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Jardin des Cinq Sens: Yvoire’s magical lakeside garden
A brief history of a special French medieval garden on the banks of Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie
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July reading recommendations: three books about France in English
Our pick includes some romantic Paris fiction and a gripping wartime art theft novel
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Connexion readers recommend more French novels for summer
Modern fiction joins classics in a fresh selection of novels to improve your French
Soft in the Head
Soft in the Head, Marie-Sabine Roger, Pushkin Press, £8.99 ISBN: 978-1-78227-1581
HIS mother calls him a “halfwit” but something is unleashed when 45-year-old Germain starts an unusual and life-transforming friendship with 85-year-old Margueritte.
They become friendly after chatting when he goes to count the pigeons in the square and she introduces him to books. Soon Germain learns the value and power of words.
Uplifting, bright and hopeful from the first pages, this is a wonderful little book. It follows Germain perfectly from the short tabloidese of the first chapters to the longer, more thoughtful vocabulary later. Frank Wynne’s translation is superb.
