Civilisation Française - by Mary Fleming (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When recent college graduate Lily Owens enrolls in the Civilisation Française course at the Sorbonne in 1982, she hopes to put a difficult childhood behind her and to find direction for her future. She moves into a mansion on the place des Vosges where her job is to help the housekeeper, Germaine, care for the elderly, half-blind Amenia Quinon, another ex-pat American. The three women live alone in this old house of silence and secrets, mostly revolving in their own worlds. When Lily extends an invitation to a friend, all of their lives are upended. Moving, sometimes humorous and always engrossing, Civilisation Française is a powerful story about facing our past, discovering a future, and the meaning of home.

Review Quotes

"Anyone who has spent her junior year abroad (or not) will love this Balzacian tale of a dark old house in Paris ... This book will either take you back or introduce you afresh to the wonders of French life." -Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce

"...the setup is intriguing, and readers will want to know the intertwined fates of the two leads."

-Kirkus Reviews

"...taut and subtle....Within its intricate and nuanced portrait of Paris, the novel Civilisation Française explores compelling alliances and experiences."

-Foreword Reviews

"...a haunting novel about the pull of time past and future, and the courage to live fully one's life and death."

-Laura Furman, author of The Mother Who Stayed

"...a fresh, tragicomic view of the Américaine-in-Paris novel ... Eloquent, erudite and entertaining."

-Jake Lamar, author of Ghosts of Saint-Michel

"With her deep knowledge of French manners and mores and mischievous sense of humor, Fleming turns the classic situation on its head. Civilisation Française is a work of grande classe.

-Harriet Welty Rochefort, author of French Toast

"... a young American takes a course in French civilization and learns more than she bargains for... and is the better for it. So is the reader."

- Lily Tuck, author of The Double Life of Liliane