By turns melancholy and funny, it is a pioneering work of autofiction and a vivid portrayal of one woman's quest for freedom.

<b>Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette</b>, eller kort och gott <b>Colette</b>, som blev hennes artist- och författarnamn. Hon rörde sig i dåtidens kändisvärld i Paris, var öppet bisexuell, frigjord, debattlysten och gränsöverskridande. Hon gifte sig tre gånger, fick en dotter, blev den fransk Goncourtakademiens första kvinnliga ordförande och den första som, när hon gick bort 81 år gammal, förärades en fransk statsbegravning. Detta efter att den katolska kyrkan vägrat henne en kyrklig begravning. I Sverige känner läsarna henne genom böcker som <i><b>Chéri, Mitsou</b></i> och <i><b>Kattan</b></i>. Men också genom hennes genombrottsroman i Frankrike, La Vagabonde , på svenska <i><b>Varieté</b></i>. Hon är en av sitt lands färgstarkaste författare, med närmare 50 utgivna böcker.<br/><br/>Huvudpersonen Renée är varietéartist, dansös, mimare och bisexuell. Romanen utspelar sig på Parisklubben Moulin Rouge i Montmartre och blev <i><b>Colettes genombrottsbok</b></i>. Innehållet har likheter med Colettes eget liv, hon var varietéartist under sex år efter äktenskapet med en 14 år äldre man, som varit notoriskt otrogen. Varieté är en sinnlig, för den tiden gränslös berättelse där artistlivets hämningslöshet konfronteras med förälskelsens bundenhet, där scenframträdanden och färgstarkt nattliv lever sida vid sida med ensamhet och vankelmod i logerna. Renées möten och brev till Maxime löper som en röd tråd genom romanens tre delar.

<b>Claudine lives in a small rural village in France and attends the local girls school. Headstrong, rebellious and a lover of mischief, she knows how to fill her days with adventure.</b><br/><br/><i>Claudine at School</i> is part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics bound in real cloth with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated by Janet Flanner, who was an extraordinary writer and journalist. She was the Paris correspondent for <i>The New Yorker</i> for fifty years.<br/><br/>From gossip to exams, to crushes and betrayals, Claudine treats us like her closest friend, telling us her deepest secrets. In a day-to-day account of her life at school, we learn that she falls head over heels in love with Miss Aimee - one of her teachers - which leads to a brief affair; she provocatively plays with the affections of a young pupil; and she boldly defies the strict headmistress. Clever, crafty and fiercely independent, Claudine thrives at the centre of the action.<br/><br/>Immensely witty, utterly charming and closely reminiscent of Colette's own life, <i>Claudine at School</i> is a love letter to rural France and the joie de vivre of youth.