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Pompidou Posse
It's the late eighties and British teenagers Vicki and Sage go on the run in Paris after burning down their art school pottery shed. Penniless, homeless, and worst of all, out of cigarettes, it isn't long before they find themselves living on the streets. Survival means not only learning to navigate the perils of soup-kitchens, begging, hallucinogens and sleeping rough, but also dealing with charismatic gypsy fire-eaters, violent German hoboes, teargas-happy gendarmes and sexual predators, including Taffy, a psychotic one-legged Welshman. While Sage battles with her own damaging secrets in the angry scrawls of her diary, naive Vicki finds herself drawn to the damaged and often dangerous people living outside society. Can the girls emerge from this experience with their friendship and sanity intact? Both harrowing and darkly humorous, Pompidou Posse is a unique glimpse into the dark side of Europe's most glamorous city.
355 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Lotz
41 books823 followersSarah Lotz is a screenwriter and fiction novelist with a fondness for the macabre and fake names.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 1, 2015
Pompidou Posse or as I like to call it "Oh my god I am never letting my daughters out of the house ever" is a riot, like a total crazy riot.
I love it, well as long as I don't think about my kids leaving the house and going to Paris, ever!
This book is written by Sarah Lotz whose previous work, The Three and Day Four blew my mind, this book is nothing like those books, originally published in South Africa, Hodder and Stoughton have resurrected it and brought it to a new audience.
Sage and Vicki have headed to Paris from England, it is the eighties and some of us of a certain age will remember the fashion, the interesting music, Sony Walkmans and the crazy amount of batteries they used......
They are in their late teens, they are irresponsible and they are determined to make a living in Paris as artists, could it be that easy?? Well they meet a "nice" man called Bobby who knows people who know people and he is going to sort them out.
He gets them sorted with a place to stay and they begin live life like crazy. They hang out with stoners, perverts and god knows who else but the one thing that makes this such a good story is the girl's friendship.
Sage and Vicki are the best of friends and this is the ultimate test of their friendship as they survive crazy Parisians, sleeping rough and lack of basic hygiene.
The girls are incredibly naive but you can't help rooting for them as they make one mistake after another.
Sarah Lotz has said that one of the characters may be based on her as she did a lot of drugs when she was a teenager and with Pompidou Posse she weaves an incredible, do I call it a coming of age story? I don't know but it is a great story.
Full of wit, lack of wisdom (and money), the girls take Paris by the balls and give the town all they've got but OMG I am never letting my kids leave home ever.
Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
I love it, well as long as I don't think about my kids leaving the house and going to Paris, ever!
This book is written by Sarah Lotz whose previous work, The Three and Day Four blew my mind, this book is nothing like those books, originally published in South Africa, Hodder and Stoughton have resurrected it and brought it to a new audience.
Sage and Vicki have headed to Paris from England, it is the eighties and some of us of a certain age will remember the fashion, the interesting music, Sony Walkmans and the crazy amount of batteries they used......
They are in their late teens, they are irresponsible and they are determined to make a living in Paris as artists, could it be that easy?? Well they meet a "nice" man called Bobby who knows people who know people and he is going to sort them out.
He gets them sorted with a place to stay and they begin live life like crazy. They hang out with stoners, perverts and god knows who else but the one thing that makes this such a good story is the girl's friendship.
Sage and Vicki are the best of friends and this is the ultimate test of their friendship as they survive crazy Parisians, sleeping rough and lack of basic hygiene.
The girls are incredibly naive but you can't help rooting for them as they make one mistake after another.
Sarah Lotz has said that one of the characters may be based on her as she did a lot of drugs when she was a teenager and with Pompidou Posse she weaves an incredible, do I call it a coming of age story? I don't know but it is a great story.
Full of wit, lack of wisdom (and money), the girls take Paris by the balls and give the town all they've got but OMG I am never letting my kids leave home ever.
Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
October 13, 2015
5 Words: Friendship, runaway, poverty, Paris, freedom.
UK GIVEAWAY - PAPERBACK
This book is one heck of a ride, right from the very start. It's boisterous and loud and scared and unsure all at once.
