Son of Serge Bastarde: Mayhem in the Antiques Markets of Rural France

by John Dummer

The roguish Serge Bastarde teaches John the tricks of the French antique trade—a must for Francophiles We sat and stared balefully at the walnut buffet. A rich customer had complained it was "making strange noises in the night." It was around midnight and we strained our ears to hear, hardly daring to breathe. And there it was—a kind of crunch, crunch, crunching sound. John’s life as a traveling brocanteur (antiques dealer) in rural France is decidedly less colorful after his unscrupulous yet affable partner in crime, Serge Bastarde, marries and decamps to Martinique. But, like a bad penny, Serge returns, his personal life in tatters. What follows is a madcap adventure in which John is coerced into striking deals with the Romanian "mafia," reroofing a huge Basque house, and getting trapped in a skip in the dead of night, while Serge rides an emotional roller coaster. Serge may be as faux as some of his antiques but, with John's help, he eventually strikes gold in this laugh-out-loud romp.

Genres: Adventure

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being in my 20s I realise I was probably not the right target demographic for this book. However I picked this up as it reminded me of my dad and my childhood holidays in France. Not sure how close to reality the events in the book actually are but John seems like an genuinely interesting guy and there were a few humorous moments and characters within the book. This isn’t riveting stuff - the type of easy casual holiday read I can imagine someone picking up in the early evening while sipping a glass of wine.

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, boring, boring.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book as I live in France and am interested in antiques. I did spot one error: he says the Musee du Pruneau in the Lot is 'the plum museum' but pruneau is prune and the museum isn't in the Lot, it's in Lot et Garonne (Agen is famous for prunes).

I wonder if any of the anecdotes are true! If so, they seem very much embroidered but I guess that's to make a snappier read. The characters of Serge, Diddy and Algie must surely be very much exaggerated. It made an entertaining and quick read.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the first but would have liked to have read more about the sales he made and less about Serge and his dramas

[Stlle · Rating 4 out of 5]

i can't explain how good is this 😭😭

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming peek into the life of a English ex-pat living in France and working in a rural antiques market that read more like a novel than a true story. Dummer's world is peppered with almost unbelievably colorful characters--Algie, Diddy, the Romanian, and of course the titular Serge Bastarde. I never expected to find myself so enthralled with the goings-on of the antiques markets of France, but this book has me eager to read Dummer's first work on the same subject and hopeful that he will continue to record his fantastic adventures to share with those of us oceans away from the Landes forest.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of John Dummer's Serge Bastarde books - a very enjoyable read, as was the first one. I knew John and his wife Helen about 30 years ago and reading these books is a bit like going around their house again (though the house I used to go around to was in New Cross and the one in the books is all French and in the country). Perfect for taking on holidays (especially if you are going to France (obviously)).

[Tom D'Roza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads a bit like a couple of things happened to the author and he thought "this would make a good story" but actually, it doesn't (or it's just not well written). It's a fairly boring account of John, an English market trader living in France. We never even find out what happened to Serge's son. It's certainly not the laugh-out-loud romp described in the blurb.

[Michael Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Boring compared to the 1st book.