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Victorine
In this lush, lyrical, and marvelously evocative novel, Catherine Texier takes a mystery from her family’s past and draws from it a portrait of a remarkable woman—her great-grandmother Victorine. A young schoolteacher in a quiet province in France, Victorine had married and had two children. But when she falls desperately in love, she makes a startling choice, leaving her family for her lover and a new life in Indochina.
On a single day in 1940, as Victorine reflects on her past, we travel back with her, from the willow-lined canals of her childhood home in Vendée to sun-drenched days and languorous nights along the Mekong River at the dawn of the twentieth century. Hers is an unforgettable story of adventure and self-discovery—of a woman’s struggle between duty and independence, tradition and freedom, longing and regret.
On a single day in 1940, as Victorine reflects on her past, we travel back with her, from the willow-lined canals of her childhood home in Vendée to sun-drenched days and languorous nights along the Mekong River at the dawn of the twentieth century. Hers is an unforgettable story of adventure and self-discovery—of a woman’s struggle between duty and independence, tradition and freedom, longing and regret.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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113 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 28, 2024
This was very well-written and I feel like I just got back from an epic and balmy-hot journey in Southeast Asia.
April 24, 2012
I am tripping OUT how low the ratings are for this book. We just read this for book club and it was a smash hit with everyone. Personally, I did have trouble at first with the actual topic. Maybe other people did as well? It's about a woman at the turn of the 20th century who bails out on her husband and two children to follow a childhood crush to Indochina. I was frankly pissed at her for the first quarter of the book! Crazy for the time, yes. Crazy now, in my opinion, which is the core of my initial reaction. But, I always take books personally, so I had to get over it because the writing in itself was beautiful! The woman who chose the book was a high-school English teacher for her whole career. She said if it wasn't for the steamy sex (tasteful and not cringe-worthy), she could teach this book to her kids for a while month! It's a book based on the author's great grandmother. A lot was true, but a lot was speculation. Apparently, Victorine wasn't spoken of much...she was a bit of an embarrassment and really, that is not surprising. She was a wild ass!
The author's style reminded me very much of Janet Fitch, the lady who wrote White Oleander. She's ridiculously descriptive without bogging that book down. I can't say the same of her follow-up novel, Paint it Black, which appeared to be written by a different person! Yuck. I digress. This author, Catherine Texier, really made you feel the heat of Indochina and the cold of the French coastline. I smelled the smells and tasted the food. I love disappearing into the senses in a book. It's not an easy task with me! She pulled it off. I thought it was a good read and would definitely recommend this book.
The author's style reminded me very much of Janet Fitch, the lady who wrote White Oleander. She's ridiculously descriptive without bogging that book down. I can't say the same of her follow-up novel, Paint it Black, which appeared to be written by a different person! Yuck. I digress. This author, Catherine Texier, really made you feel the heat of Indochina and the cold of the French coastline. I smelled the smells and tasted the food. I love disappearing into the senses in a book. It's not an easy task with me! She pulled it off. I thought it was a good read and would definitely recommend this book.
September 10, 2020
Beautiful, true story of a woman born and raised in a small town in France who isn't happy with her marriage and her life as a whole. On what seems like a whim, she decides to leave her family (without them knowing) and relocate to Vietnam with a man that she had a crush on as a young girl. The story is infused with brief glimpses into her life as an old woman in 1940 as the Nazi forces begin occupying France.
I enjoyed this book for the most part, but thought that the plot moved rather slowly. I found myself trying to push through during parts just to hurry up and finish, but also found myself turning pages excitedly in other sections. One thing is for certain however - Catherine Texier knows how to paint a picture using words as the paint and the narration/inner dialogue as the paintbrush. For the first half of the book, I found myself craving cheese and wine (I don't even drink!) and in the second half, I could have sworn that I smelled jasmine in my apartment (and my neighbors consider themselves connoisseurs of the devil's lettuce).
That said, I enjoyed this novel overall, and would definitely recommend it to others that are looking for a slower-paced, lyrical read.
I enjoyed this book for the most part, but thought that the plot moved rather slowly. I found myself trying to push through during parts just to hurry up and finish, but also found myself turning pages excitedly in other sections. One thing is for certain however - Catherine Texier knows how to paint a picture using words as the paint and the narration/inner dialogue as the paintbrush. For the first half of the book, I found myself craving cheese and wine (I don't even drink!) and in the second half, I could have sworn that I smelled jasmine in my apartment (and my neighbors consider themselves connoisseurs of the devil's lettuce).
That said, I enjoyed this novel overall, and would definitely recommend it to others that are looking for a slower-paced, lyrical read.
April 10, 2025
Victorine is a novel rich with vivid descriptions, beautiful scenery, and emotional turmoil at every turn.
Score: 81/100
The first half of this novel is great. Victorine - the great grandmother of the author - is unhappy with her family life, when an old teenage love comes back in her life and invites her to abandon her family and live with him in Indochina.
