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Une femme neuve
Durant vingt-cinq années, Claudine s'est consacrée aux siens, à " la maison ". Et voici qu'un jour son mari lui annonce qu'il la quitte. Ce sera alors l'apprentissage de la solitude et aussi, très vite, les problèmes matériels à résoudre.
220 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 9, 2022
After 25 years, the husband of Claudine, Julien, comes home one day and says, “It’s finished”. Claudine had been happy to pass her married life looking after her husband and their two children, Eric and Mathilde. She is broken-hearted, with no qualifications and never having worked outside the home. She looks at the creases of his trousers which she had ironed the day before.
Une femme neuve is a short, easy read, covering important issues with a fine style of writing.
I think this book might well have been written as a serious warning to women about what could happen if they give up any hope of career in order to be a housewife. Published in 1980, the book was written in the 1970s when many aspects of life were starting to change. In particular, it became more normal for women to pursue their own careers and interests. The debate has moved on in the past 40 years. These days there is little pressure or expectation that a woman should give up her career to be be a full time housewife.
The book spoke to me personally. My mother and father split up when I was in my early 20s. It was a similar situation. The difference being that my mum discovered my father’s longtime affair and left. She had nothing. Having been a housewife for the whole of my life, she was now forced to live in a bedsit and work for low pay in a shop. As I read of Claudine’s shock, I kept thinking of my mother, struggling to live on her own at a similar age to Claudine. Not long after my parents’ divorce, the law changed, requiring family assets to be shared.
I think the story would also speak to anyone who has found themself suddenly alone. So the book also brought back memories of me alone following the death of my longtime partner at the very same time as my son left for university. The issue of dealing with loss is a universal one that will resonate with many readers.
It was a terrible shock for Claudine. For the odd moment, she forgets then remembers with a sudden tightening of the stomach.
Janine Boissard was born in Paris in 1932 and has written dozens of novels, as well as scripts for film and TV.
While most of the book is situated in Paris, I particularly appreciated the descriptions of Chanterelle, the Norman farmstead where her father grows vegetables, cider apples and keeps sheep - a wonderful retreat for Claudine. He had bought “une vieille ferme abandonee” without water or electricity when he was young and she grew up there. She is at home and knows the country ways. You can’t make an omelette burning just any old wood but wood and embers which burns tenderly, without sparks. “There’s no better cook than my father. It’s his way of being a poet.”
I found the portrayal of Florent refreshing. In many novels, Claudine might meet another man and they would start their new life, and patterns would repeat themselves. But Florent was not a typical man. He was just what she needed at that point. Someone who had the sensitivity to let her be, to be there for her, and to only come close when she was absolutely ready. Yet forceful enough to give her confidence, to re-assure her and to strongly encourage her to take the ‘recommence’ course.
Voir la version française de cette revue sur Les Liaisons Litteraires
Une femme neuve is a short, easy read, covering important issues with a fine style of writing.
I think this book might well have been written as a serious warning to women about what could happen if they give up any hope of career in order to be a housewife. Published in 1980, the book was written in the 1970s when many aspects of life were starting to change. In particular, it became more normal for women to pursue their own careers and interests. The debate has moved on in the past 40 years. These days there is little pressure or expectation that a woman should give up her career to be be a full time housewife.
The book spoke to me personally. My mother and father split up when I was in my early 20s. It was a similar situation. The difference being that my mum discovered my father’s longtime affair and left. She had nothing. Having been a housewife for the whole of my life, she was now forced to live in a bedsit and work for low pay in a shop. As I read of Claudine’s shock, I kept thinking of my mother, struggling to live on her own at a similar age to Claudine. Not long after my parents’ divorce, the law changed, requiring family assets to be shared.
I think the story would also speak to anyone who has found themself suddenly alone. So the book also brought back memories of me alone following the death of my longtime partner at the very same time as my son left for university. The issue of dealing with loss is a universal one that will resonate with many readers.
It was a terrible shock for Claudine. For the odd moment, she forgets then remembers with a sudden tightening of the stomach.
Janine Boissard was born in Paris in 1932 and has written dozens of novels, as well as scripts for film and TV.
While most of the book is situated in Paris, I particularly appreciated the descriptions of Chanterelle, the Norman farmstead where her father grows vegetables, cider apples and keeps sheep - a wonderful retreat for Claudine. He had bought “une vieille ferme abandonee” without water or electricity when he was young and she grew up there. She is at home and knows the country ways. You can’t make an omelette burning just any old wood but wood and embers which burns tenderly, without sparks. “There’s no better cook than my father. It’s his way of being a poet.”
I found the portrayal of Florent refreshing. In many novels, Claudine might meet another man and they would start their new life, and patterns would repeat themselves. But Florent was not a typical man. He was just what she needed at that point. Someone who had the sensitivity to let her be, to be there for her, and to only come close when she was absolutely ready. Yet forceful enough to give her confidence, to re-assure her and to strongly encourage her to take the ‘recommence’ course.
Voir la version française de cette revue sur Les Liaisons Litteraires
July 10, 2020
C'était une belle histoire en général. Claudine était une femme trop habituée à sa vie de femme mariée et elle n'avait jamais imaginé de se divorcer. Je comprends que l'époque est différente et heureusement cela a changé parce que j'ai trouvé qu'elle était trop dépendante des hommes. L'histoire n'a pas donné l'occasion de penser qu'elle ait découvert qu'elle pouvait bien aller sans l'aide de quelqu'un d'autre, que c'est possible d'améliorer sa situation et de se sentir bien avec soi-même.
October 18, 2024
"c'est que la tendresse est têtue : elle se met à votre place et s'efforce de voir au loin pour vous. "
Comment trouver une place dans la société, après un divorce, lorsqu'on a été toute sa vie, femme au foyer ? Un petit livre qui m'a ému. Un petit livre qui m'a rappelé ce que certaines femmes dans nos familles ont pu ressentir. Leurs cœurs brisés,leurs rêves invisibles, leurs corps terrifiés mais s'efforçant de renaître de leur cendre.
Comment trouver une place dans la société, après un divorce, lorsqu'on a été toute sa vie, femme au foyer ? Un petit livre qui m'a ému. Un petit livre qui m'a rappelé ce que certaines femmes dans nos familles ont pu ressentir. Leurs cœurs brisés,leurs rêves invisibles, leurs corps terrifiés mais s'efforçant de renaître de leur cendre.
June 30, 2014
pretty good
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews