Set in Paris, LE DIVORCE is an alluring and elegant comedy of love and divorce French-style. Isabel Walker, a young, not-so-innocent, American abroad, arrives in Paris to find that her sister's French husband ('the frog prince') has just walked out. While Isabel embarks on her own sentimental education - seduced by gourmet food, antiques, existentialism and an older man - her sister's marriage disintergrates into bitter Franco-American wrangles over money, titles and a mysterious painting. With a sharp tongue and an ironic ...
Read More
Set in Paris, LE DIVORCE is an alluring and elegant comedy of love and divorce French-style. Isabel Walker, a young, not-so-innocent, American abroad, arrives in Paris to find that her sister's French husband ('the frog prince') has just walked out. While Isabel embarks on her own sentimental education - seduced by gourmet food, antiques, existentialism and an older man - her sister's marriage disintergrates into bitter Franco-American wrangles over money, titles and a mysterious painting. With a sharp tongue and an ironic eye for the foibles of the Parisian bourgeoisie, the French art world and American ex-patriots, Isabel is a collector of experience, even those she can't control. Comedy veers suddenly close to tragedy as passionate jealousy, self-interest and artistic intrigue interweave.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Isabel Walker, a young, not-so-innocent, American abroad, arrives in Paris to find that her sister's French husband ('the frog prince') has just walked out. While Isabel embarks on her own sentimental education, her sister's marriage disintegrates into bitter Franco-American wrangles over money, titles and a mysterious painting. Num Pages: 320 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 198 x 129 x 25. Weight in Grams: 358. 1998. Paperback.....We ship daily from our Bookshop.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 320 p. William Abrahams Book. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
I never quite clicked with this book. The author fails to establish a consistent tone-- it starts off as an apparent comedy of manners (great culture clash premise: Isabel Walker, young California film-school drop-out heads to Paris to help pregnant sister who's French husband has just ditched her), but then nothing comedic happens. On the contrary, as the book progresses, with various sub-plots woven through (including Isabel's truly repellent affair with an elderly uncle of her brother-in-law), Ms. Johnson comes up with ever more preposterous (and unpleasant) scenarios until the book ends with Isabel supposedly gaining a modicum of maturity (although all the characters seem so entitled and self-absorbed, who really cares?) What kept me reading were the delicious nuggets of French culture and language throughout the book. It may be worth it if you're a real Francophile.