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162nd out of 473 books
—
147 voters
The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R.
“As fiercely depicted as the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec.” — Stephanie Cowell, author of Claude and Camille
Love and war converge in this lush, epic story of a young woman’s coming of age during and after France’s Second Empire (1860–1871), an era that was absinthe-soaked, fueled by railway money and prostitution, and transformed by cataclysmic social upheaval.
Eugénie R.,...more
Love and war converge in this lush, epic story of a young woman’s coming of age during and after France’s Second Empire (1860–1871), an era that was absinthe-soaked, fueled by railway money and prostitution, and transformed by cataclysmic social upheaval.
Eugénie R.,...more
Hardcover, 432 pages
Published
March 27th 2012
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published March 1st 2012)
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This book is a nugget of good story, wrapped in several layers of unnecessary description. In the end, the story becomes both dry and bogged down, which is too bad, because I really enjoyed the concept.
I guess I also expected that Eugenie's passions would be a little more, I don't know, unruly? While there is no doubt that her passions and poor judgement are the start of the book, most of it feels like she is coping with circumstances. She even becomes a generally respectable person in her world...more
I guess I also expected that Eugenie's passions would be a little more, I don't know, unruly? While there is no doubt that her passions and poor judgement are the start of the book, most of it feels like she is coping with circumstances. She even becomes a generally respectable person in her world...more
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I'm not quite sure what to say about this book. There were chapters that I loved, chapters that I skimmed, chapters that I hated, and chapters that made no sense. In fact, much of the book made no sense to me. It is beautifully written--as to prose style. It certainly creates the period in which it takes place. Its plot is buried--like a dog's bone in a closely planted garden--difficult to spot and even more difficult to dig up without harming the plants around it. I read to the end to find out...more
I listened to this on an MP3CD, read by the incomparable Kate Reading. It was a joy to listen to her beautiful Parisian French accent -- made me want to pull out my old school French texts and brush up. The story is lush but over-long, I think. It's an eye-opening look at the few, difficult options open to women in 19th century Paris, and a woman's eye view of the Franco-Prussian War, about which I knew absolutely nothing. Interesting, but a VERY leisurely read.
At novel's end I concluded that I...more
At novel's end I concluded that I...more
This is about a young woman who lived in Paris during the tumultuous mid 1800s. It was a time when women had few choices, and men held all the power. She makes her way through a life of prostitution and has a child she leaves at a convent, which is her greatest sorrow. Through her wits and her talents, Eugenie slowly makes a better life, and searches for her little girl. But it is the wonderful writing, the well drawn characters, and the powerful sense of time and place that the author draws tha...more
This was not an easy book to read. The style is almost stream of conciousness and at times very difficult to follow. Much of the time it goes on and on about observances that have seemingly little to do with the actual plot line.
We often hear about the ladies and fine gentlemen of history, but little of the people who had to struggle just to eat or stay alive. Eugenie's story holds great promise even though it's sad and somewhat tragic. Unfortunately though, for me, this book was just frustratin...more
We often hear about the ladies and fine gentlemen of history, but little of the people who had to struggle just to eat or stay alive. Eugenie's story holds great promise even though it's sad and somewhat tragic. Unfortunately though, for me, this book was just frustratin...more
Carole Desanti colors the pages of this drawn out French-period novel with mountains of purple majesty. The dreaded purple prose, flowery and full of poetic nostalgia, much like Hemingway, works to romanticise the time period, which is muddied by sin and war. The premise of the book has all the makings, but suffocates any tension with gruelingly prolonged descriptions. Instead of building the scene, I felt this approach drained any footing gained by forcing the reader into a poetic, meandering t...more
A very complicated historical novel about the changing role of women during the time of the Franco Prussian War. Eugenie, duped in love, pregnant, goes to Paris to find her lover. Life gets tangled from there, her daughter is placed in an orphanage and she spends a life time trying to find her while she survives the turbulent times. In some parts it reads like poetry, in other parts like history, and, still yet, parts are confusing. I think DeSanti tried to put too much into one novel. However i...more
DeSanti's debut is fairly kick ass. Why? The atmosphere it left me with remains potent and haunting. This novel is packed with sensory and observational detail, not failing in that aspect once through the lengthy read...yet remains so strongly cohesive that it reads like an actual memoir. I am a proponent of reincarnation, and the Paris I know I have known before was within reach through this book. Heartbreaking, horrifying, sensual, and human. A wonderful account of a woman's rather tumultous j...more
I guess I will have to give the author full credit for creating a vivid picture of Paris during the 1860s and during the Siege and Commune of 1870. The details provided have the ability to transport the reader back to an earlier era. However, I felt the description also obscured the plot to a degree. Eugenie's story seemed as much about the taste and texture of her times as it was about progressing the plot. This is clearly a tale for those who like description over plot, particularly since the...more
Eugenie R. was raised in the countryside of France on a farm that produces fois gras. When a handsome and titled man professes his love for her she flees to Paris on the promise that he will soon follow. When he does not show up at their meeting place Eugenie finds herself left to her own devices and quickly trapped in the underbelly of Parisian society. Through Eugenie’s eyes we witness Paris in the mid 1800’s, the artists, the bordellos, the politics and the scandals, but most importantly the...more
I have started this book and put it down several times, and this time it's being put down for good. Literary fiction and I just don't get along, and I'm going to make a great effort never to touch it again. Too many pretty words and long descriptions signifying nothing. YMMV. As far as I read, the book begins around 1860 in Paris. Eugenie R was a goose girl who came to Paris (I really don't understand the circumstances of how she got there), falls on bad times and ends up in a house of prostitut...more
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I didn't know what to expect with this book. The bare bones summary is: Eugenie is abandoned by her lover in Paris. Once she realizes this, she does what she has to to survive. She soon realizes she's pregnant and eventually has to give the baby up, determined to get her back again. Along the road of survival, she meets many interesting and revolutionary people, friends, lovers, etc.
The book was told in the first person, which doesn't always work. It almost didn't work here, but once the story g...more
The book was told in the first person, which doesn't always work. It almost didn't work here, but once the story g...more
I like reading stories set in times that we only get a quick summary of in history class (at least here in the US). This one is set in France during one of the wars between France and Prussia, told from the point of view of a registered prostitute (inscrit) who finds a way to survive. A great look at a female perspective on war, and how isolating a city can be, even with millions of people living there.
The discussion of what the women, the poorest of the poor went through to get fed everyday, t...more
The discussion of what the women, the poorest of the poor went through to get fed everyday, t...more
Lovely, lyrical writing. Good research about a time not too often explored (to my knowledge).
My favorite quote: "I am afraid that mine is a hungry, careless pen, scraping across the page. And when I look back at what I have written, it is a fever dream, a half-gesture, the glance over the shoulder; a catalog of the surfaces."
DeSanti tells an artistic tale, unresolved - leading, like the best of literature to our own decisions. What...
My favorite quote: "I am afraid that mine is a hungry, careless pen, scraping across the page. And when I look back at what I have written, it is a fever dream, a half-gesture, the glance over the shoulder; a catalog of the surfaces."
DeSanti tells an artistic tale, unresolved - leading, like the best of literature to our own decisions. What...
Apr 28, 2012
Laurie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
French History Cocquette Fans
Recommended to Laurie by:
BookPage Author Appearance
3* This book was too long, not to my liking. I gave it 3* not 2.5* as I went to the author reading in South Hadley, across from Mount Holyoke College. It was interesting to hear how she created the character of Eugenie and the concept for the book. I a not familiar with France or its language and struggled through much of the book. I bought the book as the author was going to be at Odyssey Bookshop and based on a review I read in BookPage.
Read part of it. Did not want to read the rest. The descriptions were so convoluted, dense, and vague that I had almost no idea what was going on, and the dialogue sounded the same as the author's prose (bad! each character should sound unique, and like a real person!) Also, she seemed to cram it full of every historical detail she could find- pet peeve; we don't need to know everything she told us.