This is a book about teens, but it is definitely for an older audience. Aside from the language, there is drink and drugs aplenty.
The two protagonists are best friends, and they are very different from each other, so the way they bounce off of one another makes them really come to life. They each tell their own part of the story in such distinct voices that I never got confused once about who was doing the telling.
I'd say that Sage was probably my favourite character, although she did frustrate me at times.
I loved the lists. They were so funny, and I found myself flipping back through the pages to read them again.
This book would be best consumed with a pain au chocolat and the cheapest red wine you can find.
UK GIVEAWAY - PAPERBACK
This book is one heck of a ride, right from the very start. It's boisterous and loud and scared and unsure all at once.
This is a book about teens, but it is definitely for an older audience. Aside from the language, there is drink and drugs aplenty.
The two protagonists are best friends, and they are very different from each other, so the way they bounce off of one another makes them really come to life. They each tell their own part of the story in such distinct voices that I never got confused once about who was doing the telling.
I'd say that Sage was probably my favourite character, although she did frustrate me at times.
I loved the lists. They were so funny, and I found myself flipping back through the pages to read them again.
This book would be best consumed with a pain au chocolat and the cheapest red wine you can find.
December 16, 2015
Vicki and Sage have set a garden shed on fire and to avoid the consequences they flee the country and go to Paris. There's only one problem, they don't have any money. They're both seventeen years old and are art school dropouts. Vicki and Sage are optimistic, they're in Paris, they're having a good time and everything will be all right. The longer they stay the harder it will become to make enough money to survive. Going home isn't an option and they're in the city of endless possibilities having fun. They're in Paris where nothing can go wrong, right?
When I started reading Pompidou Posse I didn't expect to read such a raw story. I though this would be a story about two very cool teenagers who were going to have a great time in Paris. They would have lots of luck and everything would go their way eventually. I couldn't have been more wrong. Vicki and Sage have to survive in a city where making money is tough. Pompidou Posse is rough, it's honest and it broke my heart. It's a book I won't easily forget, this story will stay with me for the rest of my life.
It's obvious that both Vicki and Sage are very young and don't always make the right decisions. They're having fights, are gullible sometimes and they aren't always a good judge of character. Their stay in Paris is a succession of problems, of difficult situations to deal with. The girls are resourceful, but they also don't really care about consequences. They're fun and different. I immediately liked them. Vicki has rich parents and Sage knows almost everything about her, but Sage has a lot of secrets. That makes their friendship unbalanced from the start. It was really interesting to see the development. I felt for them and with them from beginning to end. The finale is fitting, but unexpected and I cried a bucket load of tears. Pompidou Posse is a must-read, it's impressive, moving and beautifully written.
When I started reading Pompidou Posse I didn't expect to read such a raw story. I though this would be a story about two very cool teenagers who were going to have a great time in Paris. They would have lots of luck and everything would go their way eventually. I couldn't have been more wrong. Vicki and Sage have to survive in a city where making money is tough. Pompidou Posse is rough, it's honest and it broke my heart. It's a book I won't easily forget, this story will stay with me for the rest of my life.
It's obvious that both Vicki and Sage are very young and don't always make the right decisions. They're having fights, are gullible sometimes and they aren't always a good judge of character. Their stay in Paris is a succession of problems, of difficult situations to deal with. The girls are resourceful, but they also don't really care about consequences. They're fun and different. I immediately liked them. Vicki has rich parents and Sage knows almost everything about her, but Sage has a lot of secrets. That makes their friendship unbalanced from the start. It was really interesting to see the development. I felt for them and with them from beginning to end. The finale is fitting, but unexpected and I cried a bucket load of tears. Pompidou Posse is a must-read, it's impressive, moving and beautifully written.
July 12, 2016
This book annoyed me mostly because I was lulled into false expectations by the cover. Bright pink with the tagline "Uproariously funny..." I wasn't expecting a story of multiple sexual assults.
