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Book Synopsis
Chantemesle is a lyrical evocation of growing up on the banks of the Seine. In this minutely observed landscape, where even the wind is a character in its own right, we meet blind Battouflet, the singing hermit of the hillside, solemn Clotilde, who lives in a chateau in the heart of the forest and a desiccated and disturbing spinster, Mlle. Firman. Robin Fedden writes with preternatural clarity, taking the reader with him into a long-forgotten yet echoingly familiar world. When Fedden finds himself expelled from this realm by his emerging sexuality, he leaves us reeling with nostalgia for that timeless sense of the present that is the magic of childhood.

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"a little masterpiece" John Julius Norwich

Chantemesle A Normandy Childhood

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    A Paperback by Robin Fedden

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      Publisher: Eland Publishing Ltd
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 7/31/2002 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN13: 9780907871927, 978-0907871927
      ISBN10: 0907871925
      Also in:
      Biography Autobiography: adventurers and explorers Autobiography: general

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Chantemesle is a lyrical evocation of growing up on the banks of the Seine. In this minutely observed landscape, where even the wind is a character in its own right, we meet blind Battouflet, the singing hermit of the hillside, solemn Clotilde, who lives in a chateau in the heart of the forest and a desiccated and disturbing spinster, Mlle. Firman. Robin Fedden writes with preternatural clarity, taking the reader with him into a long-forgotten yet echoingly familiar world. When Fedden finds himself expelled from this realm by his emerging sexuality, he leaves us reeling with nostalgia for that timeless sense of the present that is the magic of childhood.

      Trade Review
      "a little masterpiece" John Julius Norwich

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