Translated by Irene Ash
Our last day in Paris and I spent it reading Bonjour Tristesse – a very stylish little novella that was published when Francoise Sagan was just 18 years old. The main character, Cecile, is about the same age as the author and this story chronicles the dramatic summer she spends in the South of France with her father and his fiancee.
Cecile is a spoiled and willful girl and she makes a choice, against her conscience, that causes tragedy and heartbreak. The bulk of the novella examines Cecile’s inner battle and her refusal to acknowledge that horrible consequences could result from her plans. We see the action from Cecile’s point of view, which helps the reader to sympathize with her, because otherwise we might think she is a monster. The tone of the novel is very light so I thought it was going to be a comedy. It does have moments of humor, but ultimately it mirrors the title in that it is quite sad. As I read I despised the selfish creature telling the story, but there was no way I could have stopped reading. It was just too compelling.
The author herself sounds very like Cecile as I learned from reading her obituary here.
Have you read Bonjour Tristesse? What did you think?
Oh my…this pie.
A Certain Fondness 
I love your copy of Bonjour Tristesse. I read it a couple of years ago for Paris in July. A good summer read.
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Isn’t it a lovely cover? This really is a good summer read – short and compelling.
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I know the title, from the film with David Niven and Deborah Kerr – it plays fairly regularly on Turner Classic Movies. But I didn’t know it was based on a novel!
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I knew about the movie, but have never seen it. I love ’50’s movies and I love Deborah Kerr so now I will keep on eye on TCM for when it plays again. I’d love to see it!
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You’ve reminded me I have this on a shelf somewhere and haven’t read it. I like the sound of it, and I love your super stylish copy!
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This copy is really nice. I think it is part of the Penguin Essentials series which I love. I want to buy more of them.
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I loved it when I read it have a few of her other books on my shelves ,so talent for her age when she wrote it ,all the best stu
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Very talented! I couldn’t believe it was written by a teenager.
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