Category Archives: French Literature

The Propagandist – Cécile Desprairies, translated by Natasha Lehrer

Posted on October 10, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) Our protagonist had to navigate between truth and lies, reality and denial for her entire childhood. Now as an adult and a historian, she must face these truths and the role her mother played in Fance … Continue reading →

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Down with the Poor! – Shumona Sinha, translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan 

Posted on July 18, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “…the same stories and the same bodies blended in my head, lost all definition and all form, became a dark and shapeless mass of giant bodies, that growled, shouted, demanded, cried, pleaded. Were they inventing … Continue reading →

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Café Unfiltered – Jean-Philippe Blondel, translated by Alison Anderson

Posted on July 11, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “Freedom of movement is what I want more than anything—particularly after eighteen months of restrictions.” Cafes just started to reopen after the release of the Covid-19 vaccines, and José, the waiter at Le Tom’s Café … Continue reading →

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Rose Royal: A Love Story- Nicolas Mathieu (Translated from the French by Sam Taylor)

Posted on March 10, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “Looking back over all those men, all those failed relationships, she came to one conclusion. She should never have loved them as much as she                      … Continue reading →

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Paris Noir: The Suburbs: Akashic Noir Series – Hervé Delouche (Editor)

Posted on March 5, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “Where was French romanticism? The opulence of the West? I found Paris—Pantin, really—very different from what I had imagined. I found Pantin ugly…”. An Albanian national flees his country in fear for his life and … Continue reading →

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Arsène Lupin, gentleman-burglar – Maurice LeBlanc, Edgar Jepson (Translator)

Posted on June 12, 2021 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) “You don’t know who Lupin is? The most whimsical, the most audacious, and the most genial thief in France. For the last ten years he has kept the police at bay….In fact, he’s our national robber.” … Continue reading →

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A Sunday in Ville-d’Avray – Dominique Barbéris (Author), John Cullen (Translator)

Posted on April 29, 2021 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) “My sister had always been incapable of choosing. She was also incapable of breaking off the relationship…She was yielding little by little—I see that now, and something in me understood her—to the novel-like element he imported … Continue reading →

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No Room at the Morgue – Jean-Patrick Manchette, Translated by Alyson Waters

Posted on December 10, 2020 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) “They’re going to lock me up. I’m the perfect fall girl. My fingerprints are everywhere, even on the knife that belongs to me, and I got blood all over me.” Maybe another reason that this femme-fatale, … Continue reading →

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The 6:41 to Paris – Jean-Philippe Blondel, (Translated from the French by Alison Anderson)

Posted on August 10, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “What I feel now is pure hatred. And that surprises me—because I’m not like that, particularly toward someone I haven’t seen in what must be at least twentyfive years…I can’t help but sneak looks at him.” … Continue reading →

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Broken Humanity – Karine Vivier (Author), Kirsty Catriona Olivant (Translator)

Posted on April 18, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Heidi A. Swan) Reader beware: this story is about people involved in child kidnapping and child deaths. Wanting to turn away from such a topic, I was lured inside, like a child promised treats which can only be … Continue reading →

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