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French Girl with Mother
"Finely wrought; Ollestad builds a delicate tension between the characters, exposing their raw desire and exploring the concept of artistic inspiration...A quietly tense and absorbing read." —Kirkus French Girl with Mother is a provocative, propulsive thriller that marries the spirit of James Salter with a hint of Patricia Highsmith and the velocity of The Art Forger.Nathan is a young artist traveling across Europe in search of the emotional fire that has been missing from his work. He's been deemed by his mentors and critics as technically skillful but uninspired —criticisms he fears to be true. On a Paris street, he witnesses the volatile breakup of a young French woman and her beau. Nathan pursues a meeting with the woman and it very quickly becomes evident that her provocative charisma and scathing beauty just may conjure the electricity he has been seeking for his work. So when the woman invites him to her parents' crumbling, centuries–old chateau in the country to allow him to sketch her, he accepts, knowing that this proposition is both ill advised and thrilling.Once enveloped by this isolated estate, a door opens to a world Nathan is not prepared for. The arrival of the young woman's family—her mother, a volatile, voracious former ballerina, her father, a mysterious businessman with secrets of his own, and her uncle, who might be trafficking in art forgeries.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2016
5 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
Norman Ollestad
7 books68 followersNorman Ollestad, a New York Times BESTSELLING author, studied creative writing at UCLA and attended UCLA’s undergrad Film School. His writing has appeared in Outside, Men’s Journal and Time. He is married and has two children—a son and daughter—and lives in Venice, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 7, 2018
The main protagonist came across as really immature. The problem is, this quality seems to have seeped into the book and permeated it altogether.
I get the young artist's struggle for fire to put into his works. Then again, the guy was 11 years the senior of a 19-year-old gal, which gives us 30. This guy meets a girl who takes him home. The plot, where is it?
Q:
Everyone who’d come to the Soho gallery—the collectors, the art enthusiasts, even my mother and father—noticed the New York Times art critic entering the gallery. He approached my six pieces, Venice Beach Homeless Portraits, and sighed with tedium, letting his head drop slightly to one side, before stepping away to view the other artists’ work in the group show.
The entire room was embarrassed for me and no one would look at me. (c) Gosh! Of course, people were gather to look at this guy's works, no less! Self-obsessed.
Q:
The sun, aglow behind one dark cloud, cast warm hues beyond the isolated shower overhead. As with each failed exhibition in the past, hope began to chirp and pipe. What I really needed was something wild and rampant, I tried to assure myself, something that would jump off the paper and grab the buyers by the throat.(c) Uh-huh, a throat-crushing painting. Real thriler!
Q:
You’re ridiculous, I admonished myself. There’s no one to blame, no one to take it out on but yourself. You’re peeing in alleyways and have only a few hundred euros to your name because of the choices you’ve made. Live with it. (c)
Q:
Time after time, I’d watched people stare into their phones instead of at the painting on a museum wall, instead of the tree-lined road, a cloudburst sky, that beggar singing opera on the banks of the Arno, or a tortured beauty alone in a café. (c)
Q:
The exquisite balance of circles and angles that made up her face, exaggerated enough to have crisp, delineated forms without going overboard, were punctuated by an unruly blaze behind her eyes, an ever-brewing storm. (c)
Q:
When I grabbed my skis and tilted them onto my shoulder, I gave them a kiss. (c) Ouch!!
Q:
“I was showing him a real part of me . . . in bed . . . but he rejected it. Didn’t want to see it.” (c)
Q:
“I remember fishing on a really choppy day, and I asked him why Grandma never came out. She hates boats and the smell of fish, he told me. He must’ve seen the startled look on my face, as he made his living fishing and always smelled of fish. But we enjoy each other’s sense of humor and I love her music and I think she likes my wild stories about the sea,” he explained. We give each other what the other is missing.” (c)
Q:
I was alone with a beautiful young woman in the French countryside. ... Was she a gold mine? Or a maze that ends in a cul-de-sac or at a cliff? I didn’t know, of course. The only way to find out was to stay on her carousel and see where it led.(c)We got ourselves a hilarious dilemma: a gal, is she a mine, a cliff, a cul-de-sac? All of them on a carousel!
