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Балконът
Какво би било, ако родният ни дом можеше да разкаже историите на всички живели в него преди нас? „Балконът“ проследява живота на няколко поколения – отпреди Голямата война до наши дни – представени от млада американска детегледачка и блестящия й работодател, от еврейска двойка, укриваща се от Гестапо и привлякла вниманието на съседите, от домакиня и нейния любовник… Богати и бедни, млади и стари, могъщи и преследвани, всички тези хора последователно живеят в господарския дом и къщичката на прислугата в малко село близо до Париж. И всички те търсят нещо – любов, ново начало, смисъл на живота или просто оцеляване. А градината, околната гора, балконът на третия етаж са безмълвните свидетели на един век човешка драма.
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 27, 2018
179 people are currently reading
3456 people want to read
About the author
Jane Delury
5 books82 followersJane Delury is the author of The Balcony, a novel-in-stories, which won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her latest novel, Hedge, was a Summer 2023 People Magazine pick and an Oprah Daily Spring 2023 pick. Her stories and essays have been published in The LA Times, The Yale Review, Granta, and other publications. She is a professor of creative writing at The University of Baltimore, where she directs the BA in English.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 262 reviews
March 27, 2018
3.75 stars to The Balcony, a tale of an old French manor house and the fascinating people who resided within! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ .75
If these walls could talk!
The synopsis of The Balcony enthralled me. The story follows a French estate’s residents from the Belle Époque to the present day over several generations, different families, and living under various circumstances.
A young American au pair in the present, an ex-courtesan, a Jewish couple pursued by the Gestapo, the haves and the have-nots, the young and the old; all of their stories are told in an alluring way by Jane Delury. Each of the characters were in search of something while living under that vast roof. These chapters felt much like short stories that were all bound by the historic property.
This book is full of heavy emotion, much of it sadness. The characters are both flawed and fascinating, and their stories converge in a skillful way.
The Balcony is best-suited to a reader who enjoys a cast-full of absorbing characters, short stories with a link tying them together, and a melancholy, somber tone.
Thank you to Jane Delury, Little, Brown and Company, and Netgalley for the ARC. The Balcony will be released on March 27, 2018.
If these walls could talk!
The synopsis of The Balcony enthralled me. The story follows a French estate’s residents from the Belle Époque to the present day over several generations, different families, and living under various circumstances.
A young American au pair in the present, an ex-courtesan, a Jewish couple pursued by the Gestapo, the haves and the have-nots, the young and the old; all of their stories are told in an alluring way by Jane Delury. Each of the characters were in search of something while living under that vast roof. These chapters felt much like short stories that were all bound by the historic property.
This book is full of heavy emotion, much of it sadness. The characters are both flawed and fascinating, and their stories converge in a skillful way.
The Balcony is best-suited to a reader who enjoys a cast-full of absorbing characters, short stories with a link tying them together, and a melancholy, somber tone.
Thank you to Jane Delury, Little, Brown and Company, and Netgalley for the ARC. The Balcony will be released on March 27, 2018.
January 31, 2018
I think this book was meant to be beautiful, and it was. But it was completely lost on me.
You should not attempt to read this book over more than a day or two, unless you have amazing memory. I don't.
This is really a bunch of short stories that are all related. But it jumps time periods and references names from previous stories, and it's hard to follow. I kept wishing I had started the book with a family tree that I built out each chapter.
By the end I had totally forgotten how anyone was related and which time period certain events took place, and the last chapter was something I couldn't understand at all.
Just pay really close attention while reading this. Maybe take some notes. That's not an enjoyable way for me to read but I would've liked to have followed this better.
I think it was too boring for me to reread. I appreciate the concept and the writing, but it's not enough for me to pick this up again and try to piece things together better.
2.5 stars.
You should not attempt to read this book over more than a day or two, unless you have amazing memory. I don't.
This is really a bunch of short stories that are all related. But it jumps time periods and references names from previous stories, and it's hard to follow. I kept wishing I had started the book with a family tree that I built out each chapter.
By the end I had totally forgotten how anyone was related and which time period certain events took place, and the last chapter was something I couldn't understand at all.
Just pay really close attention while reading this. Maybe take some notes. That's not an enjoyable way for me to read but I would've liked to have followed this better.
I think it was too boring for me to reread. I appreciate the concept and the writing, but it's not enough for me to pick this up again and try to piece things together better.
2.5 stars.
