Petit Pays

Thursday 18 March, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise

In March, the Club de Lecture will discuss Petit Pays by Gael Faye. Set in Burundi and Rwanda from 1993 onwards, the novel is narrated by ten-year-old Gaby, and tells how the innocence of his youth is suddenly shattered by the outbreak of civil war and genocide.

Free booking:  here

Miroir de nos peines

Thursday 29 April, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise

In April, the Club de Lecture will discuss Miroir de nos peines, by Pierre Lemaitre. Miroir de nos peines  begins April 6, 1940. It’s the funny war, then the exodus; the German army will melt on Paris but nobody, French side, sees nothing coming.

Free booking:  here

La Famille Martin

Thursday 20 May, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise

In May, the Club de Lecture will discuss La Famille Martin, by David Foenkinos.
 A writer in need of inspiration decides to randomly choose a person in the street to make it the subject of his novel.

Free booking:  here

L' Anomalie

Thursday 17 June, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise

In June, the Club de Lecture will discuss L'anomalie, by Hervé Le Tellier. L’anomalie is set in 2021, on a flight between Paris and New York. The novel is narrated by 11 different passengers on the the flight, including a part-time hit man and a Nigerian pop star.

Free booking:  here

Mémé dans les Orties

Thursday 22 July, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise

In July, the Club de Lecture will discuss Meme dans les Orties, by Aurelie Valognes. 
Ferdinand Brun hasn't always been a grumpy old man. Many years ago, he was a grumpy young man. Now he'd much rather spend time with his canine companion, Daisy, than any of his noisy neighbors. But as his behavior becomes increasingly peculiar, his daughter grows concerned and begins to consider moving him into a retirement home.

Free booking:  here

Glacé Part II

Thursday 18 February, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise

In February, the book club will discuss Glacé by Bernard Minier which follows an investigation of a headless body of a horse found in he French Pyrenees town of Saint-Martin-de-Comminges.

Glacé

Thursday 17 December, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise

In December, the book club will discuss Glacé by Bernard Minier which follows an investigation of a headless body of a horse found in he French Pyrenees town of Saint-Martin-de-Comminges.

Tout cela n'a rien à voir avec moi

Thursday 19 November, 6:30pm
Online

This month, the book club will discuss Tout cela n'a rien à voir avec moi by Monica Sabolo which dissects romance and heartache in a collage-novel that is funny, crazy and heartbreaking. A text as graceful as it is moving that has been described as a new genre of romance.

(NB: The November session has been moved online due to the 'circuit breaker' closure. We apologise for any inconvenience)

Les années

Thursday 22 October, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise 

This month, the book club will discuss Les années by Annie Ernaux which is an autographical account of her life. Through photos and memories left by events, words and things, Annie Ernaux gives a sense of the passage of the years, from the post-war period to today.

Ça raconte Sarah

Thursday 17 September, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise 

This month, the book club will discuss Ça raconte Sarah by Pauline Delabroy-Allard which tells the story of a young teacher who meets Sarah, a violinist, which then becomes a passionate love affair. But Sarah is ill with breast cancer and is resistant to medical treatment.

Eugenie Grandet

Thursday 20 August, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise 

This month, the book club will discuss Eugenie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac : about miserliness and how it is bequeathed from the father to the daughter, Eugénie, through her unsatisfying love attachment with her cousin. Eugénie Grandet is set in the town of Saumur.

Le mystère de la chambre jaune

Thursday 23 July, 6:30pm
Alliance Francaise 

This month, the book club will discuss Le mystere de la chambre jaune  by Gaston Leroux : Professor Stangerson has been working and living for fifteen years with his daughter in their castle, Glantier. A few days after Miss Stangerson decides to marry Robert Darzac, who has been courting her for fifteen years, somebody tries to kill her. A young reporter, Rouletabille, will try to solve the mystery...

