After Breathless

by Jennifer Potter

Janey meets Georges at a party in Bordeaux and is drawn to him because he reminds her of Jean Paul Belmondo in 'Breathless'. But dark secrets lie in his past and she throws away their grand passion in a moment's panic. What prompted her flight and what has she spent so long trying to forget

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 1995

About the author

Jennifer Potter, born in 1949, writes about the history and culture of plants, plantsmen and gardens. She reviews regularly for the Times Literary Supplement, and has been variously a Royal Literary Fund Fellow, a Hawthornden Fellow and an Honorary Teaching Fellow on the Warwick Writing Programme.

Reviews

[Saskia Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

AFTER BREATHLESS is about a 19 year old British student studying in France in 1969, and it's a must read for fans of French film, as I am. Janey, the protagonist, has an affair with an older French man, Georges, because he reminds her of Jean Paul Belmondo in "Breathless". The book reads, in part, like a homage. Georges is compelling, but shadowy. Right from the start we know he has a double life. The story is told in flashback from 20 years on. Janey is forced to confront the ghost of her past, when she sees her old lover on TV. Told in first person, the tale comes together in a compelling jigsaw, the pieces all finally slotting into place.

Early on in the book it reminded me of one of my favourite films, Betty Blue, and it also reminded me of Anais Nin (although I hasten to add it is very sexy throughout, but this is not erotica, nor is it romance.) Later on in its characterisation, its reflections on life and the crazy things we do when we're in love, reminded me of another of my favourites, Almodovar. Potter looks at human nature, how we view our own image and that of those we love, how we hide from what we don’t want to know, how we see the past and how that effects our future. There is a subtle commentary about art, poetry, literature and philosophy woven throughout. There is humour, mystery, and suspense. It says on the cover “violently romantic.” It is, but it’s not a romance, in fact in a subtle twist at the end the protagonist says: "I want to tell you a story...I thought it was a love story, but it’s not." Intrigued? I was. Such a terrific read. I wish I could write like that.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads a bit like a French film noir. It is written in the style of reminiscence as narrator Janey looks back on a passionate summer of love with her gorgeous but dangerous older lover Georges. It has all the passion of first love but in this case it is a twisted and dark passion with a slightly sick edge - the old woman scene has scarred me for life!

[Zoella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little read. Follows the intense relationship between an English student living in France and her older, dysfunctional boyfriend. First love, and its enduring scars on the soul, is treated with insight and humour.