I get the young artist's struggle for fire to put into his works. Then again, the guy was 11 years the senior of a 19-year-old gal, which gives us 30. This guy meets a girl who takes him home. The plot, where is it?
Q:
Everyone who’d come to the Soho gallery—the collectors, the art enthusiasts, even my mother and father—noticed the New York Times art critic entering the gallery. He approached my six pieces, Venice Beach Homeless Portraits, and sighed with tedium, letting his head drop slightly to one side, before stepping away to view the other artists’ work in the group show.
The entire room was embarrassed for me and no one would look at me. (c) Gosh! Of course, people were gather to look at this guy's works, no less! Self-obsessed.
Q:
The sun, aglow behind one dark cloud, cast warm hues beyond the isolated shower overhead. As with each failed exhibition in the past, hope began to chirp and pipe. What I really needed was something wild and rampant, I tried to assure myself, something that would jump off the paper and grab the buyers by the throat.(c) Uh-huh, a throat-crushing painting. Real thriler!
Q:
You’re ridiculous, I admonished myself. There’s no one to blame, no one to take it out on but yourself. You’re peeing in alleyways and have only a few hundred euros to your name because of the choices you’ve made. Live with it. (c)
Q:
Time after time, I’d watched people stare into their phones instead of at the painting on a museum wall, instead of the tree-lined road, a cloudburst sky, that beggar singing opera on the banks of the Arno, or a tortured beauty alone in a café. (c)
Q:
The exquisite balance of circles and angles that made up her face, exaggerated enough to have crisp, delineated forms without going overboard, were punctuated by an unruly blaze behind her eyes, an ever-brewing storm. (c)
Q:
When I grabbed my skis and tilted them onto my shoulder, I gave them a kiss. (c) Ouch!!
Q:
“I was showing him a real part of me . . . in bed . . . but he rejected it. Didn’t want to see it.” (c)
Q:
“I remember fishing on a really choppy day, and I asked him why Grandma never came out. She hates boats and the smell of fish, he told me. He must’ve seen the startled look on my face, as he made his living fishing and always smelled of fish. But we enjoy each other’s sense of humor and I love her music and I think she likes my wild stories about the sea,” he explained. We give each other what the other is missing.” (c)
Q:
I was alone with a beautiful young woman in the French countryside. ... Was she a gold mine? Or a maze that ends in a cul-de-sac or at a cliff? I didn’t know, of course. The only way to find out was to stay on her carousel and see where it led.(c)We got ourselves a hilarious dilemma: a gal, is she a mine, a cliff, a cul-de-sac? All of them on a carousel!
September 24, 2016
Nathan is a struggling artist who is able to paint a technically perfect reproduction of other artists’ work but he’s been unable to find the emotional element needed to create masterpieces of his own. Then he meets a young uninhibited French girl, Anais, who may be just the muse that he needs. He feels there’s a dangerous element to a relationship with Anais but he can’t resist the pull to sketch her so he accepts her invitation to stay at her parents’ home. Upon meeting and getting to know her parents, he’s drawn into a web of sexual competition and illegal acts.
I thought the first half of this book was so beautifully written. The author does an excellent job of letting the reader experience the acceleration of menace behind this dysfunctional family and concern for Nathan as he gets more and more deeply involved. While I can’t say that I really liked any of the characters very much, even Nathan, I had to keep reading to see where it would all go. I feel that the book loses some of its raw beauty in the second half of the book, which degenerates a bit into an art forgery thriller, though there is still the desire to know whether Nathan will choose love of his art or his love of Anais.
This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.
I thought the first half of this book was so beautifully written. The author does an excellent job of letting the reader experience the acceleration of menace behind this dysfunctional family and concern for Nathan as he gets more and more deeply involved. While I can’t say that I really liked any of the characters very much, even Nathan, I had to keep reading to see where it would all go. I feel that the book loses some of its raw beauty in the second half of the book, which degenerates a bit into an art forgery thriller, though there is still the desire to know whether Nathan will choose love of his art or his love of Anais.
