Françoise Sagan (1935-2004) published Bonjour tristesse in 1954 when she was only a teenager and the book shook the French literary world for its refreshing themes, its cruelty and its novelty. Sagan, who was once called a “charming little monster”, describes the summer vacation of the seventeen years old Cécile, her father and his girlfriend in a villa in the French Riviera. Under the blazing sun of the Mediterranean sea, their deep connection and happy-go-lucky personalities will soon face a terrible challenge due to the arrival of another woman. From love to jealousy, a cruel game of manipulation will soon follow – and ends tragically.

The novel, which begins as a banal adolescent story, develops the themes specific to this age, between the desire for emancipation and family attachment. Cecile, caught up in her manipulations, seems to be a victim of her own game when the power of her imagination becomes stronger and truer than reality itself.

We read this book in the spring of 2020.