Bitter Almonds

by Laurence Cossé

Edith can hardly believe it when she learns that Fadila, her sixty-year-old housemaid, is completely illiterate. How can a person living in Paris in the third millennium possibly survive without knowing how to read or write? How does she catch a bus, or pay a bill, or withdraw money from the bank? Why it's unacceptable! She thus decides to become Fadila’s French teacher. But teaching something as complex as reading and writing to an adult is rather more challenging that she thought. Their lessons are short, difficult, and tiring. Yet, during these lessons, the oh-so-Parisian Edith and Fadila, an immigrant from Morocco, begin to understand one other as never before, and from this understanding will blossom a surprising and delightful friendship. Édith will enter into contact with a way of life utterly unfamiliar to her, one that is unforgiving at times, but joyful and dignified.

Translated by Alison Anderson (The Elegance of the Hedgehog, A Novel Bookstore, The Most Beautiful Book in the World)

Genres: France, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Roman, Morocco, Adult Fiction, Novels

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

She was first a journalist in the French newspaper Le Quotidien de Paris and then at the French public radio France Culture. Most of her novels have been published by the French publishing house Gallimard.

Reviews

[Vonia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading should never leave me feeling like this. Upset and regretful. This book was not very well written, although it was about a topic and has a premise that holds much potential.To complicate matters, I had some pretty high expectations. Why? It is written by Laurence Cosse, who wrote one of my more favorite books of all time, "A Novel Bookstore." I tried to convince myself to have some reservations, since the other two translated books in her oeuvre were disappointments. "An Accident in August" (fictional story surrounding Princess Diana's death) was good in some parts but nothing great overall, and "A Corner of the Veil" was a memorable concept but that was it (some irritates find papers that price the existence of God). But I did not think it could be this bad. It is as if every book she writes gets worse and worse but to such a degree that I feel like it cannot possibly be the same brain behind them. It sounds like I am exaggerating, but I really do not feel I am.

The story is about a cross cultural friendship between Fadila Armani (a name the reader might be a little tired it after countless repetitions it her being to learn to read and write it) and her ESL Teacher Edith. Fadila is an immigrant from Morocco and has not had an easy life but wants to learn how to read and write, showing inspiring determination at times, but only at times. Other times, maybe understandably, she does not even seen to care to give it more than a little effort if she had absolutely nothing to do.


The Good:

1) A few scenes between the two women that illustrate cultural differences well.

2) If nothing else, this novel portrays the frustration and patience it takes to teach somebody how to read and write, especially adults who have never learned. I did like the behind the scenes look at the process, and learned that there is actually a separate term for adults who have never learned to read and write: analphabets. Illiterates have learned but forgotten. However, this might be a French thing, because on further research, I have found that these two terms are synonyms, with the former being more specific, as it is defined as someone who does not recognize the alphabet.

There are also multiple approaches to learning, the main ones being the phonics approach (developing the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes in order to teach the correspondence between these sounds and the spelling patterns (graphemes) that represent them) & the whole language approach (emphasizes that children should focus on meaning and strategy instruction, as opposed to the phonics method which emphasizes instruction for decoding and spelling). Other methods include "Look & Say" (by reading entire words repetitively, accompanying pictures recommended) and "Context Support" (essentially reading a book they like with pictures again and again).

The book's greatest reward is providing readers with a new found appreciation for both their own literacy & ESL teachers, something most adults probably take for granted, as I will be the first to admit to.

The Bad:
1) It makes more sense when one remembers that this was penned by a lifelong journalist. I would actually best describe this as an extended "Personal Interest" story in the newspaper or a magazine article. Everything here is told, not shown. Facts are given. Even the best scenes are cut short, because it feels so impersonal. We learn x happened. Exciting. Paragraph end. New paragraph starts with what is implied to be a few weeks later. We never hear about the event x again.

2) Same things go for the characters. We never really learn anything about Edith. The narrative names a man, Gilles, several times. It seems to be implied that he is her husband, but we never learn anything about him, so for all we know he could be a make friends she lives with. A Martin (14?) and a Peter are mentioned, but good all we know she could have seven children. She had a cousin named Sara who used to work with asylum seekers and illiterates. They meet a couple times, but we learn nothing more meaningful about this cousin, not even if the two of them really like each other. Edith is a translator and travels for work sometimes, but no details are given in regards to that, either. We do not know her likes and dislikes, her passions in life, or what makes her smile, nor whether she is satisfied with her career or marriage (if she is indeed married).