Maybe publishers think every book with a theme of female friendship has to be pink.
It's set in the 1980's and contains copious drug use. So a better tagline would be "Like Junk but in Paris instead of Bristol." I prefer Junk's unsubtle approach; the title is Junk and it has a needle pictured on the cover.
Maybe publishers think every book with a theme of female friendship has to be pink.
It's set in the 1980's and contains copious drug use. So a better tagline would be "Like Junk but in Paris instead of Bristol." I prefer Junk's unsubtle approach; the title is Junk and it has a needle pictured on the cover.
April 21, 2023
Took me some time to get into the story but when I realised it was written from the author's own life, it was more interesting and closer to my heart as a mum. What if..... came to mind a lot. A very interesting, funny and traumatic story.
October 28, 2012
BookWalk #3 | Pompidou Posse | Sarah Lotz
“For fuck’s sake, Sage. He’s trying to help us out! Can you at least try for five minutes not to be such a bitch?” (p.20) | British friends Vicki and Sage have yet to agree on a strategy for survival on the streets of Paris.
He was EXCELLENT!! He was wearing dark glasses and was really pretending to be this dead mysterious guy. (p. 58) | Vicki and Sage take turns telling the story. Lovely use of the vernacular “dead”, meaning “very”, rather than “dead”.
“You and Sage,” he begins. “I was wondering. Why is it that you do not wash? Especially down there?” he points towards my crotch. (p.93) | The layers or propriety are swiftly peeled off and lost as the girls spend more time living rough.
As usual, the other nannies are clustered around the jungle gym benches like the cockney vultures in Jungle Book. (p. 118) | Vicki’s brief spell as a nanny only serves as a reminder that there is no easy way back into the secure but boring world of humdrum mediocrity.
Finally, Scotty and Irish run out of steam without bringing a heart-rendingly awful version of Hotel California to its rightful (or wrongful) conclusion. (p.146) | Busking has more drawbacks than begging, partly because beggars are easier to ignore.
I cock my head to one side and make my eyes go all blurry in a vain attempt to make our chalk pavement drawing look better. It doesn’t help. (p. 194) | The two art-school dropouts soon learn the dictum that so many artists have learned before them: begging is more lucrative than art.
The one time my brother and I had picked magic mushrooms from the field at the back of my parents’ house I’d puked all over the dining room carpet. (p. 228) | Because their memories of home are seldom warm enough to seem inviting, the girls assemble a new family who share their desire to forget the past and ignore the future.
Ralphie curled himself into my side and Stefan stroked my back or dozed as I devoured the book of Somerset Maugham short stories I’d unearthed from the box. (p. 257) | Because Vicki manages to remain more receptive to the world and its inhabitants, she finds comfort in the company of beasts and humans and books.
“I thought the Germans were all mad bastard Nazis or something? That guy seemed kosher to me.” (p. 304) | Even on the outer fringes of society, prejudice can be the cement that holds groups together. But a mutual enemy – in this case The Blues, a tramp-chasing police force – can help unite former adversaries.
It was like I knew all about her and could look right inside her even before we’d said a single word to each other. (p. 347) | One doesn’t really know one’s friends until one decides to leave them.
(Sarah Lotz’s Pompidou Posse is published by Penguin.)
“For fuck’s sake, Sage. He’s trying to help us out! Can you at least try for five minutes not to be such a bitch?” (p.20) | British friends Vicki and Sage have yet to agree on a strategy for survival on the streets of Paris.
He was EXCELLENT!! He was wearing dark glasses and was really pretending to be this dead mysterious guy. (p. 58) | Vicki and Sage take turns telling the story. Lovely use of the vernacular “dead”, meaning “very”, rather than “dead”.
“You and Sage,” he begins. “I was wondering. Why is it that you do not wash? Especially down there?” he points towards my crotch. (p.93) | The layers or propriety are swiftly peeled off and lost as the girls spend more time living rough.
As usual, the other nannies are clustered around the jungle gym benches like the cockney vultures in Jungle Book. (p. 118) | Vicki’s brief spell as a nanny only serves as a reminder that there is no easy way back into the secure but boring world of humdrum mediocrity.
Finally, Scotty and Irish run out of steam without bringing a heart-rendingly awful version of Hotel California to its rightful (or wrongful) conclusion. (p.146) | Busking has more drawbacks than begging, partly because beggars are easier to ignore.
I cock my head to one side and make my eyes go all blurry in a vain attempt to make our chalk pavement drawing look better. It doesn’t help. (p. 194) | The two art-school dropouts soon learn the dictum that so many artists have learned before them: begging is more lucrative than art.
The one time my brother and I had picked magic mushrooms from the field at the back of my parents’ house I’d puked all over the dining room carpet. (p. 228) | Because their memories of home are seldom warm enough to seem inviting, the girls assemble a new family who share their desire to forget the past and ignore the future.
Ralphie curled himself into my side and Stefan stroked my back or dozed as I devoured the book of Somerset Maugham short stories I’d unearthed from the box. (p. 257) | Because Vicki manages to remain more receptive to the world and its inhabitants, she finds comfort in the company of beasts and humans and books.
“I thought the Germans were all mad bastard Nazis or something? That guy seemed kosher to me.” (p. 304) | Even on the outer fringes of society, prejudice can be the cement that holds groups together. But a mutual enemy – in this case The Blues, a tramp-chasing police force – can help unite former adversaries.
It was like I knew all about her and could look right inside her even before we’d said a single word to each other. (p. 347) | One doesn’t really know one’s friends until one decides to leave them.
(Sarah Lotz’s Pompidou Posse is published by Penguin.)
May 23, 2011
Pompidou Posse could easily pass as YA.
After runaways Sage and Vicky, aged 17 and 18 respectively, fail to make it as artists in Paris, they find themselves on the streets. A series of disastrous jobs later, the girls find themselves among the Pompidou Posse, a group of vagabonds and tramps, and experience all the hardships that comes with being homeless, such as running from police, drug abuse, and escaping from an axe-wielding maniac.
The book is set in the 1980's, but it could take place anywhere. In fact, the only aspects that hint at the era is the music: Duran Duran and The Doors floating from behind closed doors; and that Vicky describes herself as a punk.
The ordeal of Vicky is at times hard to read, but the more you get under the hardened shell of Sage, you begin to realise that her story is all the more tragic.
Pompidou Posse is many things. It's an adventure of two teenage girls experiencing the freedom they so dearly desired. Its a coming of age story where the characters live through the harrowing consequences of their actions. The novel is also autobiographical, which makes its all the more poignant.
After runaways Sage and Vicky, aged 17 and 18 respectively, fail to make it as artists in Paris, they find themselves on the streets. A series of disastrous jobs later, the girls find themselves among the Pompidou Posse, a group of vagabonds and tramps, and experience all the hardships that comes with being homeless, such as running from police, drug abuse, and escaping from an axe-wielding maniac.
The book is set in the 1980's, but it could take place anywhere. In fact, the only aspects that hint at the era is the music: Duran Duran and The Doors floating from behind closed doors; and that Vicky describes herself as a punk.
The ordeal of Vicky is at times hard to read, but the more you get under the hardened shell of Sage, you begin to realise that her story is all the more tragic.
Pompidou Posse is many things. It's an adventure of two teenage girls experiencing the freedom they so dearly desired. Its a coming of age story where the characters live through the harrowing consequences of their actions. The novel is also autobiographical, which makes its all the more poignant.
November 24, 2016
I am not sure if I liked it or not. I thought the whole history would be different since I read the plot at the back of the bool. When I started reading it I didn't like it at all and I was getting really angry with everything that was happening in there and how stupid those girls were. I started liking it after the half of the book probably and wanted to finish it to see what will happen, but again the end came so quick while everything else was running slow and was explained. Mixed feelings I can say.