This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.
February 8, 2017
DNF. Run, don't just walk away from this juvenile, soft porn wanna-be, sloppy book. Example quote 1: "Ever so faintly, I discerned a sour taste in her mouth as she stared at me with an implied superiority." (What?) Example quote 2: "She wanted to be taken. No matter what, she seemed to implore. No matter my mood or mixed signals, you need to cut through all the noise and ground me." (Um, I think that's called rape.) No thanks and bye-bye.
January 11, 2018
what on earth was this book?
Oh my god , this book has exhausted me so much that i fell asleep while reading it multiple times even at day , I have no idea what's the author's excuse for this , like really what does this book add to my knowledge or life? I like to be an optimist and think every book adds up something , but this ? nada
Oh my god , this book has exhausted me so much that i fell asleep while reading it multiple times even at day , I have no idea what's the author's excuse for this , like really what does this book add to my knowledge or life? I like to be an optimist and think every book adds up something , but this ? nada
March 29, 2017
Juvenile main character, absurd supporting cast, cliches littering the book, and a tenuous (at best) plot seemingly used to paste faux-erotic wish-fulfillment sex scenes together.
October 24, 2016
Early in Norman Ollestad's eagerly awaited first novel Nathan, the narrator/protagonist, is told he's had "Too much college, not enough life." Meaning that even though he's a talented artist who exhibits vast reservoirs of technique in his work, that work lacks the spark that would make it great. Nathan then finds himself plunged into more "life" than he'd bargained for. At loose ends, lugging his skis around Paris without many Euros in his pocket or prospects on the horizon, he meets Anaïs, a provocative, exciting woman, the likes of whom he's never encountered, and the story really takes off, never slowing down. Even when Nathan finds himself growing contemplative on art, the importance of its role in his life.
At a recent author visit, Ollestad mentioned that part of the inspiration for this novel was the connection between Hemingway and Cézanne, but revealed that his artist of choice was Egon Schiele, which the reader will recognize as the plot unspools. There is a great deal of exploration of art and artists' influences, but there is also an exciting element that could only have written by an author who has experienced first-hand some of the physical challenges Nathan finds himself up against. Ollestad first crossed my radar in 2009 with Crazy for the Storm, his breathtaking memoir, followed by his short work Gravity. Always a risk-taker, he has become more cautious given his life experience. Here's hoping this is the first novel of many to come.
At a recent author visit, Ollestad mentioned that part of the inspiration for this novel was the connection between Hemingway and Cézanne, but revealed that his artist of choice was Egon Schiele, which the reader will recognize as the plot unspools. There is a great deal of exploration of art and artists' influences, but there is also an exciting element that could only have written by an author who has experienced first-hand some of the physical challenges Nathan finds himself up against. Ollestad first crossed my radar in 2009 with Crazy for the Storm, his breathtaking memoir, followed by his short work Gravity. Always a risk-taker, he has become more cautious given his life experience. Here's hoping this is the first novel of many to come.
November 3, 2016
Norman's book French Girl With Mother is an awesome read! I read it three times and bought many copies for gifts. Also, enjoy, Crazy For the Storm, Norman Ollestad writes like no other!
February 9, 2017
Hedonistic, weird story. The writing is overwrought with details that don't add to the story. It was a real chore just to finish the book.
November 16, 2017
I started this novel with the incorrect thought that the main character was a woman- a thought that echoed Long after it was clearly pushed aside by the repeated iteration of his name.
Dream like first half, jarring but semi-successful shift to thriller in the last third.
I did find myself thinking “figure drawing doesn’t work like that,” but just because I’ve never sexually objectified my subjects doesn’t mean an artist wouldn’t, especially in a more intimate environment.
Still I found myself making little adjustments to my mental image that did not fit what was on the page-
Oh, this isn’t about a woman, darn, oh that’s an alarming age gap, but the narrator is fantastically immature so I’m pretending he’s younger and she’s a little older, good. Oh, this sex scene doesn’t really work for me, hmmm (skips ahead).