December 18, 2017
The story lost me as it jumped between people and time periods. Most of the stories dealt with the dark or unhappy side of life. I was anxious to finish the book and move on. Not for me, despite the French setting. Needed a scorecard to keep track of characters and their connections.
April 13, 2018
This was one of the most oddly written books I've ever read. It's quite short, only 241 pages, but ranges over a hundred years. It's like a generational saga, but unlike most of those, does not proceed in a chronological order. I felt so schizophrenic by the time I was 2/3 of the way through it, that I got out a yellow pad and tried to make a more logical account of the many characters. That was after I heard myself yelling, "Who in the hell is Charlotte?"
I think the author was trying to write an unusual book, and she certainly did that. I think she probably wrote it in a logical manner, and then tossed the chapters up in the air, and however they landed is how they were published. Probably not...but that's how it felt as I read it. The "And Or" chapter was just ridiculous. Just because you can write something in an arcane manner doesn't mean that it's a genius idea.
It was kind of interesting how the author bit by bit revealed how most of the characters were related, but because it was so disjointed I would have to reread the whole book and take notes as I went to be sure how and where all the pieces fit. And I don't care enough to do that!
I think it would make a good story if written in a logical order and expanded, somewhat along the lines of "The Nightingale" or one of Belva Plain's sagas.
Looking back on it, it seems the whole book boiled down to how most people were very disappointed with their lives and especially their spouses. Quite a sad story, really.
I think the author was trying to write an unusual book, and she certainly did that. I think she probably wrote it in a logical manner, and then tossed the chapters up in the air, and however they landed is how they were published. Probably not...but that's how it felt as I read it. The "And Or" chapter was just ridiculous. Just because you can write something in an arcane manner doesn't mean that it's a genius idea.
It was kind of interesting how the author bit by bit revealed how most of the characters were related, but because it was so disjointed I would have to reread the whole book and take notes as I went to be sure how and where all the pieces fit. And I don't care enough to do that!
I think it would make a good story if written in a logical order and expanded, somewhat along the lines of "The Nightingale" or one of Belva Plain's sagas.
Looking back on it, it seems the whole book boiled down to how most people were very disappointed with their lives and especially their spouses. Quite a sad story, really.
April 12, 2018
Review soon.
January 11, 2018
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
“I see how Hugo looks at you, and I see how you look at him. I am only telling you it is alright if you want to.”
“I don’t. And I thought you loved him.”
She smiled at me, warily. “Silly girl,” she said. “What can you possibly know about love?”
This is novel is full of such sad beauty, stories that converge, changing facts, tying moments until everything makes sense. It is at turns romantic and tragic, it is stories in the brutalities of fate. It is a book I have added to my favorites list, because when I devoured it back in November I felt sad it was over. If you’re looking for a light little French read, this isn’t for you. If you want stories with depth, flawed characters, love that is forbidden, characters who make mistakes, all tied to a French estate then it’s perfection.
The novel begins with an American student given the opportunity to work as an au pair for a married couple, Olga and Hugo in the French countryside. Her job is to keep Élodie (their young child) company and help her practice English while Hugo works on his book and Olga prepares for their move. Before long she falls for Hugo’s allure, a flirtation begins but she isn’t seeing the full picture. Her passion is a distraction, and it isn’t until later she really understands her purpose for being there and just why Olga was so careful with Élodie .There is the former courtesan now the lady of the manor who later becomes an eclipse, a man who as a boy protects his damaged brother from his bully of a father, a mother and daughter who find themselves in positions of belongings from a family of Jews who had to escape into the night and everything flows gorgeously.
Hélène wonders how to connect to her with her granddaughter during a visit while her husband drifts further and further away in his mind, the distance of time and age a wall she longs to scale, she decides to let grandchild chose a fruit and is flummoxed by the child’s choice. A woman is seduced by a poet and is much gossiped about, a mangy dog forces his way into a woman’s heart, a woman falls for a much older man not once perceived as a threat by her husband. There is a heritage of secrets passed down, wrongs made right in small gestures, and yet some stories are crushingly sad from start to finish.
Many of the characters bounce through time, and there is a resolution to many of the stories. There are regrets and chances that pass, untried desires, and incidents that alter the course of a life. My heart truly broke reading about the brothers, Guy and Jacques and the difficulties with their father. How Guy’s mental state drives the family to do something irrevocable soured me, and yet it’s a reality some families know too well. Yes, the novel is heavy and dark at times, but it has the ability gut you and I was fully engaged.
