Trobairitz - the storyteller

by Celia Micklefield

A mysterious female troubadour. Hard nosed truckers at an overnight stop in southern France. How will she find her place in a man’s world?
She never gives other drivers personal details. Instead, she tells them a story they can’t resist.

256 pages, ebook

First published November 25, 2014

About the author

The stories I love to read are those with layers to unravel so it's not surprising that's what I enjoy writing.
My characters mean a lot to me. When you've lived with them for so long sometimes it's hard to let them go.
I have a condition called CRPS and occasionally blog about my journey with the condition on my website.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a novel with a story inside it. The trobairitz were female troubadours who used songs to comment on love and much more. They were common in the twelfth and thirteen century. This is a novel featuring a twenty first century trobairitz , a female truck driver who does not share personal details, but tells a story of a village, with some memorable characters who live there. I found it an intriguing idea, especially as the story weaves in and out of the truck driver’s ongoing life story. She rejoices in the name of “Weed”, having rejected her mother’s choice of Fleur, and lives a life where she travels across Europe, driving a top of the range truck. This is a sensitively written book which depicts the small issues in a working life, the people she meets, the places she travels to, the ways she attempts to relax. I learnt a lot about truck driving across places like France, the sort of work involved, and the details of the cabs. The long story that she embarks on, apparently to deflect too much interest in her own life, is not greatly historical; this is not a “time - slip” novel but one that tells a story that is virtually contemporary. It is a story that in other circumstances could form the basis of a novel on its own. It features life in a small French village, where the job of mayor is nearly hereditary, and yet women are the life force of many of the events. This is a multi layered story where the themes are not always immediately evident, even though important. I was very pleased to have the opportunity to read and review this memorable book.

The book begins with Weed arriving at a service station and shocking the working girls who approach the queue of trucks by being a woman jumping out of her truck, as she says “I’ve got the full complement of European expletives”. When she goes into the restaurant of the next services she meets several truck drivers who begin to ask questions of her, seeing that she has a top of the range truck and are intrigued to see that she drives the routes alone. To divert their attention and to avoid a potentially embarrassing attraction to one of the drivers herself, she begins to tell her story.

The story is of Madame Catherine Joubert, an older woman of apparently independent means who lives in a grand but faded house in a small French village. It seems she has a mysterious past, and isn object of mystery in a small French village where people love to know one another’s secrets. In particular there appears to be tension between her and the town’s mayor Henri-Claude Noilly. The baker, the butcher and the publican all have a view, and it immediately appears that there are many potential developments.

The book reveals Weed’s story, her origins, her life away from driving. Driving a truck is not as straightforward as I thought, especially in emergency circumstances. Weed’s voice echoes through the book, confident and able, but with one or two weaknesses. I found this a very compelling and engaging read, and just as the other truck drivers, I was keen to find out more about the village and its inhabitants. Weed is a very interesting character, determined to get the job done. The narration, through Weed, is a strong one, and this is altogether a fascinating novel. It speaks well of the possibilities of travelling across Europe, and the power of story telling. I recommend it as a book that works on many levels, with many interesting and engaging themes.

[Sukaina Majeed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you enter the world of weed you get attracted by the details and the twists and turns the story-teller brings out in the narrative.

Then you read about Weed. The Weed who is scared of falling into relationships. Weed who is still figuring out her relationship with her son

The story-teller is indeed charming,does all the works and keeps you hooked in Catherine’s world.

The book becomes interesting with these fictional characters in a fiction book.

Since it’s a big book I felt I wanted to know more about Weed but I guess Catherine was the story and she remains this character sketch who is likeable in a regular person world but who also hides these secrets, desires and wishes that weed has.

Oh did I say weed? Haha… that’s how the book makes you feel like. Blurring the lines of fiction and reality the author has explored her relationship with the reader too.

I would definitely recommend you book 1.

I had lots of fun reading this and the way weed as a woman who is a truck driver paints this beautiful picture on the script it was almost like I could feel I was there.

The author explores the culture of France and I loved to read about Weed as a truck driver and how she becomes one of the guys but then the author explores as a woman who in the longest time has not had a relationship and is with the guys and her feelings towards each of them is something that we don’t explore which the author has in her own way.

[Michelle Lamude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous storytelling that I didn’t want to put down. Strong characters, a beautiful setting, a story within a story that has you hooked and wanting more.

Having grown up as a girl loving trucks, my father was a long distance truck driver, I couldn’t wait for my copy of this book to arrive. Thank you to Anne Cater, Random Things Tours and Celia Micklefield for my gifted copy and for having me on your blog tour.

At the start of the book we’re introduced to Weed, a female trucker. Her real name, we soon learn, is Fleur Eloise Marie-Frances. She doesn’t like being called a flower so she prefers to be called Weed (the opposite of a flower). I instantly like Weed, she is a private person, she is confident and good at her job. She doesn’t take any nonsense from the male truckers that she meets.

However, being a truck driver can be boring and lonely at times, so one day Weed decides to join a small group of guys eating at one of her regular truck stops. To deflect the personal questions she’s being asked, she’s not ready to share with strangers, she begins to tell them a story. From that day on she’s known as Trobairitz, as she hasn’t told them her real name. Each time Trobairitz meets up with the guys in the truck stop they are keen for her to continue the story.

She has them hooked, she is a true Trobairitz storyteller…