When I felt the shift to breakneck thriller happening I wanted to pause, go to sleep, and perhaps dream about the river and setting of the first third, but this novel is such a quick compelling read I went ahead and plowed through.
Dream like first half, jarring but semi-successful shift to thriller in the last third.
I did find myself thinking “figure drawing doesn’t work like that,” but just because I’ve never sexually objectified my subjects doesn’t mean an artist wouldn’t, especially in a more intimate environment.
Still I found myself making little adjustments to my mental image that did not fit what was on the page-
Oh, this isn’t about a woman, darn, oh that’s an alarming age gap, but the narrator is fantastically immature so I’m pretending he’s younger and she’s a little older, good. Oh, this sex scene doesn’t really work for me, hmmm (skips ahead).
When I felt the shift to breakneck thriller happening I wanted to pause, go to sleep, and perhaps dream about the river and setting of the first third, but this novel is such a quick compelling read I went ahead and plowed through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2018
I can't believe I got to the last five chapters and just stopped. I just wanted to be done. It was a quick read so obviously not a chore to get through but I became disappointed by the end. Will his muse actually end up with him? Probably not. Will he get in trouble for murdering her father? Probably. Will he actually achieve fame for his own work after assisting to copy original art to sell illegally. Doubt it. Do I even care to know the answers to all these things? No! It was a good book to get me through my reading slump but overall, I would not recommend.
July 31, 2018
Terrible, ridiculous, awful. That's my review in a nutshell. Nathan is a so-called artist, 30 years old, who acts like he's 12. He meets a French teenager whom he proceeds to follow everywhere. He decides that she is his one and only inspiration for creating some new great paintings--that is, until he meets her weird mommy and decides the both of them are his key to fame and greatness. The author apparently has no idea how the actual art world works. Nor does he have any insight into actual real human beings. Don't waste your time with this piece of drivel.
December 7, 2017
It kept my attention despite its shortcomings. The plot was interesting as we're the characters. Some parts made no sense. Why didn't Nathan check his painting in the stall? Anaise was a little one dimensional. The ending was dragged out when you knew what was going to happen. The reader of this audio book was poorly chosen.
May 19, 2017
This book was so good! So captivated through out the book, especially the ending. Beautiful language and I visualized the beautiful scenery described. Untraditional story line but nothing I can't handle.
January 4, 2018
Don't know why I even thought I'd like this book...
February 8, 2018
No plot. Why did I pick it up?
November 11, 2019
loved the descriptions of the places in France where this was taking place. The story was entertaining and compelling.
July 3, 2020
Boring, trying to hard to be titilating, with a style that was flatter than a day-old coke.
Made it through about 7% before I quit.
Made it through about 7% before I quit.
July 26, 2022
Starts well, lags in the middle but ends well.
January 11, 2017
This book is so odd. But not in an intriguing kind of way, like a trying too hard kind of way. It was very Cruel Intentions. Ughhh
August 5, 2017
Let me start by saying I enjoyed this book overall and I'm glad I bought it, if only because it's a beautiful cover. If it wasn't a gorgeous cover, I'd be selling it back to the bookstore for sure.
However, I felt a little disappointed in the whole thing. The beginning of the novel is all about the artist and his muse and the complications with her family. I didn't quite buy the main relationship which is basically the foundation of the entire novel: they meet, spend two seconds together, and suddenly this is a Great Love? Perhaps it is just my cynical heart that doesn't believe having a ton of sex automatically equals a great relationship. Nathan, the artist, kept saying he needs Anaïs, but all I could think about was how this relationship was going to end badly. I get the relationship is supposed to be troubled and passionate, but I still would have liked to care whether or not the two would end up together.
I was also annoyed at what a "cool girl" Anaïs was (she likes dirty sex, immediately strips in front of Nathan, plays games with him, etc) though I gladly give the author credit for twice writing her as just an obnoxious teen (she's only 19 while Nathan is 30). But that was only twice. This is, however, more of a personal pet peeve.
