The House at Belle Fontaine

by Lily Tuck

Winner of the National Book Award, Lily Tuck follows her critically-acclaimed novel I Married You For Happiness with an elegantly constructed story collection about lives tethered to the past and the unexpected encounters that threaten to unmoor them. The House at Belle Fontaine is at once unexpected and familiar, and wholly memorable for its spare depiction of characters on the brink of transformation.

The powerfully intimate stories within The House at Belle Fontaine span the better part of the twentieth century and almost every continent, laying bare apprehensions, passions, secrets, and tragedies that resonate across time and space. In crisp, spare, and penetrating prose, Lily Tuck unveils and suppresses personal truths as her characters navigate exotic locales and immediate emotional territory: an artist learns that her deceased ex-husband had an especially illicit affair seventeen years before his death; a young couple living in Thailand worries about the mental stability of their best friend, a U. S. army captain; on a ship bound for Antarctica, a retired couple strains to hold together their forty-year-old marriage; and a French family flees to Lima in the 1940s with devastating consequences for their daughter’s young nanny.

The House at Belle Fontaine reveals the extraordinary in the everyday and the perpetuity of the past. With a deft and expert hand, Tuck excavates the opportunities that arise from loss, and the moments that knock lives into a collision course and an uncertain future.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Anthologies

160 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2013

About the author

Lily Tuck is an American novelist and short story writer whose novel The News from Paraguay won the 2004 National Book Award for Fiction. Her novel Siam was nominated for the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. She has published four other novels, a collection of short stories, and a biography of Italian novelist Elsa Morante (see "Works" below).
An American citizen born in Paris, Tuck now divides her time between New York City and Maine; she has also lived in Thailand and (during her childhood) Uruguay and Peru. Tuck has stated that "living in other countries has given me a different perspective as a writer. It has heightened my sense of dislocation and rootlessness. ... I think this feeling is reflected in my characters, most of them women whose lives are changed by either a physical displacement or a loss of some kind".

Reviews

[Alice Bola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of short stories. I have always believed that writing a short story is more difficult than a novel because you have a limited amount of words in order to get your point across. Some writers struggle with this, however others are wildly successful. I believe Lily Tuck is truly gifted.

There were several stories that I especially liked. Those are The House at Belle Fontaine, Lucky and My Music.

This collection encompassed stories that were very different with the common denominator being Ms. Tuck’s prose. She writes factually but with certain poetry. She chooses her words carefully so they have the strongest impact. Her characters are memorable as well with my favorite being Helen from Lucky. She was strong, sad, beautiful.

If you enjoy a wonderful collection of short stories, I highly recommend picking this up. This is perfect for the novice short story reader as well. I look forward to reading Lily Tuck in the future. The House at Belle Fontaine: Stories was simply breathtaking.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

lily tuck could kick joyce carol oates' ass i bet, just sayin'. though i think, after reading this my first short stories by tuck, she excels at the novel.
these historically accurate, intellectually nourishing,narrativly prickly stories should, i would say, give one a very representative idea of the mind a communication style of tuck. but watch out, one could lose a leg.

oops by the way, that house on the cover, that IS the house at belle fontaine.

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten evocative stories that explore the emotional terrain of failing marriages, lost lives, unsettled lives, lives that break apart, some set in far-flung places, a large French estate in the countryside, Antartica, Bangkok, Lima. Death, too, is in each of these stories. These narratives are striking, richly complex, and masterful, drawing in the reader even as the characters often remain opaque, their interiority and introspection rarely supplied.

[Steve Wasser · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of short stories and admire what people like Steven Milhauser can do with them. Unfortunately, I found these stories to suffer from a lack of structure. In some cases, I found their endings sudden and puzzling. Some of the works felt like writing exercises or odds and ends that had been lying about rather than truly polished stories.

The fact that every story included death (mostly of husbands) and divorce maybe didn't help my mindset. You know, to be fair.

But it got a bit repetitive for me - like John Irving and bears on unicycles. Or midgets. Repetitive.

Repetitive.

[Jane Ciabattari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fine collection by a master storyteller:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book and it was a quick read since it's made up of around ten short stories. They were simple stories and each story is different and not continuous so you can read out of order if you like. The author's word choice is great and helps build a sense of what a character is like and makes them stick out from each other in each separate story. They all have a similar theme of a French tie in, death, and some have dark themes, so if you're not into those things, this isn't for you, sadly. The tales are blunt and to the point, and while it's short and not that bad, it does have faults.
The stories are not enough for the reader to get invested in, the characters not in depth, and all feel a bit rushed. The stories seem to have no fixed structure and feel like each story ended on a cliffhanger. Like; “Is that all?” and wanting more. I'm not saying this book is bad, not it's good but lacking in certain areas; despite that I still enjoyed it and give it 3 stars!