We learn a great deal more about Fadila, but even that is more facts than a real character study or seeing how she feels about things. As a reader, I like to actually get to know and empathized with the characters. Sympathize at the very least. I was unable to see anything but distant, vague individuals.

The Ugly:
Throughout this reading, I was already disappointed. Frustrated, I awaited something different or something to show me something deeper in the characters or their relationship. To no avail. And then, on page 174/177, the very last paragraph.

On May 10th, at eight in the morning, for Fadila is hit by a car... There were witnesses. Fadila cried out and fell to the ground and lost consciousness. At the hospital where she has been taken they have diagnosed a brain trauma, along with a fractured pelvis. She is in a coma, with artificial respiration.

Final sentences:

Edith feels, achingly, the throb of the alpha and omega of her failure. She did not know how to teach Fadila the alphabet. She was not able to make her understand how to use writing to combine letters in order to make words that are legible; surely that would have given Fadila access to the language of the locked in, a language that is neither oral nor written, a language born of the worst imaginable solitude, and the only way out of it.

Really? I actually prefer realistic, nontraditional endings, as depressing as they may be. I dislike the easy, fairytale endings. But this is something else altogether. It came out of nowhere, and none of the characters are any better for it. I have no more words to describe my dissatisfaction with this ending, let alone this book as a whole. Come on, Laurence Cosse. Where is that genius mind behind "A Novel Bookstore"? I would hate to have to accept that it is never to return.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Novel Bookstore is one hell of a good, though flawed, novel. At a reader’s first glance, this book would seem to be more in the tradition of the earlier book.

It isn’t.

Bitter Almonds covers a different aspect of reading, the knowledge of reading, the ability to make sense of vague shapes and get meaning.

This means that the book is a somewhat technical descriptive story. The paragraphs about drawing an “o” make the reader want to smack someone.

This isn’t to say that the book isn’t worth reading. It is, and is rather short, so it can be read quickly. It really is more of a novella than an actual novel.

Edith, who works as a translator, discovers her maid, Fadila, cannot read or write any language, so Edith decides to try and teach her. Of course, this novel is about the friendship, if that is the correct word, that develops between the two women – one an educated and happily married French woman, the other a three timed married, illiterate immigrant from Morocco.

And that seems to be the point of the novel.

At first glance, the central theme of the novel is power that reading gives people. Not only the ability to negotiate the subway system, but also to deal with various bills and issues that develop in everyday life – Cosse does a wonderful job of showing how essential such a skill is and how in many ways, people who can do it, take it for granted. She nods towards another way of keeping information when Fadila describes how old she might be and refers to how her mother would remember the birth year. There is poetry in those few lines. Cosse moves away from it quickly, the plot of the novel showing how society has moved away from such things (for better or worse, Cosse doesn’t suggest which).

But that isn’t the only theme.

It seems as if the novel isn’t so much concerned with the teaching of reading, though this process takes up too much of the novel, but treatment of immigrants, in particular, old immigrants. Fadila’s struggles are not only a result of her inability to read and write but also of society’s inability or disinterest, in teaching her. This leads to all types of messy situations - housing, money, phone issues.

The problem is that the book does and does not do such a subject total justice. The general plot does, but the characters are so distant from the reader that any pity or emotion is cool, and the reader disconnected. Yet the book is oddly gripping in such a way that to put it down, to walk away before finishing isn’t possible.


Crossposted on Booklikes.

[Keirstan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel some nostalgia for Laurence Cosse after enjoying the lovely ''A Novel Bookstore', a few years ago. 'Bitter Almonds', however, was not more of the same. Cosse's latest work is the story of two women, Edith and Fadila, the former serving as a teacher/friend to the sixty-year-old unschooled latter, attempting to teach her to read and write. And so the novel goes, page after page of Edith grasping to find a way to make the written word available to Fadila. Despite the lack of plot and character development I read on to satisfy my curiosity as to whether Edith and Fadila succeed. Without revealing the details, the ending disappoints. if you're curious about Cosse, please try 'A Novel Bookstore' instead.