I wish I could write about each story at length, I particularly found myself laughing at the thoughts Hélène has about Élodie’s behavior and her body because Europeans deal with issues of ‘weight’ in ways we Americans find downright mean, and they see as refreshing honesty. You can feel her biting her tongue, wanting so badly to correct the child’s ‘imperfections’ and yet she dearly loves her. I found myself nodding, because it sounds like my elders. All their ‘cruelties’ were simply ‘critiques’ to the betterment of their family. Yet Hélène is not cruel, not at all, she is simply the product of an earlier time.
Yes, read it!
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Little, Brown and Company
“I see how Hugo looks at you, and I see how you look at him. I am only telling you it is alright if you want to.”
“I don’t. And I thought you loved him.”
She smiled at me, warily. “Silly girl,” she said. “What can you possibly know about love?”
This is novel is full of such sad beauty, stories that converge, changing facts, tying moments until everything makes sense. It is at turns romantic and tragic, it is stories in the brutalities of fate. It is a book I have added to my favorites list, because when I devoured it back in November I felt sad it was over. If you’re looking for a light little French read, this isn’t for you. If you want stories with depth, flawed characters, love that is forbidden, characters who make mistakes, all tied to a French estate then it’s perfection.
The novel begins with an American student given the opportunity to work as an au pair for a married couple, Olga and Hugo in the French countryside. Her job is to keep Élodie (their young child) company and help her practice English while Hugo works on his book and Olga prepares for their move. Before long she falls for Hugo’s allure, a flirtation begins but she isn’t seeing the full picture. Her passion is a distraction, and it isn’t until later she really understands her purpose for being there and just why Olga was so careful with Élodie .There is the former courtesan now the lady of the manor who later becomes an eclipse, a man who as a boy protects his damaged brother from his bully of a father, a mother and daughter who find themselves in positions of belongings from a family of Jews who had to escape into the night and everything flows gorgeously.
Hélène wonders how to connect to her with her granddaughter during a visit while her husband drifts further and further away in his mind, the distance of time and age a wall she longs to scale, she decides to let grandchild chose a fruit and is flummoxed by the child’s choice. A woman is seduced by a poet and is much gossiped about, a mangy dog forces his way into a woman’s heart, a woman falls for a much older man not once perceived as a threat by her husband. There is a heritage of secrets passed down, wrongs made right in small gestures, and yet some stories are crushingly sad from start to finish.
Many of the characters bounce through time, and there is a resolution to many of the stories. There are regrets and chances that pass, untried desires, and incidents that alter the course of a life. My heart truly broke reading about the brothers, Guy and Jacques and the difficulties with their father. How Guy’s mental state drives the family to do something irrevocable soured me, and yet it’s a reality some families know too well. Yes, the novel is heavy and dark at times, but it has the ability gut you and I was fully engaged.
I wish I could write about each story at length, I particularly found myself laughing at the thoughts Hélène has about Élodie’s behavior and her body because Europeans deal with issues of ‘weight’ in ways we Americans find downright mean, and they see as refreshing honesty. You can feel her biting her tongue, wanting so badly to correct the child’s ‘imperfections’ and yet she dearly loves her. I found myself nodding, because it sounds like my elders. All their ‘cruelties’ were simply ‘critiques’ to the betterment of their family. Yet Hélène is not cruel, not at all, she is simply the product of an earlier time.
Yes, read it!
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Little, Brown and Company
March 22, 2018
Title...The Balcony
Author...Jane Drury
My " in a nutshell" summary...
This book seemed to me to be a series of related short stories that were connected by time and characters and events. The stories took place in France...often in the same cottage/country house.
My thoughts after reading this book...
Hmmm...my thoughts...I liked some of the chapters...some were difficult for me to enjoy. People lived, became ill, died...people were affected by hunger, war, their own frailties...life in general.
What I loved about this book...
I know I didn’t really love this book but it was a thought provoking sometimes enjoyable reading experience. I loved the author’s descriptive writing.
What I did not love about this book...
There was no fast pace with this book...no chilling page turning.
Final thoughts...
Would this be a good choice for you...potential reader?
I am not sure how to recommend this book. Perhaps readers who enjoy history, flawed characters, sadness and a bit of joy...would enjoy this book. I don’t think I want to read another book like this any time soon. It was a slow reading experience...for me.
I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.
June 20, 2018
The Balcony
is a series of short stories featuring the locals of a small French manor and cottage over a century.
We are introduced to men, women and children who have lived in the area, worked for the family, and listened to brief snippets of their lives, hardships, loves and tragedies through the years.
The problem with these short vignettes is you never really get to know anyone well enough to like them, much less understand them.
I found it difficult to identify with anyone and there was just one too many stories about adultering.
Life is much more than falling in love with old men and having affairs because you have unresolved Freudian daddy issues.
At first, I mistakenly assumed the stories all had something to do with the balcony of the manor or the balcony featured prominently in the stories.
I think I would have preferred it if the manor or the balcony had been a focal point of the stories, in that the house itself is a character since the lives of the inhabitants revolve around it and they were so dull.
The writing was fine but nothing could alleviate the monotony and drudgery of people I didn't care for.
We are introduced to men, women and children who have lived in the area, worked for the family, and listened to brief snippets of their lives, hardships, loves and tragedies through the years.
The problem with these short vignettes is you never really get to know anyone well enough to like them, much less understand them.
I found it difficult to identify with anyone and there was just one too many stories about adultering.
Life is much more than falling in love with old men and having affairs because you have unresolved Freudian daddy issues.
At first, I mistakenly assumed the stories all had something to do with the balcony of the manor or the balcony featured prominently in the stories.
I think I would have preferred it if the manor or the balcony had been a focal point of the stories, in that the house itself is a character since the lives of the inhabitants revolve around it and they were so dull.
The writing was fine but nothing could alleviate the monotony and drudgery of people I didn't care for.
August 26, 2018
This is a collection of pointless short stories very loosely connected by a house outside of Paris. The stories might also have been connected by characters, but since (for no discernible reason) they weren't presented in chronological order, it was impossible to keep track of them. The stories all felt so shallow and uneventful that I read four of them and gave up. But I confess that I am not usually a fan of short stories. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
December 28, 2021
I want to give this book a 2.5 rating. This book kept me engaged and made me mad at the same time. I find genealogy really interesting so I enjoyed reading each chapter/story and learning how each story/family connects. I also found it interesting that you learn a bit about each character through the eyes of others and we see into different parts of those lives as this book goes back and forth in time. HOWEVER, this book is really hard to follow, there are so many people I had to make my own family tree. The author also rushed a lot of details and told us the story instead of showed it. The ending also made me mad as it changes pov’s and is on the pov of the daughter from chapter one, however is it super unclear what is happening, it does this and, or thing for each paragraph and you are reading it as if you the the guy she is having an affair with, not sure if we are supposed to be in her head or not but it made me uncomfortable. I liked that each story had its own issues and each chapter unpacks a little more about each person and timeline, so it was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions for me. It wasn’t until at least half way through the book that I could start to see how the characters connected and I could actually get into the book. The balcony house should have been called the manor as it’s only referred to the balcony at the beginning and it wasn’t until half way where I could see how that house was apparent in the other stories. There are a lot of loose ends I would have liked to see answered the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2018
Do you ever read a book and think, "Wow, even I probably could've done that better?"
That's how I felt about The Balcony .
I really loved the idea, and I loved the synopsis even more. The whole concept of a string of stories that are solely connected by the setting, transcending time and place, was really interesting to me. I've always been one who's curious about the stories behind houses and buildings, and I had such high hopes for this book.
The first chapter, or story, was promising. An American girl comes to France as a nanny for a French couple. The tale barely took up about 40 pages but still managed to feel rushed and distant, as if it was about half the length it actually was. The rest of the chapters I found myself incredibly bored during.
Don't get me wrong, there were totally interesting parts of this novel, including , and it was little things like this that kept me reading the novel.
Overall though, I don't think it did what it was expected to. The various stories were choppy, and some had years attached and others didn't. There were one or two good tales, but overall the book left me bored and confused.
That's how I felt about The Balcony .
I really loved the idea, and I loved the synopsis even more. The whole concept of a string of stories that are solely connected by the setting, transcending time and place, was really interesting to me. I've always been one who's curious about the stories behind houses and buildings, and I had such high hopes for this book.
The first chapter, or story, was promising. An American girl comes to France as a nanny for a French couple. The tale barely took up about 40 pages but still managed to feel rushed and distant, as if it was about half the length it actually was. The rest of the chapters I found myself incredibly bored during.