September 29, 2016
Late to the party on this one, I'm glad I finally got to read it. In fact the book is pretty on trend, with its two unreliable narrators. Poignant, gripping, funny, nostalgic -- I was a little bit annoyed by how invested I was in two characters I didn't really like. The short story within the diary within the book is hilarious. Looking forward to reading more of Sarah Lotz.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 20, 2015Bloody hell, I should have read sooner. Track down a copy if you can.
January 18, 2019
Fuck, How do I describe this book.
For a start
CW: this book contains sexual assault, drug use, death and there's a dog that dies (which I know is a big deal for some people)
.
Honestly this book is for me personally the best book I’ve ever read.
I like the dual narrative, I love the characters, and I enjoy the scumminess, the rawness. Probably helps that in almost every way I relate to Sage, from her ���shutters down fuck off vibes” to her blatant aggy behaviour and mysandry.
The book follows two girls a femme posh girl called vicki and a ratty punk closet lesbian called sage as they bum around paris running away from their past. Vicki spends most of her time chasing tail and or suffering and sage spends most of her time freaking out and doing straight girl missionary work on her best friend who she obviously has a massive crush on. I had moments of heartbreak and laugh out loud moments. It was refreshing to not only be faced with a book that had a character I could truly relate to on every level but also be in general be a punk read. I often wondered what it would be like if i’d actually run away like I planned to when I was a teenager, the fear of running out of my meds was the thing that stopped me and seeing Sage deal with that very problem hit me really hard. I have plenty of friends who have been in the couch surfing/street homeless lifestyle through no fault of their own and I know that I got lucky, It seems from all accounts from friends a pretty good summary of that life.
Overall this book is a beautiful look at coming of age in a harsh disgusting and nasty world that never has anything good to give us. I loved it. It’s been a while since I’ve found something this relatable and I could happily read another 3 or 4 books following on from it, even if it did constantly make me crave a fag.
A book Best enjoyed with a can of lager while sitting in a bin.
For a start
CW: this book contains sexual assault, drug use, death and there's a dog that dies (which I know is a big deal for some people)
.
Honestly this book is for me personally the best book I’ve ever read.
I like the dual narrative, I love the characters, and I enjoy the scumminess, the rawness. Probably helps that in almost every way I relate to Sage, from her ���shutters down fuck off vibes” to her blatant aggy behaviour and mysandry.
The book follows two girls a femme posh girl called vicki and a ratty punk closet lesbian called sage as they bum around paris running away from their past. Vicki spends most of her time chasing tail and or suffering and sage spends most of her time freaking out and doing straight girl missionary work on her best friend who she obviously has a massive crush on. I had moments of heartbreak and laugh out loud moments. It was refreshing to not only be faced with a book that had a character I could truly relate to on every level but also be in general be a punk read. I often wondered what it would be like if i’d actually run away like I planned to when I was a teenager, the fear of running out of my meds was the thing that stopped me and seeing Sage deal with that very problem hit me really hard. I have plenty of friends who have been in the couch surfing/street homeless lifestyle through no fault of their own and I know that I got lucky, It seems from all accounts from friends a pretty good summary of that life.
Overall this book is a beautiful look at coming of age in a harsh disgusting and nasty world that never has anything good to give us. I loved it. It’s been a while since I’ve found something this relatable and I could happily read another 3 or 4 books following on from it, even if it did constantly make me crave a fag.
A book Best enjoyed with a can of lager while sitting in a bin.
May 29, 2024
This book was truly an unexpected read for me—and turned out to be just what I was looking for. I picked this book up during a huge sale my local bookstore was having, and thought it would be a "fun and light read." Boy, was I wrong, and I'm so glad it was wrong. Because this book? It's so raw and raunchy, touches on topics that I wanted to read about, and had characters that are relatable in one way or another. LOVE IT. Totally recommend anyone who considers picking this up to do it.
February 16, 2021
A grungy sort of fascinating, shall we say? Sage and Vicki have taken the thin excuse of setting a garden shed on fire to assume that they're on England's most-wanted list and set off for Paris. They expect to live artists' lives: a rented room, perhaps; a side job to supplement their earnings until they can eke out a living from their art.
Things...do not go to plan.
Every time you think things can't get grungier, you learn otherwise: it's a gradual spiral from crashing with a 'friend' to stealing food from an employer to a night sleeping rough to sleeping rough as a norm. New friends for whom homelessness is, by choice or by chance, a way of living.
It's that gradual slide that fascinates me, as Vicki and Sage again and again find themselves doing things that they couldn't have imagined even a few steps back. Their hard lines repeatedly prove to be soft lines, until something—not necessarily what you'd expect—pushes one of them to do a serious rethink.
I can't say I altogether enjoyed reading this, but enjoyment isn't always the point of grit and grime. It was unlike anything else I've read—and I can't argue with that.
Things...do not go to plan.
Every time you think things can't get grungier, you learn otherwise: it's a gradual spiral from crashing with a 'friend' to stealing food from an employer to a night sleeping rough to sleeping rough as a norm. New friends for whom homelessness is, by choice or by chance, a way of living.
It's that gradual slide that fascinates me, as Vicki and Sage again and again find themselves doing things that they couldn't have imagined even a few steps back. Their hard lines repeatedly prove to be soft lines, until something—not necessarily what you'd expect—pushes one of them to do a serious rethink.
I can't say I altogether enjoyed reading this, but enjoyment isn't always the point of grit and grime. It was unlike anything else I've read—and I can't argue with that.
September 18, 2015
3.5 Stars
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
“Paris is eternal. Art is love. Friendship is forever. Except when it isn’t.” Pompidou Posse is a highly fictionalized account of the author, Sarah Lotz’s, own experience living rough in France. It is the late 1980s and teenaged best friends Vicki and Sage find themselves stranded in Paris after a hasty getaway from their troubles back home in England. After falling in with dubious characters they eventually team up with a group of homeless people begging on the streets in the capital. They call themselves the Pompidou Posse.
The story is told from both friends’ perspectives. Vicki provides a first person insight into their day-to-day lives, describing events as they unfold. Sage, on the other hand, shares her view via a journal, “Dear Gladys,” reflecting on their rather wild experiences. Through a narrative full of expletives – is the amount of swearing really necessary? – the reader learns about their drunken antics, complicated drug induced situations, and their brief attempts at using their artistic skills to earn money, all the while wondering what it was that made them leave England in the first place.
Sage and Vicki’s relationship is an important element of the novel. They argue regularly but they would not have survived with out each other. Pompidou Posse is a story about trust and friendship. By falling in with a group of tramps the girls experience more kindness and help than they did when they were trying to earn money by finding a real job.
Lotz’s writing style makes it easier to understand the two contrasting main characters. Vicki, who grew up in a fairly well off family, comes across as educated and intelligent – although rather naïve. Alternatively, for Sage, Lotz writes in a dialect that suggests that Sage’s background was the complete opposite to Vicki’s.
One thing that confused me in this book was the random use of italics. Every time I thought I had worked out why some passages were italicized, another section would contradict that theory. I can only assume this is a publishing error – I read an uncorrected proof – and that this issue would have been sorted out in the final copies.
Due to the nature of this book and the age of the protagonists, Pompidou Posse falls into the New Adult genre. There are some rather triggering subjects and bad language that renders it inappropriate for younger readers. Despite this it is still an interesting and enjoyable read.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
“Paris is eternal. Art is love. Friendship is forever. Except when it isn’t.” Pompidou Posse is a highly fictionalized account of the author, Sarah Lotz’s, own experience living rough in France. It is the late 1980s and teenaged best friends Vicki and Sage find themselves stranded in Paris after a hasty getaway from their troubles back home in England. After falling in with dubious characters they eventually team up with a group of homeless people begging on the streets in the capital. They call themselves the Pompidou Posse.