[Bree (AnotherLookBook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for good writing. But every story had at its center a fairly consistent character, and besides that--no joke--every story includes death (at least one) and infidelity. In that sense, in spite of the variability of the settings and, to a limited extent, the styles, every story became almost comically predictable. Still: good, clean, satisfying writing.

Reviews of life-changing vintage fiction you've never even heard of: www.Anotherlookbook.com

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terrible and I don't want to spend a lot of time critiquing it.
So here's my condensed response:
Everything seems unfinished.
The tensing and perspective jumps oddly...suddenly I am first person in a scene, then it jumps to exposition of the next ten years? Come on, pick a vantage point!

In a nutshell every story is: France/French tie in,divorce, death, discomfort.

I felt like I was reading the summary of multiple proposed novels.
Blech.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually like short stories because I find them unsatisfying. If I do read ss, they tend to be interlinked like Olive Kitteridge, Imperfectionists or the Jennifer Haigh collections. I love it when the stories are interrelated. I thought this collection of stories were related to each other. They are not. However, they are completely charming albeit a bit melancholy.

[LindaW · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. Very readable stories. Some cover short periods of time, but some reflect back many years or look to the future to help understand the present. I will look for other works by this author.

[Ankur · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of boring short stories. Not too much happens, and when it does, the stories are left largely unresolved and with no explanation. Easy to read but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this anthology, Lily Tuck explores relationships between men and women. There is Helen whose ex has just died in a car accident. Alison and Mark take in his niece Leslie and Alison finds out years later that her husband slept multiple times with Leslie. Claire and James are stationed in Thailand and worry about the effect the military is having on their best friend. Anne leaves her husband and goes to Paris where she learns that she is just as well off at home. A woman muses about the impact music has had on her life. A couple go on an Artic cruise hoping to repair their marriage. Chingis, a riding instructor and descendant of Genghis Khan, falls in love with one of his pupils, Lena. Jeanne follows the family for which she is a nanny to Peru.

In the title story, a young woman has come to France after her divorce. She is renting a cottage from an elderly man who has both a name recognized in society and a fortune he made in business. He lives next door in a mansion he had built but this is the house he grew up in and lived in with his wife. He invites the woman to dinner and she goes where she learns about the history of the house and his life.

These stories demonstrate the difficulty of finding and maintaining a relationship. These couples are either in the throes of ending a relationship or have done so. Sometimes the end is dramatic, sometimes boredom sets in and kills the love that existed. There are affairs and deceit but through it all Tuck writes the truth as she sees it. Her writing style is spare yet eloquent and readers will be intrigued by these differing views of doomed relationships. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

[Olivia Loving · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, my second Lily Tuck. The other was also little-known ('Sisters'), and it was so short that it was hard to get a sense of Tuck's writing. But I got a true sense via this book, and I enjoyed these stories. Even when I didn't, they were short, and I could quickly get to the next.

The one gripe I had with the book was its lack of a good copy editor. I'm a copy editor, and so I tend to notice small mistakes in books, and I usually don't care. It was hard not to care while reading 'The House at Belle Fontaine,' which is missing a number of necessary commas. It was very obvious, too. For a while, I convinced myself I was wrong, and then it became undeniable that whoever had edited the book has a terrible sense of comma placement. With other books, this sort of thing happens so infrequently that it doesn't affect my reading experience, but I kept getting distracted and surprised by the comma/no-comma sloppiness.

Also, I should say that even though I enjoyed the book, no one story stuck out to me. I'd be curious to read other books by Lily Tuck, since I have a feeling I haven't touched her masterpiece yet.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m sorry to say that The works of Lily Tuck are new to me. But I can understand why she is an award winning author. This book of short stories is an excellent introduction to her writing. These stories are set in Europe and other interesting places in the world. Most are set in the years from just before World War I to after World War II. It is so very interesting how she ties the lives of the characters in a story together in various ways. I’ve got to read more of her works at some point in the future.

[Jim Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of character studies as much as it is of stories--vignettes. I enjoyed them, as I did her book I Married You for Happiness. Her stories reminded me of those by Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies. Avoid this if you want simple, action/plot driven stories. Rich character development.

[Karin]

An easy read, sure and gentle words, lucky and the house at belle fontaine were the few of my favourites. love how the details and timeline intertwine, and only through reading it all, do the images falls in place and match up to each other. beautifully woven stories for some, yet and thats the beauty of short stories novella.

[Jim Manis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An American, Tuck's short stories remind me very much of what I'd expect from a British writer. An intellectual style with a rye, ironic sense of humor. The final story in the collection, "Sure and Gentle Words," saved the book for me.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pleasant book to read. The word "understated" comes to mind when I think about the writing. Wide-ranging across geographies and cultures. First book I've read by this author, makes me want to read more.

[Natasha Dubé · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 4.5...loved most of these ten stories, especially My Flame and The Riding Teacher. Least favourite is by far My Music.

[Bekah Ireland · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay…but I had a lot of trouble getting into it. I thought all the stories would tie together…

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good palette cleanser read, but I will warn that most of the short stories have a pretty sad undertone.

[s]

one of the stories about a couple on a cruise ship would be interestingly paired with Margaret Atwood's "Stone Mattress"

[Dana Clinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sitting in the Ontario, California airport waiting to take my first flight to Chicago and then on to Manchester NH and home, I finished this little book of fine stories by Lily Tuck. The House at Belle Fontaine is also the name of the first story, set mostly in France, as are many other tales, although many places and nationalities figure in tales which range all over the twentieth century, tales of loves and longings and losses. This collection was less harsh than the last I just finished by Joyce Carol Oates. I liked all the stories, as they put your mind in places of confusion and strangely comforting situations of individuals simply facing life. A good collection for my travel time !

[Catherine Rodriguez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I give up on Lily Tuck. She's won awards and writes these books and gets them published--and I am, clearly, not her audience. Previously, I read I Married You for Happiness and was unimpressed, even rather bothered. Now, again, I am bothered. Why are all these characters so scummy? And, if they're not scummy, why are they so dull and lifeless? I guess, I expected more from these stories based on the reputation of this author, and I didn't get what I was looking for.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is an excellent short story writer. Economy of words, lots of irony. Small but vivid markers give a sense of place (a boulangerie near Blvd St Michel; a suburban house in Virginia, etc.)
The story Lucky, mid-way thru the collection, was an especially poignant tale that came around full circle with every detail. The dead baby barn swallows in their nest...ugh, sigh!

Another very minimalist/compact one is St. Guilhem-le-Desert; so much that is NOT said.
The saddest one was near the end: Perou. A young, innocent, devout girl is a nanny to a well-t0-do American family in Paris; they need to move to Peru during WWII. There, the nanny, Jeanne, is alone, lonely, without friends; is raped by a fellow servant, becomes pregnant and so stays behind alone in Peru when it comes times for the family to go back to France rather than shame her family.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read Lily Tuck before. I was looking forward to reading this collection quite a bit, even though I have no idea if she is a good author for short stories. For the most part they're likable, though not earth shattering or revelatory.

My favorite of the ten stories that comprise this collection is the titular Belle Fontaine, an old man living in a crumbling manor house invites his tenant to dine with him and launches into a recollection of his life in the house the tenant now occupies. I also liked Ice, a married couple having some trouble are on an Antarctic cruise. The husband is the nature lover and the flirt, the woman a nervous wreck. Other good stories are The Riding Story, a rider who may or may not have been a descendant of Genghis Khan, but certainly behaves like he is and Lucky, a circular and referential story of an artist and the people she comes in contact with.

The stories deal with people and their relationships and the lack of communication between them. They're not too dramatic. The prose is engaging. Some of the stories though, had the problem I've had before with great novelists writing short stories - the long build up to nothing at all, the stories fizzle out before they've made a point. I didn't mind, because it's a good, non-flashy collection overall. 3 stars.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley for review.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

From The Book Wheel:

Note: I received this book free from NetGalley at my request. This book will be released April 30, 2013 by Atlantic Monthly.

The House at Belle Fontaine is a book of short stories by Lily Tuck, who, unbeknownst to me, has an incredible reputation as a great writer. As part of my 50 Bookish Things to do Before You Die list, I want to read more essay/short story collections, which is why I requested this one. The short stories in this book are melancholic, weaving tales of lost loves, dreams, and lives. While some are sad and heartbreaking, others left me bewildered and wondering whether I had just read a short story of one-half of one.

One of the problems I have encountered in short story collection over the years (less so with essays), is that they do not have a beginning, middle, and end. While I appreciate that short stories are written differently than a full-length novel or essay, the lack of endings has always been my Achilles heel when venturing into this world.



But there were a few essays that I loved, my favorite being The Riding Teacher, a story about two childhood friends and the things that can come between them, while accounting for a complicated love.

For the full review, go here.

[Jmolentin]

I certainly like the writer, but found the stories too similar. If I were choosing stories, I would have added more variety, or shortened the work.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection by Lily Tuck, copyright 2013, actually feels like an older book, both in its restrained, sophisticated tone and in its subject matter. Most of Tuck's stories concern people of wealth or privilege. They enjoy dinner at a French chateau, a retirement voyage to Antarctica, ex-pat life in Thailand, a trip to France to escape family life. There are references to nannies and princes, a priceless piano, a trip to Tuscany, a studio in Paris. There's a strange story of a professor, his wife, and his lover set in the early 1900s.

Whenever I read a good short story, I'm reminded of how much I love the genre. The constraints of having to say just what needs to be said, and no more, seem to bring out the best in an author's writing. And somehow I have this expectation (often fulfilled) that a short story will deliver a jolt of reflection, insight, wisdom. Tuck's stories feel a bit remote--almost chilly--and didn't offer many epiphanies (for me, anyway). But they're well-constructed glimpses into different lives, different experiences: a pleasure to read.