The second half of the book morphs and suddenly it's an art forgery "thriller," except I didn't feel very thrilled. It would have been more exciting if the suspense had lasted longer or seemed to have a more important role in the plot. The novel kept telling me how terrifying and dangerous the situation was, but I didn't feel it. In fact, the only thing I felt was grossed out by some of the family/sex stuff... you'll see.
If the book had committed to either being about a crazy, occasionally creepy relationship or being about art forgery, I would have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I never really rooted for anyone in the novel nor did I feel invested in what happened. I never disappeared into the novel, you know? Of course you do. If you didn't understand that feeling, you wouldn't be reading reviews on Goodreads trying to find the next good book. But this probably isn't it. It's just an okay book, worth reading if you have a library card or endless time.
However, I felt a little disappointed in the whole thing. The beginning of the novel is all about the artist and his muse and the complications with her family. I didn't quite buy the main relationship which is basically the foundation of the entire novel: they meet, spend two seconds together, and suddenly this is a Great Love? Perhaps it is just my cynical heart that doesn't believe having a ton of sex automatically equals a great relationship. Nathan, the artist, kept saying he needs Anaïs, but all I could think about was how this relationship was going to end badly. I get the relationship is supposed to be troubled and passionate, but I still would have liked to care whether or not the two would end up together.
I was also annoyed at what a "cool girl" Anaïs was (she likes dirty sex, immediately strips in front of Nathan, plays games with him, etc) though I gladly give the author credit for twice writing her as just an obnoxious teen (she's only 19 while Nathan is 30). But that was only twice. This is, however, more of a personal pet peeve.
The second half of the book morphs and suddenly it's an art forgery "thriller," except I didn't feel very thrilled. It would have been more exciting if the suspense had lasted longer or seemed to have a more important role in the plot. The novel kept telling me how terrifying and dangerous the situation was, but I didn't feel it. In fact, the only thing I felt was grossed out by some of the family/sex stuff... you'll see.
If the book had committed to either being about a crazy, occasionally creepy relationship or being about art forgery, I would have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I never really rooted for anyone in the novel nor did I feel invested in what happened. I never disappeared into the novel, you know? Of course you do. If you didn't understand that feeling, you wouldn't be reading reviews on Goodreads trying to find the next good book. But this probably isn't it. It's just an okay book, worth reading if you have a library card or endless time.
February 14, 2017
Ugh, this was awful, stopped after a few chapters
February 8, 2017
interesting and different
November 28, 2016
I enjoyed Norman Ollestad's memoir "Crazy from the Storm" so much that it ended up on the top of my bookshelf. In his debut novel, the author's style proves to be just as strong.
"French Girl with Mother" transported me to Europe as I read. The vivid details of Paris, the French chateau, and the Alps add an extra layer to the book.
I enjoyed getting in the protagonist's head as he struggled with whether he was selling out as he tried to fulfill his artistic ambitions. The love interest's family will not soon be forgotten.
This erotic, fast-paced thriller is difficult to put down.
"French Girl with Mother" transported me to Europe as I read. The vivid details of Paris, the French chateau, and the Alps add an extra layer to the book.
I enjoyed getting in the protagonist's head as he struggled with whether he was selling out as he tried to fulfill his artistic ambitions. The love interest's family will not soon be forgotten.
This erotic, fast-paced thriller is difficult to put down.
December 10, 2016
We really get into the mind of the artist. You feel like you can see from above and wish you could shake the characters or yell in the their faces.
November 4, 2016
Good airport reading.
January 5, 2017
50 Shades Wannabe.
March 14, 2017
This was a nice, easy, quick read. A little bit of lust, mystery and thrill all wrapped up into one. I enjoyed it. Thank you.
May 1, 2020
I found this to be an entertaining read. Would recommend if you just want to enjoy some fiction based in France!
March 23, 2017
This book started off "50 shades"kind of reading. IT became more interesting towards the end. The author should have gone easier on the soft porn parts and expanded deeper on the main storyline. If you're a good author you don't need to add in sex scenes to elevate your writing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews