Janine is French

by Lloyd Alexander

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

226 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1959

About the author

Lloyd Chudley Alexander was an influential American author of more than forty books, mostly fantasy novels for children and adolescents, as well as several adult books. His most famous contribution to the field of children's literature is the fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain. The concluding book of the series, The High King , was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1969. Alexander's other books have also won the National Book Award and the American Book Award. He was also one of the creators of Cricket Magazine.

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in one of the Little Free Library boxes in a park near my home. The book is very old (from 1959), with yellowed pages, and what's left of the torn-out library date stamp sheet shows dates from 1962, and lots of "Withdrawn" stamps. All of this, and the cover illustration, got me to take it home.
I've never read anything else by this author, but he has an easy storytelling style, and I would guess he allowed some imagination to enter the telling of this story about the early years of his marriage to his wife Janine, who he first met in Paris during a bad rainstorm. I guess its because of this way of meeting that throughout, she calls him "Rainette". I couldn't see anything about the name, but when I looked it up, it says it translates to "Tree Frog".
Janine is very French. She is charming, caring and sweet. But she is also overly confident about almost everything (at one point telling her American-born husband that she thinks she speaks english better than him already, all the while still peppering almost every sentence with a word or phrase in French), highly opinionated about most everything, and truly believes that the French are highly superior in almost everything.
They come to live with the author's parents in Philadelphia, all the while trying to save enough money to return to Paris. This Paris fund is behind everything they buy or do, and involves many attempts on Janine's part to learn something new that she can use, or make a business of, to make them a lot of money. Most attempts fall apart (including their first attempt at renting an upstairs apartment in the house they eventually buy), and usually she blames her husband, somehow or other, and continues to be homesick for Paris.
The book is an easy read, obviously very dated, but is also charming and quite funny at times, mostly due to Janine's misunderstanding of American vs. French language and ways. I had said that I would guess he allows some imagination to enter the telling, and I wonder to what extent, because when I looked up the author, it said that Janine had a young daughter when he met her, and that is never once mentioned in the book.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, one of the early books by one of my long-time favorite authors, Lloyd Alexander, written not for children but for adults. It is written of his wife, a French war bride, and their early years of marriage in Philadelphia. Though he no doubt employed some poetic license and literary liberties, it is more or less biographical and largely coincides with the information I've been able to find on Lloyd Alexander and his personal history. His writing is pleasant, enjoyable, and easy to read, though rich in language and description. His obvious affection for his dear wife is delightful and heart warming. Gently humorous, but thoughtful and insightful at the same time, it reminds me a great deal of the old Dick Van Dyke and I Love Lucy television shows. It is a crying shame that it is out of print and rather hard to find. I was able to borrow it through Inter Library Loan. A wonderful book!

[Lida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lloyd Alexander offers this quaint depiction of the early years of his marriage to Janine and the gradual establishment and affinity for living in southeastern PA. With most decisions made with an eye to returning to Paris, they eventually realize that life in the Delaware Valley is rosier than it could be in Paris after WWII. While I with my modern sensibilities could wish Lloyd was altogether less exasperated with Janine's creative schemes for bringing in extra income, I cannot doubt their devotion: they were married for over 60 years and died within two weeks of each other.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavily fictionalized memoir by fantasy author Lloyd Alexander about life with his French wife. As always, Alexander's prose is a pleasure; it trips along lightly and virtually overflows with affection and amusement.

It's hard not to find echoes of his later fiction in this early work. While I hate to jump to conclusions, it's easy to see the ghosts of Eilonwy and Mickle in the mercurial Janine; the descriptions of the couple's ramshackle house remind me a lot of Theo's garret in Freyborg in Westmark.

This is very out-of-print--I tracked down my copy via interlibrary loan.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fortunate to find this in a local library; how fascinating to read of Lloyd Alexander's early marriage and his life before The Prydain Books. It's a lightweight quick read describing how his French wife, Janine, struggled to adapt to life in the United States--Philadelphia being distinctly different than Paris.

I don't know how fictionalized it is--there's no mention of Janine's daughter, though in fairness I don't know if she was with them at the time, but I don't know enough of Alexander's life to tell what else may be added, subtracted or glossed over.