Books

A Sunday in Ville-D'Avray

A Sunday in Ville-D'Avray
Pub date 5th August 2021
Publisher (UK) Daunt Books Publishing

 

 

 

 

Longlisted for the Prix Goncourt

I was in the melancholy state of mind that often comes over me when I go to see my sister, and I think I started by getting a little lost . . .

It’s a Sunday in early September and a woman leaves muggy Paris to visit her sister in the western suburbs of the city. Ville-d’Avray is less than an hour away, but it seems like another world with its secluded streets and set-back houses.

The sisters’ relationship is ambiguous. Jane’s visits to Ville-d’Avray leave her discomfited; for all Claire Marie’s seeming provincial passivity, she knows exactly how to get under Jane’s skin.

As they settle into the torpor of the afternoon, Claire Marie describes a curious encounter from her past. Sundays are when she thinks about life – whether she expected something more from it, and whether she is still waiting for it to begin.

Sharply observed and wryly funny, A Sunday in Ville-d’Avray is a haunting novel about half-shared truths and desires that can never fully be expressed.

 

Praise for A Sunday in Ville-D’Avray

‘A study of desire and contentment, time and expectation, this slim novel raises alluring questions about paths not taken.’  Publishers Weekly

‘This atmospheric novel plunges us into the folds of our own emotions thanks to a richly evocative style. It has the troubling melancholy of Modiano’s novels and the charm of Rohmer’s films.’ – Gael

‘Evokes the scent of grass after it has rained, dead leaves burning in a back garden, the mild, melancholy scents of the Park Saint-Cloud at the start of autumn.’ – Sud Ouest

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