La Chambre de ton père

by Michel Déon

A touching fictionalized memoir and masterly evocation of period from one of the towering French literary figures of the past century.

A patchwork of events narrated from young Edouard's perspective give an intimate view of life in Paris and Monaco in the interwar years. As Teddy makes sense of his bourgeois yet unconventional world, we witness his relationship with his parents and others, and the key moments that will mould his personality.

Michel Déon is a member of the Académie française. Born in Paris in 1919, he is the author of more than fifty works. He lives in Ireland.

Genres: France, Historical Fiction, Novels

128 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Michel Déon was a French novelist and playwright. He adopted the nom de plume Michel Déon, and made it his official name in octobre 1965. He has published over 50 works and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Prix Interallié for his 1970 novel, Les Poneys sauvages (The Wild Ponies). Déon's 1973 novel Un taxi mauve received the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française. His novels have been translated into numerous languages.

In 1978, Déon was elected to the Académie française. Déon is an affiliate member of the Portuguese Academy of Science and Letters. He is a doctor honoris causa at the universities of Athens and Ireland. He is also an honorary citizen of Nice, Aix-en-Provence, and Antibes. His works have been translated into many languages.

Déon and his wife Chantal raised their two children, Alice and Alexandre, on the small Greek island of Spetsai. When the children reached school age in 1968, France was in a state of upheaval. The Déon family settled in Ireland. For over forty years, Déon and his family have made Ireland their home, raising Chantal's fifty horses.

Reviews

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I can certainly appreciate select passages of the story, as a whole it didn't really do much for me. The author also seems to have a habit of spending a lot more time describing fat people in comparison to skinny people, like he had a fascination of sorts or something.

[bookblast official · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Father’s Room is a bittersweet masterpiece of confusion and heartache, nuance and atmosphere, beautifully translated by Julian Evans. It opens a window on to a lost world of elegant bohemia – that of the Romantic Riviera of The Ballets Russes, Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray and Katherine Mansfield.

Reviewed on The BookBlast® Diary 2017

[K.J. Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michel Deon has a way for description, even if he does focus a great deal on describing overweight people. It was just something that stuck out for me, especially his fascination with Evangeline's description.

Although, I found the look back to 1920's Paris and Monte Carlo intriguing, I wasn't totally enamoured with the narrative. That being said, this fictionalised memoir of Teddy is well written and the voice of Teddy does grow as he grows.

[Harrison Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book, but a tough read. I found it difficult to connect many of the threads of this work.