Despite knowing what's going to happen, this book does a great job at building so much anticipation for this abandonment, which kept me turning the pages for hours. Complemented with beautiful imagery of 1900's France, the world you're immersed in is fantastic.
However, despite the novel still being a pleasant read in the second half, much of the tension is lost immediately, which makes the plot of the book taking place in Indochina feel lost and slow.
This novel is a bit of a challenging read. Some sentences are strangely structured, throwing on unnecessary words that can lead you to get lost if you don't pay attention. Additionally, the dialogue is not marked with apostrophes (which the author for the most part manages to make clear what is dialogue and what isn't) but this can also be confusing.
The book also has a fair amount of smut - though tastefully written. This would be excusable under other circumstances, but I found it quite inappropriate considering the author is writing about her own great-grandmother. Regardless, it's not a big deal and won't ruin the read too much.
Overall, this book is a great read. Lots of fantastic writing, good characters, and a lovely and vivid setting. A bit more challenging than other reads, but Victorine is worth your time, and a great book to read before bed.
Score: 81/100
The first half of this novel is great. Victorine - the great grandmother of the author - is unhappy with her family life, when an old teenage love comes back in her life and invites her to abandon her family and live with him in Indochina.
Despite knowing what's going to happen, this book does a great job at building so much anticipation for this abandonment, which kept me turning the pages for hours. Complemented with beautiful imagery of 1900's France, the world you're immersed in is fantastic.
However, despite the novel still being a pleasant read in the second half, much of the tension is lost immediately, which makes the plot of the book taking place in Indochina feel lost and slow.
This novel is a bit of a challenging read. Some sentences are strangely structured, throwing on unnecessary words that can lead you to get lost if you don't pay attention. Additionally, the dialogue is not marked with apostrophes (which the author for the most part manages to make clear what is dialogue and what isn't) but this can also be confusing.
The book also has a fair amount of smut - though tastefully written. This would be excusable under other circumstances, but I found it quite inappropriate considering the author is writing about her own great-grandmother. Regardless, it's not a big deal and won't ruin the read too much.
Overall, this book is a great read. Lots of fantastic writing, good characters, and a lovely and vivid setting. A bit more challenging than other reads, but Victorine is worth your time, and a great book to read before bed.
November 29, 2022
I enjoyed reading this book that evokes settings and characters wonderfully -- a small village in France, Indochina -- where the protagonist, Victorine, travels with her lover, leaving a husband and two children behind -- and Victorine herself, a complex character whose actions can be hard to understand (but are believable). I felt immersed in the very different worlds of this novel. I loved that the story is based on true events lived by the author's great-grandmother.
June 9, 2019
An emotive and aesthetic narrative of a traditional young woman battling restrictive social norms in the backdrop of French imperialistic ambitions in Southeast Asia....
October 29, 2007
An interesting book with vivid descriptions of life in Indochina. Victorine, married with two children, leaves an unhappy marriage and escapes to Indochina with her childhood sweetheart. They build a life there in the hot, humid weather, exotic flowers and swirls of opium smoke. Then, after 10 years, she goes back to France, back to her husband. She starts out planning to finally end things with him - ask for a divorce, explain things to her children - but she stays, has another child, lives out her life. The frustrating thing about the book is that 90% of the story deals with her decision to leave and her life in Indochina; only a small fraction at the very end deals with her return. There is no mention of how she was received by her old friends and neighbors, how she explained her absence, how her children reacted. She and her husband had another child, but they also separated: there is only one sentence devoted to that and there are no details, no explanations. She continued to see her childhood sweetheart after her marriage broke up - only a few brief paragraphs explain all of this. It seemed to linger on her early life and then rush through the end, which left a very frustrated reader.
September 20, 2010
Victorine was a page turner for me.
Initially, the moving around among the years was irritating. My accidently skipping one of the first chapters that gave the book away was a bonus. I think the book was more exciting since I didn't know what was going to happen. I finally caught my mistake when Antoine showed up the second time - and I didn't know him.
I was really caught up in the book. About a third of the way through I was thinking that the author probably couldn't maintain my excitement throughout the entire book - but I was wrong.
I agree with the Bookforum quote at the top of the cover of my edition: "Brilliant ...The place itself is the seduction." The descriptions of the travels of Victorine and Antoine were exquisite!
I wasn't sympathetic with Victorine. I would have chosen to run off with Antoine also. But I didn't understand why Texier chose for Victorine to leave Antoine and return to Armand. Was she trying to get rid of her guilt by hurting still another lover?
Initially, the moving around among the years was irritating. My accidently skipping one of the first chapters that gave the book away was a bonus. I think the book was more exciting since I didn't know what was going to happen. I finally caught my mistake when Antoine showed up the second time - and I didn't know him.