Don't get me wrong, there were totally interesting parts of this novel, including , and it was little things like this that kept me reading the novel.
Overall though, I don't think it did what it was expected to. The various stories were choppy, and some had years attached and others didn't. There were one or two good tales, but overall the book left me bored and confused.
April 24, 2018
The Balcony was a perfectly good read. The sections come together quite neatly, revealing bits and pieces about other sections as they unravel. I certainly thought some were much stronger than others, and I particularly disliked the section in which Adèle and her parents went on vacation - and I very much enjoyed the final section, which was quite fragmentary and had a very different feel from the others. Overall, the prose was capable with occasional flashes of elegance, and the characters were usually interesting and different enough that it wasn't terribly confusing to try and hold on to the threads of so many.
Read
January 28, 2018Merde! January hasn't even come to an end yet and I'm already marking a book as a DNF. :-( I'm just not connecting in any way with this one.
This was a highly anticipated book, I was happy to have received it from Netgalley, but I'm just going to have to shelve this one.
This was a highly anticipated book, I was happy to have received it from Netgalley, but I'm just going to have to shelve this one.
April 26, 2019
I really wanted to like this book, I just couldn't get into it. I didn't mind that each chapter was about a different person or era. I normally love those kinds of books but I just couldn't get into this one. The writing was good, the stories not bad, I just couldn't connect with any of them.
January 2, 2022
Drivel.
April 14, 2022
This is one of the finest books I've ever read and I've read a lot. These interconnected stories span generations - all housed in a single property in a village near Paris. The author allows us glimpses into lives of all ages and does this profoundly. The hidden regrets, sorrows, desires of these lives are beautifully depicted. I never wanted this book to end. If you enjoy reading about people seeking a meaning in life, or if you're one of those readers who wonder what stories a house holds, this is the novel for you.
April 5, 2018
The first and second stories were only okay. I decided to stick with it. The third story was boring. The characters weren’t dynamic or interesting and the story went nowhere. I really wanted to like this book because I liked the premise. However, I didn’t see finishing this book as a good investment of my time.
November 20, 2018
This was a big nope for me. Too much jumping around in time, too many characters, and way, way too much over-the-top sadness. I think the book was supposed to be "beautifully melancholy" but Delury couldn't quite pull it off. I stopped reading 2/3 of the way through.
June 13, 2022
Добре написана книга, но нещо дълбоко не и достигаше.
Сега, половин година след като я прочетох, не помня нищо от нея. Останал ми е само смътният спомен за тъга. Нищо повече.
Сега, половин година след като я прочетох, не помня нищо от нея. Останал ми е само смътният спомен за тъга. Нищо повече.
April 1, 2018
Ever wonder the history of a home and its occupants? Multiple stories, time periods, family lineage, and historic goings-on fill the pages of this "if walls could talk" novel. Delury was able to set a perfect country landscape, vivid and lush and oh so very French, sadly I was unable to connect well enough to the inhabitants and had a difficult time following the family's ancestry.
July 3, 2018
One house with ten interwoven stories spanning over a century.
When I began reading The Balcony I hadn’t actually read the blurb and was initially thrown by the fact that I had what seemed to be totally discrete and unconnected stories. My preconceived ideas were quickly challenged and I found myself immersed into a lyrical and enchanting world based around one house and its occupants.
The quality of Jane Delury’s writing is so sophisticated and actually quite tense and disconcerting so that I felt reading The Balcony was like having something tantalising and beautiful just out of my grasp. I loved the atmosphere of the writing and could appreciate its depth and richness but I can’t quite define why it is so impactful. Having the one house as a backdrop gives a coherence and balance that is perfectly poised.
The way in which history swirls on the page, with links between the stories being uncovered a bit like fairy tale treasure, is spellbinding. Sometimes it is the characters who reverberate through the tales, sometimes a theme and sometimes something tangible like peg solitaire or Russian dolls. Indeed, the Russian dolls are an apt metaphor for the structure of the stories. Each is different and unique in its own right but connected and understandable in relation to the others.
And the themes depicted here are universal ones that permeate humanity; love, hate, death, birth, jealousy, survival, war, identity are all here, making for a book that a reader can return to several times over and still find something new and relevant.
The Balcony was unexpected. Each story stands alone and is satisfying to read, but taking the collection together, seeing the connections intertwine and having those moments of clarity and understanding elevate The Balcony into a truly mesmerising read. I thought it was intelligently written, beautifully constructed and fascinating. I really enjoyed it.
