1961: Les Fiancés du Puits-Doré

by | Updated on 13/09/2024 | Published on 04/05/1961 | 1953-1961 Time to learn to live, Bibliographies, Youth

Hachette, coll. Bibliothèque verte n°185, 187 pages.

Alongside Don Quixote and Cyrano de Bergerac, the honoured bandit Mandrin Belle-Humeur has his place in Françoise’s pantheon. She also dedicated a book to him in 1957. Our French Robin Hood shares the limelight here with an 11-year-old girl who displays an audacity, courage and commitment “not expected of people of her sex”, to paraphrase an 18th-century phrase.

This novel from the Bibliothèque Verte, much better written than the rest of the collection as far as I remember, is very much in line with Françoise’s other children’s books: colorful and meticulous descriptions, realistic historical context, adventures and twists in all chapters. A book quite suited to instilling a taste for literature. (Vincent)

1960: Planète sans adieu

by | Updated on 13/09/2024 | Published on 04/05/1960 | 1953-1961 Time to learn to live, Bibliographies, Science fiction

Paris, Arthème Fayard, 26 pages.

Pages 23 to 46 in a collective work. Short story from SF: time travel, a heroine, and a fun imaginative game about the influence of glaciations on the development of Homo .

If the text is of no great consequence, Françoise’s touch is there. And for her, this may have been a relaxing writing game, a recreation of her in-depth work of those years. (Vincent)

1959: Le Gabier de Surcouf

by | Updated on 13/09/2024 | Published on 04/05/1959 | 1953-1961 Time to learn to live, Bibliographies, Youth

Bruxelles, Éditions Brepols (Bruxelles), 138 pages.

This children’s book would have had its place in the Bibliothèque Verte. The story takes place in the Ile de France, which will become Mauritius. We find there the famous corsair, a young gabier, a young philosopher, etc., and a certain Mr. Piston, incarnation of one of Françoise’s ancestors.

Attached to her Breton and maritime roots, the author would have loved this song by Michel Tonnerre in this very beautiful interpretation by Thalie (who knows Françoise and appreciates her). Thank you to this one for allowing me to insert it here, and to Michel’s heirs. (Vincent)