Books from France
116 popular french books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Europe Challenge" were written by authors from France.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
31.
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin EN
Description:
A 2020 INDIES INTRODUCE PICK A POIGNANT RUNAWAY BESTSELLER full of French charm and memorable characters, Fresh Water for Flowers is Valérie Perrin's English debut. Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues--gravediggers, groundskeepers, and a priest--visit her to warm themselves in her lodge, where laughter, companionship, and occasional tears mix with the coffee she offers them. Her life is lived to the rhythms of their funny, moving confidences. Violette's routine is disrupted one day by the arriv... continue
32.
Germinal by Emile Zola EN
Description:
The thirteenth novel in Émile Zola’s great Rougon-Macquart sequence, Germinal expresses outrage at the exploitation of the many by the few, but also shows humanity’s capacity for compassion and hope. Etienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is a clever but uneducated young man with a dangerous temper. Forced to take a back-breaking job at Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry, and in debt, unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a s... continue
33.
Gigi and The Cat by Colette EN
Description:
In these two stories, Colette reveals her grasp of the politics of love. Gigi is being educated in the skills of the courtesan. However, when it comes to the question of Gaston Lachaille, she does not want to obey the rules. This translation originally published: London: Secker & Warburg, 1953.
34.
Description:
Translated from the French by Tanya Leslie 'Absolutely extraordinary' - Liberation In 1963, Annie Ernaux, 23 and single, realises she is pregnant. Shame arises in her like a plague. Understanding that her pregnancy will mark her and her family as social failures, she knows she cannot keep her child. This is the story, written forty years later, of a trauma Ernaux never overcame. Abortion was illegal at the time and she attempted, in vain, to self-administer with a knitting needle and nearly died. An exceptionally moving account of a tragic experience.
35.
Henry şi June : din Jurnalul dragostei necenzurat : 1931-1932 by Anaïs Nin RO
Description:
Carte ecranizata in 1990 in regia lui Philip Kaufman, cu Fred Ward, Uma Thurman si Maria de Medeiros in rolurile principale
Anais Nin iubeste pasional, dincolo de conventii si pudori mostenite. Il iubeste pe Henry Miller pentru geniul si senzualitatea lui. Pe June Miller pentru frumusete si mister. Pe Hugo, sotul ei, pentru tandretea cu care o protejeaza. Pe Eduardo, varul de care a fost indragostita in copilarie, pentru farmecul lui de efeb. In jurnal, fantasmele se intalnesc cu luciditatea, iar rezultatul este o viziune unica asupra erotismului si fidelitatii.
36.
HHhH by Laurent Binet EN
Description:
Everyone has heard of Reinhard Heydrich, the Butcher of Prague. And most have heard stories of his assassination at the hands of two Czechoslovakian partisans. But who exactly were the forgotten heroes who killed one of history’s most notorious men? In this novel, HHhH (Himmlers Hirn heiBt Heydrich, or Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich), we follow the lives of Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubiš, the Slovak and the Czech responsible for Heydrich’s death. From their heroic escape from Nazi-occupied Prague to their recruitment by the British secret services; from their meticulous preparation and trainin... continue
38.
I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere by Anna Gavalda EN
Description:
I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere explores how a life can be changed irrevocably in just one fateful moment. A pregnant mother's plans for the future unravel at the hospital; a travelling salesman learns the consequences of an almost-missed exit on the motorway in the newspaper the next morning; while a perfect date is spoilt by a single act of thoughtlessness. In those crucial moments Gavalda demonstrates her almost magical skill in conveying love, lust, longing, and loneliness. Someone I Loved is a hauntingly intimate look at the intolerably painful, yet sometimes valuable consequ... continue
39.
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé EN
Description:
CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from FrenchThis book has been supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agencY