When I began reading The Balcony I hadn’t actually read the blurb and was initially thrown by the fact that I had what seemed to be totally discrete and unconnected stories. My preconceived ideas were quickly challenged and I found myself immersed into a lyrical and enchanting world based around one house and its occupants.
The quality of Jane Delury’s writing is so sophisticated and actually quite tense and disconcerting so that I felt reading The Balcony was like having something tantalising and beautiful just out of my grasp. I loved the atmosphere of the writing and could appreciate its depth and richness but I can’t quite define why it is so impactful. Having the one house as a backdrop gives a coherence and balance that is perfectly poised.
The way in which history swirls on the page, with links between the stories being uncovered a bit like fairy tale treasure, is spellbinding. Sometimes it is the characters who reverberate through the tales, sometimes a theme and sometimes something tangible like peg solitaire or Russian dolls. Indeed, the Russian dolls are an apt metaphor for the structure of the stories. Each is different and unique in its own right but connected and understandable in relation to the others.
And the themes depicted here are universal ones that permeate humanity; love, hate, death, birth, jealousy, survival, war, identity are all here, making for a book that a reader can return to several times over and still find something new and relevant.
The Balcony was unexpected. Each story stands alone and is satisfying to read, but taking the collection together, seeing the connections intertwine and having those moments of clarity and understanding elevate The Balcony into a truly mesmerising read. I thought it was intelligently written, beautifully constructed and fascinating. I really enjoyed it.
February 28, 2021
Every Valentine's Day, my local bookstore features a "Blind Date with a Book" display where various books are wrapped in brown paper and the only information you see about them is their genre and a quick synopsis. Every year I gamble and purchase a book. Last year I ended up with a Charles Dickens. This year I ended up with "The Balcony" by Jane Delury, which is funny because Jane Delury was my professor at the University of Baltimore. I took a fiction class with her. I knew she had published a book and I saw it featured in People Magazine a while back, but I hadn't bought it or read it yet (I always meant to).
The book's main character is actually an old house - a property that is located in a village outside of Paris, France. The book is packed full of short stories featuring characters that are all connected because of this house. In some stories, the house and property are described in great detail. In others, the house is briefly mentioned. So many themes run through these vignettes - love, marriage, adultery, motherhood, fatherhood, brotherhood, sisterhood, and so on...
Pros? Being that the house is located in France, all of the stories are very French. From the language to the food to the history to the culture to the music to the architecture... very French. I loved having words from the French language peppered throughout each story. I tried my hand at pronouncing them and guessing some of their meanings (as not all are translated, but they are easily recognizable). My favorite stories were the ones that were based during WWII, as that is usually my favorite time period to read about.
Cons? The stories are not set chronologically, which made me constantly have to flip back and forth to figure out who was who or what was what. I wish there was a family tree or some type of page that would have helped me. I felt a little dumb because I couldn't remember half of the characters by the time I was nearing the end of the book. Some stories I enjoyed the characters and others I did not. I never found myself completely submersed in any of the stories, so I was never racing to get to the next page. The last vignette was written in a different tense which threw me off at first, I had to reread to make sure I was understanding what was happening.
Overall each story is fully developed and as each story ends its concluded well. Jane Delury fleshed out every character and story, leaving no stone unturned. If I were to recommend this book to someone I would tell them to read as much of the book as possible in one sitting in order to remember all of the characters and/or take some notes! Jane Delury's writing is exquisite, so I know that I probably should have invested more patience when reading it, which is something I would say when recommending it.
The book's main character is actually an old house - a property that is located in a village outside of Paris, France. The book is packed full of short stories featuring characters that are all connected because of this house. In some stories, the house and property are described in great detail. In others, the house is briefly mentioned. So many themes run through these vignettes - love, marriage, adultery, motherhood, fatherhood, brotherhood, sisterhood, and so on...
Pros? Being that the house is located in France, all of the stories are very French. From the language to the food to the history to the culture to the music to the architecture... very French. I loved having words from the French language peppered throughout each story. I tried my hand at pronouncing them and guessing some of their meanings (as not all are translated, but they are easily recognizable). My favorite stories were the ones that were based during WWII, as that is usually my favorite time period to read about.
