The Price Of Water In Finistère

The Price Of Water In Finistère

by Bodil Malmsten (Author), Frank Perry (Author), Bodil Malmsten (Author), Frank Perry (Author)

Synopsis

"In the same way as there's a partner for every person, there's a place. All you have to do is find the one that's yours among the billions that belong to someone else, you have to be awake, you have to choose." With this conviction in mind, the central character of this engaging and profound novel by acclaimed Swedish writer Bodil Malmsten abandons her native country at the age of 55 to settle in Brittany. For six months she is mind-lessly happy. Then, one fateful February day, she promises her elegant neighbour Madame C to write about her beloved "bit of paradise". At the heart of this portrait of a new life is the conviction that the happiness to be found in Finist-re will not allow itself to be, cannot be, expressed in writing. Embroidered around this seeming paradox are poignant, outraged and thought-provoking observations on the widest range of subjects: how not to buy plants, the elicit pleasures of bargain-hunting, the misery of writer's block, social democracy, racism everywhere, tulipomania, the stubbornness of bank managers, the controlling of moles and slugs, death, political hypocrisy, the delights of wild weather. Malmsten's passion and humour shine through every episode she describes, however minor, offering the reader a window onto a solitary life at once touching, thought-provoking and, occasionally, hilarious.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Harvill Press
Published: 10 Mar 2005

ISBN 10: 1843431645
ISBN 13: 9781843431640
Book Overview: At just the point when most sensible people are settling into the routines of middle age, a feisty, fiercely independent woman abandons her home for a new life in another country

Media Reviews
lively, enchanting and deeply serious book Paul Binding, Guardian
Author Bio
Born in Jamtland in northern Sweden, Bodil Malmsten lived in Stockholm for 40 years before moving to Brittany in 2000. Having started out as a children's author, she turned to TV and radio, then to writing, translating and directing plays for TV and the stage, including work by Joe Orton. Her first book of poems, published in 1977, was followed by six further collections and two volumes of short stories. Malmsten is active as a journalist and public speaker, and is also the author of three prize-winning novels.