[Emkoshka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could've been a great book about cross-cultural friendship and language learning (a particular interest of mine as an ESL teacher) but it's let down on several fronts by the quality of the writing. There's just too much exposition, with the author seemingly wanting to share all she knows about second language acquisition and literacy, and reporting the fact at every spare moment. There's long scenes involving painfully slow transcription of the alphabet and words.

Fadila is a fully-fleshed character and the reader grows to love her. But Édith and her family are made of cardboard; all we find out about Édith is that she works as a translator and interpreter, and she has a husband and children who appear by name only in perhaps five pages of the book. Sometimes I rail about unnecessary and superfluous character backstories (see My Sister's Keeper), but in this case it was the opposite: I learnt enough I needed to know about Fadila's past to understand and empathise with her, but Édith was a mystery. And then there's the ending. Clearly the author had written herself into a corner and decided to employ that lazy old chestnut of a deus ex machina to give the story its disappointing and rushed end.

It wasn't until halfway through this book that I realised that Laurence Cossé is actually a woman. I'd been thinking that Cossé the man was doing a good job of writing a story about female friendship, but in reality Cossé the woman has written only a half-baked exploration of the migrant experience and female friendship.

I'll keep seeking out books like this one because I feel migrant issues of cultural and identity displacement and dislocation are so important to explore, but I'm still waiting for the book that nails them.

[Thais · Rating 2 out of 5]

Puntavo questo libro da un bel po', da almeno un anno direi, e le recensioni che avevo letto non erano molto incoraggianti, ma visto che al Salone del libro lo regalavano con l'acquisto di altri due libri l'ho preso volentieri.
Ecco, forse c'era un motivo se le recensioni non erano positive. La quarta di copertina parla di "due amiche", ma qui di amicizia non c'è nemmeno l'ombra. C'è un po' di compassione, da parte della francese Edith per la marocchina Fadila a cui tenta di insegnare a leggere e scrivere, c'è la personalità forte di Fadila, ma Edith rimane praticamente sullo sfondo, con appena qualche accenno buttato lì alla sua vita, al marito e ai figli.
Per la maggior parte il libro sembra un diario di bordo, un manuale pratico per chi vorrebbe insegnare a leggere e scrivere, ma dopo un po' la ripetizione stufa. Avrei voluto conoscere meglio le due protagoniste, avrei voluto che il loro rapporto fosse più approfondito. E invece niente.
Tanti dialoghi, frasi brevi, praticamente nessuna descrizione, per un romanzo che nel complesso mi ha lasciata fredda. No comment per il finale, sembra quasi che l'autrice non sapesse bene come concludere la storia.
Peccato.

[Jessica Easto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quiet, yet oddly gripping story. On the surface, it's about a woman teaching an illiterate older woman to read and write. But it's about much more than that -- friendship, family, and the immigrant experience. Like many French stories I've seen/read (not that I'm a connoisseur), the ending was "different" from what we've come to expect from American fiction. That isn't "bad," -- in fact, upon reflection, the ending seems inevitable. The way it was presented was just a jab to the heart. I also appreciated a window into the relationship between immigrants and natives in another country.

[AJ Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quiet novel of a friendship between a Parisian women and the Moroccan woman who comes to do the ironing for her once a week. The friendship develops as the Parisian women tries to teach the much older Moroccan woman to read and write. In a very French way, this novel doesn't go anywhere really, at least not momentous, just is filled with the small dramas of people's lives. I like that style, and this is well written and a fast read, but for me, this book was a bit too recursive, with so many chapters reading like repetitions of themselves, which was intentional, but also less engaging.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at adult literacy told through the lens of culture, language, age barriers as a thoughtfully and gracefully crafted novel. As far as French Literature goes, very accessible in terms of writing style and length. French Novels tend to be ultra-highbrow, and incredibly cerebral, and never brief. This one I would definitely recommend to friends.