Cons? The stories are not set chronologically, which made me constantly have to flip back and forth to figure out who was who or what was what. I wish there was a family tree or some type of page that would have helped me. I felt a little dumb because I couldn't remember half of the characters by the time I was nearing the end of the book. Some stories I enjoyed the characters and others I did not. I never found myself completely submersed in any of the stories, so I was never racing to get to the next page. The last vignette was written in a different tense which threw me off at first, I had to reread to make sure I was understanding what was happening.
Overall each story is fully developed and as each story ends its concluded well. Jane Delury fleshed out every character and story, leaving no stone unturned. If I were to recommend this book to someone I would tell them to read as much of the book as possible in one sitting in order to remember all of the characters and/or take some notes! Jane Delury's writing is exquisite, so I know that I probably should have invested more patience when reading it, which is something I would say when recommending it.
June 26, 2018
The stories told in this capable debut are built around a place where, as different people move in and out of the old manor house and cottage in a small, nondescript village somewhere outside Paris, the meanings of the spaces, objects, and surroundings change, history re-writes, and a larger story is told. As someone who has lived in a family with wide spread generations and listened to stories told by a grandmother born in the 19th century, I was enthralled by all of the different pieces the voices of different decades, from 1910 to the present, contributed to the whole of the story of this place at the edge of a forest. The book is actually a series of linked stories, moving mostly forward, a couple of times backward. Each story reveals a little more of the stories before. There’s not a lot of happiness or feelings of warmth between characters or among families. There’s a fair amount of sorrow, and so many unfulfilled or half fulfilled longings. The writing is careful and slim, at times maybe a little chilly. But by the end I felt oddly fulfilled, as if I had looked through the photo albums of that piece of land as a docent narrated the stories of what I saw.
September 3, 2018
This book is difficult to follow. We jump from time period to time period, following the exploits of loosely connected characters, none of them memorable enough to make an impact or to have their stories carry over when they are encountered again. While some of this book has the ring of literature to it (Kate's story and her relationship with the dog seems to come closest), at other times the author's techniques are too distracting: the generous use of untranslated French, which feels pretentious, the hopping from viewpoint to viewpoint and time period to time period. Perhaps if this book were arranged chronologically it would be easier to follow. The writing isn't bad, but it isn't good enough to make me want to finish it for the author's use of language alone. This writer has potential but perhaps needs to refine her vision and be more mindful of the challenges of creating a coherent storyline.
March 20, 2019
From the summary on the inside cover, and what I'd read online, this book seemed promising. Turned out it failed to impress. No, it just wasn't what I was expecting at all. I tried to like this story and the characters in it, however, I could not. Found this book so boring and struggled to keep on reading, hoping I suppose that it would rally at some point and end with a bang. It did not. Rarely give a 1 star but this one got it. "The Balcony" was not for me though it may/probably will delight other readers.
October 1, 2020
Have you ever moved into a house and wondered about the people who lived there before you? THE BALCONY is a good book for you!
The manor this story revolves around is in France, with beautiful grounds and a 'cottage' originally built for servants. With an interconnected cast of characters, BALCONY is overall a well-written read.
Two things tho:
-I read the ending twice and have to admit that I just don't get it, I really wish I did but its meaning flew right over my head.....
- I had a few years of high school French which helped somewhat, but there are too many phrases in the language.. Trying to translate interrupted the flow of reading which I found irksome.
The manor this story revolves around is in France, with beautiful grounds and a 'cottage' originally built for servants. With an interconnected cast of characters, BALCONY is overall a well-written read.
Two things tho:
-I read the ending twice and have to admit that I just don't get it, I really wish I did but its meaning flew right over my head.....
- I had a few years of high school French which helped somewhat, but there are too many phrases in the language.. Trying to translate interrupted the flow of reading which I found irksome.
July 10, 2018
This book is definitely outside my typical spectrum of reads. I knew that the book was about a house and all the people who had lived in it over time, however, I wasn’t expecting as many stories. I wish it was told in chronological order because it was hard to keep track of who was who and what characters were in what time periods. Overall, I enjoyed it but it’s not my kind of book.
May 7, 2018
This is actually more of a book of short stories involving a manor in France. From an aur pair girl in love with her employer and how it affects her marriage to a an i phone addicted teen viviting her grandmother. All residents of the manor the stories span from 1890 to modern day times.
January 9, 2019
Great piece of literary fiction. A little confusing at times but overall pretty easy to follow. I liked how the characters were recurring. I wish I could find an outline that showed a visual family tree.
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