Average historical fiction novel set during France's second Empire and the Franco-Prussian War. Eugenie is a young woman who after falling in love with the wrong man and becoming pregnant travels from her small country town to Paris where she variously works as an artist model, a prostitute and a secretary/procurer for a brothel. The language is lush and very descriptive and I learned a lot about Paris during the time period (I didn't know that prostitution was legal and highly controlled by the...more
Left me more than a little sad. We all love tragic stories that turn good. However, sometimes as we all know, things don't turn up roses. But something left me wanting something more in this book. I finished it, but it isn't one that is on my mind for days later, wondering about the characters, for the right reason. I just have this nagging feeling that I didn't get something from the book for a conclusion.
None of the characters connected with me. Eugénie, Odette, Stephan or Jolie. Not one. Whic...more
None of the characters connected with me. Eugénie, Odette, Stephan or Jolie. Not one. Whic...more
A dramatically written book...almost like reading a script for actors including atmospheric descriptions and internal subtext. Would never recommend to my Aunt Judy but I'm sure that my niece would enjoy the story and the historical fiction aspects. Couldn't turn away from the strong woman's character.
I won this book on a Goodreads Giveaway, and was thrilled to get it. The book is a beautiful and engrossing journey following Eugenie, a French young woman who is inadvertently thrown into the rough streets of Paris. The book was hard to get tied to at first, with very heavily written descriptions and thick French language references (thankfully there are glossaries in the back for those of us that took Spanish instead). Once Eugenie has found her comfort in her (unfortunate) role in life, the b...more
I think if I had read the paper back I would not have enjoyed this story
As much as I did. Sometimes audio versions are just
Better for me. This audio was performed by KATE READING
She is one of my favorite narrators always brings the
Words to life.
As much as I did. Sometimes audio versions are just
Better for me. This audio was performed by KATE READING
She is one of my favorite narrators always brings the
Words to life.
I loved the beginning of this book. By the middle, I was wondering when it was going to catch my interest again, and by the end I was forcing myself to finish it. The only question that kept me reading was Will she ever find her little girl?
The story was convoluted by the over use of flowery prose, which leaves the reader feeling distracted and bored. I was so focused on the descriptions and language that I found myself having to go back and re-read chapters or passages to make sure I had a full grasp of what was going on. The prose was elegant and beautiful but it just took up too much of the story. Overall this story was just 'meah' for me and that is heartbreaking because the cover is beautiful and stunning in a way that the nov...more
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Here's the thing... Eugenie's passions aren't all that unruly. Basically, she falls in love with an ass who takes advantage of her and leaves her pregnant and destitute in Paris where she is forced into a horrid life of prostitution. So rather than being a story of passion, it's a story of an unhappy woman coping with the consequences of her naïveté and bad taste in men. Somewhat interesting to read about life in Paris during this time of political upheaval, but overall a forgettable story.
Apr 06, 2012
Brittany Osborn
is currently reading it
I haven't started it yet, but I met the author last night! She was absolutely wonderful, very willing to take the time and talk with me. Just from her reading exerts from the story convinced me to buy it, and I can't wait!
At moments I liked this book and then there were other times I was over it. It was an interesting commentary on the situation that women face when they can not control their own bodies/lives. Good historical research.
This is an interesting style of writing. It is almost as if the author is creating word clouds describing the atmosphere as opposed to telling a full story. I am not sure if I have become used to this style now, or if she is telling the story more forthright however, I am finding that I am enjoying it.
"Too many French words I didn't know - and no mention of a glossary until I came across it at the very end of the book! Obscure references to post-revolutionary days in France. Overall meh."
A good idea, but god, the execution was terrible. Sentence fragments were abundant and frustrating. I wanted to read this, but life's too short to parse this mess for meaning.
Fun, but a little wandering and the ending felt forced. I felt like the author couldn't decide whether this was a romance or a meticulously researched period piece.
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Carole DeSanti is a longtime book editor and champion of new voices in fiction. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and the Women's Review of Books.
More about Carole DeSanti...
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