Who Would Like This Book:
Bonjour Tristesse is a slim, sultry slice of French 1950s hedonism, dazzling with its depiction of a privileged, sun-drenched summer on the Riviera and a rebellious teenager caught up in love, jealousy, and manipulation. Sagan’s writing - remarkably mature considering she was only 18 - captures the shifting, messy feelings of adolescence with style and precision. If you love intoxicating coming-of-age stories, complex female leads, or are a Francophile who enjoys stories of glamorous existential ennui, this is your book. Bonus points if you’re into literary classics that scandalized their era!
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers are turned off by the novel’s air of self-indulgence and the unsympathetic, shallow characters. If you have little patience for privileged teens, their melodramatic woes, or ‘first world problems,’ Cecile’s antics might frustrate more than fascinate. The story has a moody, introspective tone that can feel aimless or superficial if you’re after a strong plot or deep character growth. And if you prefer your classics brimming with life lessons rather than ambiguous consequences, you might find this more annoying than enlightening.
About:
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan is a coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s on the French Riviera. The story follows seventeen-year-old Cecile, her widowed playboy father, and his two lovers as they navigate complex relationships during a summer holiday. Cecile, the protagonist, schemes to break up her father's engagement to Anne, a sophisticated and controlling woman, while also experiencing her first love affair with a local boy named Cyril. The book captures the moody atmosphere of the French Riviera and explores themes of teenage rebellion, family dynamics, and the transition from youth to adulthood.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The novel includes content warnings related to themes of manipulation, mental health (including suicidal ideation), and the emotional consequences of romantic relationships.
Has Romance?
Romance is a significant aspect of Bonjour tristesse, as it explores both Cecile’s romantic entanglements and her father’s relationships with women.
From The Publisher:
Set against the translucent beauty of France in summer, Bonjour Tristesse is a bittersweet tale narrated by Cecile, a seventeen-year-old girl on the brink of womanhood, whose meddling in her father's love life leads to tragic consequences.
Freed from boarding school, Cecile lives in unchecked enjoyment with her youngish, widowed father - an affectionate rogue, dissolute and promiscuous. Having accepted the constantly changing women in his life, Cecile pursues a sexual conquest of her own with a "tall and almost beautiful" law student. Then, a new woman appears in her father's life. Feeling threatened but empowered, Cécile sets in motion a devastating plan that claims a surprising victim.
Deceptively simple in structure, Bonjour Tristesse is a complex and beautifully composed portrait of casual amorality and a young woman's desperate attempt to understand and control the world around her.
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What can you read after
Bonjour tristesse?
About the Author:
Françoise Sagan was born in France in 1935. Bonjour tristesse (1954), published when she was just 19, became a succès de scandale and even earned its author a papal denunciation. Sagan went on to write many other novels, plays and screenplays, and died in 2004.
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