Aurélie Valognes

Pour une comédie familiale irrésistible, il vous faut : un père, despotique et égocentrique, Jacques. Une mère, en rébellion après quarante ans de mariage, Martine. Leurs fils, Matthieu, éternel adolescent mais bientôt papa de trois enfants ; Nicolas, chef cuisinier le jour et castrateur tout le temps ; Alexandre, rêveur mou du genou. Et... trois belles-filles délicieusement insupportables ! Stéphanie, mère poule angoissée ; Laura, végétarienne angoissante ; Jeanne, nouvelle pièce rapportée, féministe et déboussolée, dont l'arrivée va déstabiliser l'équilibre de la tribu.
Mettez tout le monde dans une grande maison en Bretagne. Ajoutez-y Antoinette, une grand-mère d'une sagesse à faire pâlir le dalaï-lama, et un chien qui s’incruste. Mélangez, laissez mijoter... et savourez !… (mere)

A surprisingly charming book about a grumpy man who, upon becoming a grumpy old man, finally learns how to live.

The book starts off rather dreadfully. The main character, Ferdinand, is not a pleasant person. He's cranky, willfully awful, and spiteful. He spirals deeper into awfulness after his dog Daisy is hit by a car, and it's only the combination of his daughter threatening to put him in a home if he doesn't shape up and being adopted by Juliette, his new upstairs neighbor's precocious 10-year-old daughter that forces him to stop being a recluse and curmudgeon. And he starts liking it.

The book borders on the absurd, with much of it related to Mrs. Sanchez, the concierge of the apartment complex. In character, she's more of a distasteful biddy body than Gladys Kravitz and more self-righteous and uptight than the worst HOA president (you know the kind - the one who sticks you with fines and legal notices if your lawn is half-an-inch over the proscribed height). And she hates Ferdinand because she was friends with his ex-wife.

This is an extremely short read (it's just a bit over 200 pages) but it had a lot that can be gleaned about family (blood and not), human connections, growing older, and moving beyond others' expectations and perceptions. There's also a pretty hefty "don't be a dick" message here, which is to be expected.

As I said earlier, this book ended up being surprisingly charming, and I found myself smiling at it toward the end. I found myself wishing the book was longer since I wanted to spend more time with the characters and learn what happens next in their lives.

I'm glad I read this, and look forward to seeing what else of the author's gets translated into English.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.… (mere)