[Granny Sebestyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Les amandes amères" de Laurence Cossé (240p)
Ed. Folio
Bonjour les fous de lectures....
Oyé oyé... je ne connaissais pas cette autrice, entre parenthèse petite nièce de Saint- Exupéry, et quelle jolie découverte !
Fadila, une vieille marocaine, est engagée chez Edith comme repasseuse.
Fadila est analphabète et voudrait apprendre à lire et écrire pour pouvoir se débrouiller seule.
Edith, forte de son expérience avec ses fils, se propose de l'aider et de lui apprendre à déchiffrer les lettres.
Et voici le début d'une singulière aventure qui ne va pas se passer sans heurts, désespoirs et découverte de l'autre.
Edith devra faire preuve de beaucoup de patience et souvent se remettre en question.
Fadila s'accrochera à sa manière et petit à petit se confiera.
L'apprentissage sera long et compliqué.
Edith et Fadila persévèreront.
Laurence Cossé a une plume agréable qui rend la lecture addictive.
Elle nous fait partager le long apprentissage de Fadila, les petites joies, les nombreux moments de déception de la part des deux femmes qui se découvrent petit à petit et qui vont développer une réelle amitié le tout sans effusion de tendresse ni grandes embrassades.
L'apprentissage des mots sera leur trait d'union.
Voici une histoire pleine d'humanité ... cela fait du bien !
Lecture douce et émouvante que je recommande.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two utterly different people – an affluent middle class Parisian scholar/translator and her aging Moroccan cleaner - try to come to an understanding. Fadila cleans and irons, and has no comprehension of letters and numbers in French or Arabic. She memorizes images and navigates by them and by asking questions and remembering answers. Edith is taken with the idea of helping her learn to read and write so that she can be independent and self-sufficient.
Fadila has trouble remembering the shapes of letters, their sounds, and the fact that they have significance both individually and together. Each little step is short lived, easily reversed and forgotten; it is a source of frustration for each of them.
Fadila is proud and resistant. She has issues with her sons and daughters. She is a traditional woman in many ways, but she resents her limitations. Edith has continuing problems recognizing Fadila’s limits.
The description of the process of trying to teach an older and totally illiterate is described in great detail and with sympathy for both parties.
The process is a daunting and ultimately impossible challenge for them both.

[Antonella Montesanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bello davvero questo libro.
La storia di Edith, una traduttrice, e Fadila, una sessantenne marocchina che fa la domestica presso la famiglia per qualche ora a settimana.
Quando Edith scopre che Fadila è analfabeta, o meglio non scolarizzata, si offre di aiutarla, dopo il lavoro, ad imparare a leggere e scrivere.
Tutto è raccontato in modo schietto e da ogni pagina traspare quanto il compito sia arduo, se non addirittura impossibile.
Le lezioni scolastiche saranno l'occasione per le due donne di mettersi a nudo, di conoscersi a fondo, di far uscire tutti i pensieri su vita e affetti familiari di entrambe, la semplicità disarmante di Fadila spiazza Edith fino al punto in cui non si sa più chi impara e chi insegna tra le due.
Ricco di sentimenti e consigliatissimo.
Chicca finale un accenno al Dantes di Dumas, super libro che sto finendo di leggere in questi giorni.

[Khulud Khamis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I immensely enjoyed Cossé's The Novel Bookstore. This one is completely different. If you're someone who needs a fast-paced novel, this isn't for you. It is a book about two women, Edith and Fadila. Fadila works for Edith, ironing her clothes, a couple of hours a week. When Edith learns that Fadila, a woman in her sixties, cannot read or write, she volunteers to teach her. Over a period of almost two years, Fadila makes failed attempts at learning to read and write just a few words. We don't learn much about Edith, but we get glimpses of Fadila's life, her outlook on life and family. The end is abrupt, yet not surprising. It is a sad book about a sad life.

[Betsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was quite disappointed in this tale; it seemed to have real potential, with one woman enjoying teaching, and a 60 year old illiterate woman ostensibly willing to learn. However the characters were not well developed and the tale basically consisted of attempts to teach letters and sounds to a person who didn't see a reason to learn them. For a while I expected the story to develop... then I skimmed for a while... but nothing changed! Apparently The Novel Bookstore is very different - I'll give that a try!

[Collezionedistorie · Rating 2 out of 5]

La parte più deludente per me è stata la conclusione: come se l'autrice non sapesse più come portare avanti la vicenda e dovesse chiuderla in qualche modo, possibilmente tragico. Se non vi interessano i meccanismi di alfabetizzazione e di apprendimento, il resto della lettura sarà estremamente noioso, io l'ho trovato ben descritto, ma troppo pessimista.

