Your Father's Room

by Michel Déon, Julian Evans (Translation)

The acclaimed author of The Foundling Boy brings us a fictionalised memoir about a childhood between Paris and Monaco.   'A delight'   Independent on Sunday A vivid recreation of the interwar period, Michel Déon's fictionalised memoir is a touching and very true depiction of boyhood and how our early experiences affect us. Édouard (Michel Déon's real name) looks back on his 1920s childhood spent in Paris and Monte Carlo. Within a bourgeois yet unconventional upbringing, 'Teddy', an observant and sensitive boy, must deal with not just the universal trials of growing up, but also the sudden tragedy that strikes at the heart of his family. 
 

Genres: France, Historical Fiction, Novels

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Michel Déon was a French novelist and playwright. He adopted the nom de plume Michel Déon, and made it his official name in octobre 1965. He has published over 50 works and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Prix Interallié for his 1970 novel, Les Poneys sauvages (The Wild Ponies). Déon's 1973 novel Un taxi mauve received the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française. His novels have been translated into numerous languages.

In 1978, Déon was elected to the Académie française. Déon is an affiliate member of the Portuguese Academy of Science and Letters. He is a doctor honoris causa at the universities of Athens and Ireland. He is also an honorary citizen of Nice, Aix-en-Provence, and Antibes. His works have been translated into many languages.

Déon and his wife Chantal raised their two children, Alice and Alexandre, on the small Greek island of Spetsai. When the children reached school age in 1968, France was in a state of upheaval. The Déon family settled in Ireland. For over forty years, Déon and his family have made Ireland their home, raising Chantal's fifty horses.

Reviews

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I can certainly appreciate select passages of the story, as a whole it didn't really do much for me. The author also seems to have a habit of spending a lot more time describing fat people in comparison to skinny people, like he had a fascination of sorts or something.

[bookblast official · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Father’s Room is a bittersweet masterpiece of confusion and heartache, nuance and atmosphere, beautifully translated by Julian Evans. It opens a window on to a lost world of elegant bohemia – that of the Romantic Riviera of The Ballets Russes, Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray and Katherine Mansfield.

Reviewed on The BookBlast® Diary 2017

[K.J. Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michel Deon has a way for description, even if he does focus a great deal on describing overweight people. It was just something that stuck out for me, especially his fascination with Evangeline's description.

Although, I found the look back to 1920's Paris and Monte Carlo intriguing, I wasn't totally enamoured with the narrative. That being said, this fictionalised memoir of Teddy is well written and the voice of Teddy does grow as he grows.

[Harrison Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book, but a tough read. I found it difficult to connect many of the threads of this work.