Les mouches d'automne

Thursday 18 June, 6:30pm
ONLINE via Webex

This month, the book club will discuss Les mouches d'automne  by Irene Nemirovsky: Tatiana Ivanovna devoted her entire life to her masters, the Karines, whom she saw born and grow. When the Russian revolution drives them out of their domain, it follows them to Odessa first, then to Paris, in this small apartment in the Ternes district, where exiles turn in circles like autumn flies...

Un été

Thursday 21 May, 6:30pm
ONLINE via Webex

This month, the book club will discuss Un Ete  by Vincent Almendros, which depicts two brothers and their companions on a boat. The cruise takes place in overwhelming heat and atmosphere. Implied, out of scope and unspoken cross the narrative until an amazing ending revealed at the very end.

Chanson douce

Thursday 30 April, 6:30pm
ONLINE via Webex

This month, the book club will discuss Chanson douce  by Leïla Slimani, which follows the murder of two children by their nanny, inspired by the real-life 2012 murder of children by their nanny in New York.

Les hirondelles de Kaboul

Thursday 20 February, 6:30pm
Alliance Française

This month, the book club will discuss Les hirondelles de Kaboul by Yasmina Khadra, which follows four characters living in Kabul: Atiq, his wife Mussarat, Mohsen Ramat and his wife Zunaira. The book traces how their lives intertwine in a city led by the Taliban and the Mullahs.

POLICE

Thursday 12 December, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss POLICE by Hugo Boris, which follows three police officers who must take a foreigner back to the border.

Il pleuvait des oiseaux

Thursday 21 November, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss Il pleuvait des oiseaux by Jocelyne Saucier, which follows three old hermits living in the Abitibi Forest in Québec.

La cicatrice

Thursday 24 October, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss La cicatrice by Bruno Lowery, which follows Jeff, an outcast because of a 'scar', who steals a classmate's stamps and the ensuing cover-up of his actions.

Un barrage contre le Pacifique

Thursday 19 September, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss Un barrage contre le Pacifique by Marguerite Duras, which follows a widow and her two children living on an isolated and uncultivable concession in the south of French Indochina during the 1930s.

La Tragédie du roi Christophe

Thursday 22 August, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss La Tragédie du roi Christophe by Aimé Césaire, which follows the historical figure of Henri Christophe, a slave who rose to become a general in Toussaint Louverture’s army.

Couleurs de l'incendie

Thursday 18 July, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss Couleurs de l'incendie by Pierre Lemaitre, which follows Madeleine, the sole heiress of the immense financial empire left by her recently deceased father, who must now take over the management of the family bank. 

Frappe-toi le cœur

Thursday 20 June, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss Frappe-toi le cœur by Amélie Nothomb, which follows Marie, a woman who becomes envious of her own daughter, Diana, for becoming as beautiful and popular as she used to be. 

Et puis, Paulette

Thursday, 23 May - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

This month, the book club will discuss Et puis, Paulette by Barbara Constantine, a charming tale of family, friendship, love and loneliness. 

Un secret

Thursday, 18 April - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing Un secret by Philippe Grimbert, which follows Maxime Nathan and his Jewish family in France during the years leading up to World War II. His skinny, sickly son, François, dreams of a stronger, fitter, more charismatic older brother to compensate for his own feelings of inadequacy. Only gradually does he learn of his parents' tragic past and that he has a sibling — a half-brother named Simon, his father's first son.

La grosse femme d'à côté est enceinte

Thursday, 14 March - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing La grosse femme d'à côté est enceinte by Michel Tremblay, which takes place over the course of a single date, May 2, 1942, in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood of Montreal. It focuses on several working-class families as well as two prostitutes.

Notre part des ténèbres

Thursday, 21 February - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing Notre part des ténèbres by Gerard Mordillat, which tells the story of Gary and other members of Mondial Laser, a high-tech company, who seize a luxury ship full of their shareholders and divert its course north to colder waters.

Marx et la poupée

Wednesday, 19 December - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing Marx et la poupée by Maryam Madjidi, which tells of Maryam's experience of being in in Paris due to her father's exile during the Iranian Revolution. Through the memories of her early years, Maryam recounts the abandonment of the country, the removal of her family, and the loss of her toys - given to the children of Teheran under the orders of her communist parents.

Le livre des Baltimore

Wednesday, 28 November - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing Le livre des Baltimore by Joël Dicker, which tells the story of Marcus Goldman, who is struggling to write his third novel. A chance encounter in Florida throws him some inspiration from a surprising source: Alexandra Neville, the beautiful, phenomenally successful singer and Marcus's first love.

La Vénus d'Ille

Wednesday, 31 October - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing La Vénus d'Ille by Prosper Mérimée, which tells the story of a statue of Venus that comes to life and kills the son of its owner, whom it believes to be its husband.

Le berceau du monde

Wednesday, 26 September - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing Le berceau du monde by Fady Stephan, a lyrical and poetic epic about Lebanon, cradle of the world filled with thousand-year-old legends.

Le collier rouge

Wednesday, 22 August - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will to discuss Le collier rouge by Jean-Christophe Rufin, a story about a war hero, a young intelligent woman, and a judge in 1919 France, and the dog who holds the key to their destinies.

Plage de Manaccora, 16h30

Wednesday, 25 July - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will to discuss Plage de Manaccora, 16h30  by Philippe Jaenada, about a family on vacation is southern Italy during the wildfires of summer. An excellent insight on man's greatness and shortcomings, the vanity of their efforts, and the fragile beauty of life.

Sauve-moi

Wednesday, 27 June - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will to discuss Sauve-moi by Guillaume Musso, about Sam Galoway, a thirty-year-old New Yorker who one day meets Juliette, a pretty 28-year-old French waitress in a bar who dreams of becoming an actress.

Sept jours pour une éternité

Wednesday, 23 May - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will to discuss Sept jours pour une éternité by Marc Levy, about an absurd bet between God and Lucifer to put an end to their eternal rivalry, as they each send their best agents to Earth with seven days to see who will triumph and ultimately rule mankind: Good or Evil?

Au-revoir là-haut

Wednesday, 18 April - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will to discuss Au-revoir là-haut by Pierre Lemaitre, set after World War I as two soldiers - a disfigured but brilliant artist and an ex-accountant - start a memorial con.

La Possibilité d'une île

Wednesday, 28th February - 6:30pm
Alliance Française, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will continue to discuss La Possibilité d'une île by Michel Houellebecq, which tells the story of Daniel, a successful comedian, and his two clones, in a post-apocalyptic future set in a cloning cult.

La Possibilité d'une île

Wednesday, 29th November
6:30pm-8pm
Alliance Française

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing La Possibilité d'une île by Michel Houellebecq, which tells the story of Daniel, a successful comedian, and his two clones, in a post-apocalyptic future set in a cloning cult.

No et Moi

Wednesday, 29 November
6:30pm-8pm
Alliance Francaise

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing  No et Moi by Delphine de Vigan , which tells the story of thirteen-year old Lou, a gifted but lonely child, and Nora (nicknamed No), a homeless girl who Lou interviews for a school project after seeing her at the Gare d'Austerlitz.

L’écume des jours

Wednesday, 18 October - 6:30pm-8pm
Alliance Francaise, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing l’écume des jours by Boris Vian, a surrealist style book which follows multiple plot lines, including the love stories of two couples, talking mice, and a man who ages years in a week.

Ce que le jour doit à la nuit

Wednesday, 27th September - 6:30pm-8pm
Alliance Francaise, 319 Young St, Wayville

For this month's Club de Lecture, the club will be discussing Ce que le jour doit à la nuit by Yasmina Khadra, which follows the life of a young man, Younes, from his childhood in Algeria in the 1930s to his life as an adult.