[Katherine Pederson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise, but it really dragged especially the teaching descriptions. Fadila's english is broken, and I found it tiresome to read. There was no character development. The ending was a shocker! but something had to happen or the book would have just gone on and on and on with no progress. I wouldn't recommend.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Europa Editions, thank you for publishing Laurence Cosse's Bitter Almonds, a story of cultural and economic literacies and their converse perspectives through the lens of language. Insightful narrative of foreign language learning, and infinite patience and a tolerance that goes far beyond what is expected in a community, but should be inherent in a family.

[Sheila Pritchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about teaching an older person who has never learned to read or write.
The relationship between the two women was poignant and the ending of the book was unexpected.

[Lily C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Genevieve Helene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching book. The storyline of a woman teaching her Moroccan cleaner to read and write is simple but very tender in places. Well written with a pared-down and effective use of language.

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très joli livre sur l'analphabétisme.

[Paulita Kincer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Bitter Almonds by Laurence Cossé a French author. The novel is set in Paris. The main character, Edith, is a middle class French mother. She agrees to hire the building supervisor's mother to do her ironing three hours each week. The woman in her 60s, Fadila, is from Morocco. From the beginning, Edith is annoyed with Fadila because she doesn't keep regular hours. Soon, Edith learns that Fadila never learned to read or write, either in Arabic or French.
"Before long, she is bringing letters, often still sealed. Bills, summons, advertisements, she can't tell them apart, any form of mail frightens her. She has to get someone else to read it to her. 'I'm stupid,' she says. She doesn't know how to sign her name: she just scribbles a little zigzag."
I don't know much about translating, but I'm assuming the person who translated this novel followed the writing style of the French author. It is simple and direct. Nothing superfluous was added to this book. Edith soon gets to know Fadila much better as she attempts to teach her how to read and write. As they work on the letters and words, Edith becomes aware of the very different life that Fadila lives right there in Paris. Her apartment in a tiny, airless room where she lies awake at night feeling claustrophobic. Her adult children take the money she earns ironing and rarely spend time with her. Edith and her reading lessons help fill the gap.
I can't really explain why I enjoyed this book. There were no flashy French meals described or rich descriptions of Paris. Instead, it was the everyday French culture that I enjoyed visiting, and like Edith, I learned about the immigrant culture there as well. The book caught my attention and I finished it pretty quickly. I'd recommend this book.

[Ashley Farley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Spoiler Alert* After having read "Elegance of the Hedgehog" I seek out any Europa editions and I have come to love French prose. However, this novel slightly baffled me and I am undecided in a good way or not. Mainly, I felt the ending was entirely rushed and that the author has no clear goal concerning the plot. But that was fine to me; I loved the snapshot of these peoples lives. The tedium of trying to teach an elderly woman how to read was extremely evident and I felt as if I were trying to bridge that connection myself. It was just organically interesting. Learning bits about Moroccan life and culture was just fascinating. And then the author placed her in a coma...the end. I guess life can truly change in an instant and as Edith couldn't help but wonder what was the point. Actually, the more I think about it maybe this was the authors overall vision. "Bitter Almonds" is a very curious name and I noticed the Marquez reference instantly. And what was that but another human tragedy story (albeit a very well written one)? If I were to summarize this novel I would say that all human endeavors are futile but I would not write them off as meaningless. I would have liked to hear more about Edith in the future and see if the experience changed her.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edith, an upper-middle class French novelist, undertakes teaching Fadila, a Moroccan-born woman in her 60's who does her family's ironing, how to read. It's significantly more difficult than she'd anticipated--perhaps altogether impossible--but the two of them persevere, in fits and starts, over the course of several years.

In the process, Edith becomes increasingly aware of Fadila's life, her family relationships, her struggles to maintain her dignity, her sometimes brutal past experiences. Questions of class, privilege, gender roles, etc. permeate the novel.

Then, too, Edith's attempts to understand the impediments to Fadila's ability to learn and retain any elements of literacy--from the shapes and sounds of letters to recognition of specific words, to the process of putting pencil to paper and writing are fascinating.