The story is told from both friends’ perspectives. Vicki provides a first person insight into their day-to-day lives, describing events as they unfold. Sage, on the other hand, shares her view via a journal, “Dear Gladys,” reflecting on their rather wild experiences. Through a narrative full of expletives – is the amount of swearing really necessary? – the reader learns about their drunken antics, complicated drug induced situations, and their brief attempts at using their artistic skills to earn money, all the while wondering what it was that made them leave England in the first place.
Sage and Vicki’s relationship is an important element of the novel. They argue regularly but they would not have survived with out each other. Pompidou Posse is a story about trust and friendship. By falling in with a group of tramps the girls experience more kindness and help than they did when they were trying to earn money by finding a real job.
Lotz’s writing style makes it easier to understand the two contrasting main characters. Vicki, who grew up in a fairly well off family, comes across as educated and intelligent – although rather naïve. Alternatively, for Sage, Lotz writes in a dialect that suggests that Sage’s background was the complete opposite to Vicki’s.
One thing that confused me in this book was the random use of italics. Every time I thought I had worked out why some passages were italicized, another section would contradict that theory. I can only assume this is a publishing error – I read an uncorrected proof – and that this issue would have been sorted out in the final copies.
Due to the nature of this book and the age of the protagonists, Pompidou Posse falls into the New Adult genre. There are some rather triggering subjects and bad language that renders it inappropriate for younger readers. Despite this it is still an interesting and enjoyable read.
February 14, 2016
Pompidou Posse is a gritty, hard hitting drama, and offers you a completely different view of Paris to one that you would expect. It is set in the late 1980s, and features two runaways Vicki and Sage, who having burnt down the shed at art college, are now scared and on the run.
This features their time in Paris, and various people they meet, and it is not a feel good book. It feels incredibly realistic, and the experiences they girls have, are not ones I would wish on anyone. On the other hand we do get from their perspective a good look at what Paris was like in the 80s, and what they think of people that are sleeping rough.
Pompidou Posse is a book that was definitely out of my regular reading realms, but yet I found I was entranced by what was going on. I was thinking about it during the day at work, and suspect it will be on my mind for days afterwards.
The story progresses from both Vicky and Sage's view points, although Vicky is more about the present, where as Sage is present as a series of journal entries. Pompidou Posse is definitely worth reading, and I found it to be fascinating and well written.
Thank you to the Goodreads: First Reads programme for this advance copy. This was my honest opinion.
This features their time in Paris, and various people they meet, and it is not a feel good book. It feels incredibly realistic, and the experiences they girls have, are not ones I would wish on anyone. On the other hand we do get from their perspective a good look at what Paris was like in the 80s, and what they think of people that are sleeping rough.
Pompidou Posse is a book that was definitely out of my regular reading realms, but yet I found I was entranced by what was going on. I was thinking about it during the day at work, and suspect it will be on my mind for days afterwards.
The story progresses from both Vicky and Sage's view points, although Vicky is more about the present, where as Sage is present as a series of journal entries. Pompidou Posse is definitely worth reading, and I found it to be fascinating and well written.
Thank you to the Goodreads: First Reads programme for this advance copy. This was my honest opinion.
November 19, 2015
I'm a big Sarah Lotz fan. The Three was an amazing book and remains to this day, one of my favourites. And Day Four wasn't half bad. So when I was asked if I wanted to read her semi-autobiographical first novel that had never been published in the UK before? You bet I jumped at the chance.
Pompidou Posse was different from books I normally read, the story of two young teenagers, Sage and Vicki, homeless in Paris in the 80's. It was an interesting read for me. Since it's semi-autobiographical, it doesn't feel like it has the same story arches and pacing I'm used to, there were times that felt quite dramatic and times that were slow. It was hard with some chapters not to want to reach into the book and shake the characters, but it did feel very real. Teenagers make mistakes and I'd be happy to pass this on to someone around the age of Sage and Vicki, almost as a warning. Don't run off to Paris without telling your mother!
It was really interesting seeing where one of my favourite authors began.
Review originally posted on Imogen’s Typewriter.