I was really caught up in the book. About a third of the way through I was thinking that the author probably couldn't maintain my excitement throughout the entire book - but I was wrong.
I agree with the Bookforum quote at the top of the cover of my edition: "Brilliant ...The place itself is the seduction." The descriptions of the travels of Victorine and Antoine were exquisite!
I wasn't sympathetic with Victorine. I would have chosen to run off with Antoine also. But I didn't understand why Texier chose for Victorine to leave Antoine and return to Armand. Was she trying to get rid of her guilt by hurting still another lover?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2007
This story is about the author's Great Grandmother, who, while married with 2 kids, ran off to Indochine with the man she was in love with. The author 'filled in' her time in Indochine, so it is fiction based on family history. I liked this book, but I found it hard to like the main character, Victorine. She never seemed happy, no matter where she was and who she was with, and I could never personally leave any children I had behind, no matter what, so it was hard to connect with her. Despite all that, it was a skillfully written book. There was great characterization, and she did a great job of having the reader get the feel of what Indochine was like in the Victorian days.
August 19, 2008
The imagined story of Texier's real-life great-grandmother, Victorine, who left her husband in France to live in Indochine w/ another man for several years. Engaging and sensual, similar in feel to Texier's earlier books. The character of Victorine is very sympathetic. This has made me very interested in reading Texier's other recent book, Breakup, about the break up of her own marriage after her husband left her for another woman.
October 31, 2008
Okay story of a french woman who leaves her husband & children to follow her lover to Cochinchina (Vietnam) in 1900. Some rich and beautiful imagery of life in Asia in that time.... having been to S.E. Asia I felt I could smell the frangiapani and the hibiscus and the heady scents of night in the region..... interesting from the standpoint of learning something about the life & attitudes of the 'cols' (colonials) at the time (Vietnam was a french colony at the time).
December 31, 2015
I guess it all makes sense, but I find it hard to like any of the characters.
Other than the inconsistency in Vietnamese diacritics and things that I suspect to be factual inaccuracies (e.g. Tien Giang being the first of the nine 'dragons' of Mekong, the popularity of The Tale of Kieu in Southern Vietnam at the time, a Vietnamese woman wearing a piece of white cloth on her head as a turban), I think the description of Indochina isn't bad or unbelievable.
Other than the inconsistency in Vietnamese diacritics and things that I suspect to be factual inaccuracies (e.g. Tien Giang being the first of the nine 'dragons' of Mekong, the popularity of The Tale of Kieu in Southern Vietnam at the time, a Vietnamese woman wearing a piece of white cloth on her head as a turban), I think the description of Indochina isn't bad or unbelievable.
November 10, 2008
I remembered about a chapter into it that I had already read it years ago. It really reminded me about what my mother must have felt like...not to comfortable of a feeling. Hummm, I wonder what my life would have been like if my mother had done what Texier's grandmother did...thankfully I will never know.
Read
July 25, 20112010- The story of a French woman who leaves her family to travel with her lover to Indochina is based on the author's great-grandmother. I first I wasn't sure I was going to like the author's sparse style or be able to relate to the main character. However, I thought the author did a great job of portraying Victorine's inner turmoil, while making the settings come alive.
August 10, 2009
French woman leaves her husband and children to run away with her lover to Indochina. I enjoyed learning about the setting a lot- Indochina, Asian clothes and food, opium dens, etc.- but the story was just okay.
Find more book reviews at A Quick Red Fox.
Find more book reviews at A Quick Red Fox.
August 7, 2011
My mom and I both really liked this novel. Not quite sure why. Maybe the romantic notion of running away to China. Maybe it is the way the heroine is not quite satisfied with a run-of-the-mill life.
February 19, 2015
The main character was hard to care for and the book went into far too much detail about extraneous details which really made it drag on too long. It was for book club so I make it through the book - mostly! :)
Read
December 4, 2008I read the first chapter but I just didn't care. Maybe I'll get back to it.
May 6, 2009
Texier writes beautiful prose. I kept getting reminded of an oil painting while I read. I felt like I could just keep looking at the delicate brushstrokes. Wonderfully crafted.
February 27, 2009
yah ini buku so..so..lah
lumayan menarik karena mengorek kisah masa lalu
tapi gak ada sesuatu yang bikin greget
lumayan menarik karena mengorek kisah masa lalu
tapi gak ada sesuatu yang bikin greget
March 31, 2010
Victorine: A Novel by Catherine Texier (2004)
June 26, 2011
Loved this book! Loved the flow, the pauses, and the fact that it's based on the author's relative.
April 27, 2012
1900 Saigon. Hard to read in some places. Interesting.
December 7, 2012
Well written, engrossing, passionate. Good read
December 25, 2012
Predictable and girly, but occasionally entertaining.
June 17, 2014
Very slow moving; I didn't even finish this book because it seemed to take forever.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews