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- Today, “Age Tendre” by Clémentine Beauvais, published on August 19, 2020 by Sarbacane editions.
Anne-So Echos de Mots, children's literary blogger and contributor to the 20 Minutes Books reading group , recommends Age Tendre by Clémentine Beauvais, published on August 19, 2020 by Sarbacane editions.
Her favorite quote:
A small, quiet room with a view of rue Georges-Perec. No more awakenings with the depressing news from La Matinale de France Inter. No more climate catastrophe, no more mad presidents, no more murders, no more rapes, no more wars, no more refugees, no more drugs. Just the Beatles on loop and dresses with pretty prints. How would you like it?
Why this book?
- Because Age Tendre strikes you straight away with the originality of its format. Indeed, the author Clémentine Beauvais makes an astonishing choice here; that of presenting us the report of the third year internship of Valentin Lemonnier, 14 years old. The latter is a young man a little apart, full of anguish, very intelligent and observant. The daring bet is a real success for this tender novel which always aims right.
- Because Clémentine Beauvais' pen, poetic and colorful, pairs wonderfully with the naive and sometimes clumsy tone of Valentin. The author's readership can easily recognize the latter's style, which dresses its usual perfection with charming grammatical blunders or teenage judgments and reactions. It only takes a few pages for Clémentine Beauvais to make us fall under the spell of her hero who is sometimes a little angry, often out of step and always terribly endearing.
- Because the novel takes place mainly in the mnemosyne unit of Boulogne sur Mer: a hospital for elderly people with dementia. This is where Valentin has to do a 10-month civic internship after his third year. The environment, created from scratch to appease the residents, takes them back to their young years in order to offer them a less destabilizing life. When Valentin makes a mistake and promises a resident that Françoise Hardy (young) will come and sing at the center, things get complicated ... to our greatest pleasure.
- Because if it offers an original dive into the 60's, the novel is full of timeless subjects: love, old age, memories, couples who tear each other apart, feminism, adolescents who seek each other, sexuality are just a few. some of the themes approached with gentleness and a sort of simplicity that refuses to give way to judgments. It's well written, it's smart, it's beautiful and it's touching.
- Because it's a magnificent novel, both in substance and in form, both funny and gripping. Clémentine Beauvais' correct, poetic and so recognizable writing never ceases to enchant me and lighten my heart. I recommend this little diamond to all those who love the waltzes of words, to those who nostalgia for years gone by (sometimes even without having known them) or to those who love each other, if only a little, and who want to treat themselves to a delicious read.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot. Valentin is sent for a civic internship in a center for people with Alzheimer's. In this giant reconstruction of the 1960s, the teenager learns to know himself, to understand others, and above all, to love Françoise Hardy (very much).
Characters. Valentin, 14, an endearing and anxious teenager. In contact with residents, colleagues and managers or even roommates, it gradually opens up and comes out of its shell.
Places. The novel takes place in the mnemosyne unit of Boulogne sur Mer.
The time. The story unfolds today.
The author. Clémentine Beauvais is a French author living in England. A graduate of the University of Cambridge, she is a lecturer and researcher in the sociology and philosophy of childhood at the University of York. She has won numerous awards such as the Witches Prize or the Untouchables Prize.
This book was read with pleasure by Anne-So Echos de Mots, blogger specializing in children's and teenage literature. “For me, reading can be just as much a personal pleasure in which you run to take refuge as an excuse to discuss and meet other readers. I am a word lover always interested in new discoveries. "
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