Pompidou Posse was different from books I normally read, the story of two young teenagers, Sage and Vicki, homeless in Paris in the 80's. It was an interesting read for me. Since it's semi-autobiographical, it doesn't feel like it has the same story arches and pacing I'm used to, there were times that felt quite dramatic and times that were slow. It was hard with some chapters not to want to reach into the book and shake the characters, but it did feel very real. Teenagers make mistakes and I'd be happy to pass this on to someone around the age of Sage and Vicki, almost as a warning. Don't run off to Paris without telling your mother!
It was really interesting seeing where one of my favourite authors began.
Review originally posted on Imogen’s Typewriter.
March 28, 2016
DISCLAIMER: I received this book for free through a Goodreads Giveaway.
I can't begin to explain what an amazing book this is.
Some reviews say this could be classed as YA. I really hope no YA reads this because: 1. not sure how much they would get out of it and 2. some of the actions & decisions illustrated are not to be lightly thought of as normal or "fun". But on the other hand, maybe it would teach YAs a few things about life.
I couldn't stop grinning throughout 90% of the book (and yes, a lot of the grinning was caused by the explicit language). The rest was left for feeling sad because this is how good I believe the writing to be: it takes you there next to them, next to the craziness and joy and freedom and confusion and pain.
The style of writing is entertaining and gripping: alternating diary style with first person story telling keeps you on your toes and makes the brain work extra to position yourself in the timeline and catch up with the events.
I can't begin to explain what an amazing book this is.
Some reviews say this could be classed as YA. I really hope no YA reads this because: 1. not sure how much they would get out of it and 2. some of the actions & decisions illustrated are not to be lightly thought of as normal or "fun". But on the other hand, maybe it would teach YAs a few things about life.
I couldn't stop grinning throughout 90% of the book (and yes, a lot of the grinning was caused by the explicit language). The rest was left for feeling sad because this is how good I believe the writing to be: it takes you there next to them, next to the craziness and joy and freedom and confusion and pain.
The style of writing is entertaining and gripping: alternating diary style with first person story telling keeps you on your toes and makes the brain work extra to position yourself in the timeline and catch up with the events.
March 21, 2026
2026 reread thoughts - I don’t know that I would still rate this a 5. Maybe a 4, but I did still quite enjoy reading it again 10 years later, though I am way too old for this one now. I found I had to suspend belief a bit more than the first time I read it and my intention was to move the book on once I’d finished rereading. However, I find myself still thinking about it and that’s not something that happens too often these days, so I think it has to be a keeper. I still find the ending shocking and impactful and I found more sympathy for the girls this time around too.
2016
Oh my god, that ending!!!
I kind of didn't like the two girls as I couldn't relate to them at all - lets just say this story wasn't what I expected from this pink, pretty book with two punks looking 80's teens on the cover.
However, the style of writing sucked me in and I really quite enjoyed the diary entries to Gladys. It definitely wasn't dull reading no matter how off putting some of the behaviour was.
February 5, 2016
Five stars because there's nothing else quite like this memoir in a novel's dress. One of the few books I've read three times (the last time I was proofreading the UK edition, an even tighter version of the South African original). Authentic, unglamorous account of two runaway teenagers on the streets of Paris. The voices are so real, you hear them in your head. Sometimes funny, often frightening and sad, and with a high quotient of four-letter words per page.
February 15, 2009
I have tried and tried and tried to get into the book. Not necessarily badly written but I simply could not connect to the story or the characters.
I will try it again the future, but, for now, I admit defeat.
I will try it again the future, but, for now, I admit defeat.
November 5, 2015
Liked it, didn't love it. It reminded me of the great American self discovery novels a la On the Road although of a different content. The idea of homelessness in Paris was fascinating but I think ultimately I was expecting something a bit fluffier and this was definitely not that.
June 17, 2016
this was so different from the usual books i read. sage definitely was the star of the story. its the only thing that kept me reading. i wish the ending had more answers like a secret chapter from sage at the end about where she is.
October 16, 2015
Really wasn't a fan of this but quite liked the ending although it was very abrupt.
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