There's much to ponder here. This brief book held my interest from the first to last and lingers in my thoughts.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not entirely what I was expecting from this book. Having loved A Novel Bookstore and read the blurb about Bitter Almonds I think my expectations were a little too high. The story here is a little repetative and has no satisfactory conclusions as far as I can see. The characters develop nicely, but only up to a point and we never learn why Fadila finds writing so impossible, or how she presents perfect homework from time to time only to fall back into her old ways next time around. I would have liked there to be some revalation about a neighbour doing the work for her or something, anything really to tie up the loose ends. Instead we get a continual litany of complaints about Fadila's many children (again with only minimal detail or conclusion), followed by a deeply tragic ending.
In parts I enjoyed reading this but for such a slim novel it took a long time, because of the frustration of some of the more meandering and repetative sections.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet book where you don't think much is happening, but it is--so much beneath the surface. Carefully crafted, it reveals the life of one elderly Moroccan immigrant, Fadila, and the woman, almost totally her opposite, who endeavors to teach Fadila to read and write. Fadila comes to work for Edith a couple of days a week, and Edith who works at home as a translator, soon realizes that Fadila can neither read nor write. And so begins an effort to open up the doors of literacy to Fadila. Edith soon realizes the task will not be easy, little progress seems to be made, but gradually, the story of Fadila's life, the events that shaped her, are revealed to Edith. This is not a tidy, happy ending story where Fadila gets the French equivalent of the GED and everyone cheers. It is the more poignant and memorable because it does not end so. A quietly beautiful book, or at least I thought so.

[Elizabeth La Lettrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't have been less interested to finish this story but it was so short (still took me a week to get through) that I felt I had to. This is the story between Edith and Fadila, employer/employee, teacher/student, friends. The novel is mostly a recounting of Edith's efforts to teach Fadila how to read and write with the occasional interjection of familial anecdotes. It, like teaching, is A LOT of repetition of the same scenarios. And then ACTION(!), and scene ends. Irritating.


*Because I don't believe Cossé is a bad writer, I feel obligated to whole-heartedly recommend A Novel Bookstore.

[Ffiamma · Rating 2 out of 5]

cosa vuol dire essere adulti e analfabeti? quali sono le difficoltà quotidiane e gli espedienti per arginare questa lacuna? è possibile alfabetizzare una persona che non ha mai imparato? questo è il tema di partenza del romanzo, in cui una donna francese scopre che la sua domestica marocchina non è mai andata a scuola e decide di insegnarle a leggere e a scrivere- scoprendo pian piano difficoltà e ostacoli. peccato però che, da una parte il libro diventi quasi un manuale in cui abbondano tecnicismi e dall'altra manchi l'empatia fra l'insegnante e la sua allieva fadila- di cui apprendiamo la storia solo attraverso frammenti e frasi quasi casuali nell'insieme del libro. come avere una bellissima idea e indebolirla- trasformandola in un romanzo freddo e dal finale davvero tirato via.

[Il Candelibro Storie ed Essenze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho dato tre stelline di gradimento al nuovo romanzo della Cossè (autrice del bestseller La Libreria del Buon Romanzo) per il solo fatto di aver trattato di tematiche importanti - l'immigrazione, l'analfabetismo, le disparità nel trattare il maschile e il femminile nei paesi islamici - sulle quali occorre sempre riflettere. Stop. Per il resto del romanzo in quanto tale avrei detto che è deludente. La storia è lenta, frustrante (riconosco il merito - ed il coraggio soprattutto - dell'autrice di non aver scritto la solita favoletta alla "e vissero felici e contenti"), i pochi concetti ritornano più e più volte, c'è poca commozione, la traduzione - dal mio punto di vista - non è delle migliori. Onestamente non mi è piaciuto molto.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Liked this more than "A Novel Bookstore" by the same author, but this was such a sad, sad story about an older woman who never learned to read and how her Paris employer gallantly takes on the challenge. 'Don't want to give away too much but this is one of those tasks that typically doesn't end well b/c adult non-readers face such a challenge at this age. The ending was so sad; makes you grateful you learned to read as a child. The author really captures Paris well, as well as the lives of the well-to-do employer (who realizes she lives a comfortable life) and her employee (for whom nothing is easy).

[Sylvie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I had read good things about this book, but now I’m not sure I could have, so maybe I just put it on my French shopping list because of Au Bon Roman (A Novel Bookstore). The subject, a French woman who decides to teach a Moroccan woman how to read, was certainly interesting, but it was incredibly repetitive and I just kept waiting for something to happen. I guess it does in the end, but the resolution was rather abrupt and particularly disappointing—a bit of a cop-out, like Cossé didn’t know to finish.