Célina
Author: Catherine Axelrad
Translated by: Philip Terry
Published by: Les Fugitives
Pages: 131
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★★★★★
Translated by: Philip Terry
Published by: Les Fugitives
Pages: 131
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★★★★★
‘Monsieur pushed me off his knees and walked over to the window where he stood upright looking at me. He was as still as a statue and spoke slowly as if he’d just woken up: “Are you saying that you listened to this poem the evening I read? But where were you?”
I thought he was angry, and I bowed my head again. “Yes Monsieur, I was in the hall. But I didn’t do anything wrong.” He asked me if I had listened to others, and I said “No Monsieur, I swear that’s the only one. I’d have liked to listen to the story of the storm, but I was coughing too much.”’
I thought he was angry, and I bowed my head again. “Yes Monsieur, I was in the hall. But I didn’t do anything wrong.” He asked me if I had listened to others, and I said “No Monsieur, I swear that’s the only one. I’d have liked to listen to the story of the storm, but I was coughing too much.”’
My thoughts:
Célina is a 'fictional recreation based on Victor Hugo’s Guernsey Diaries and on letters from his wife, sharing a miniature literary monument of a forgotten life cut short.' The book is a fictionalised first-person account by Célina Henry, a maidservant and lover, of Victor Hugo during his time living on Guernsey at Hauteville House, where he lived in exile.
First published by Editions Gallimard in 1997, this short novel offers 'a singular perspective on matters of sexual consent and class dynamics.'
Living in exile in the Channel Islands, the author of Les Misérables went through what is called his “Chambermaid Period”. In this incredibly moving short novel, Catherine Axelrad gives readers a unique insight into Célina’s life. We see this quietly devastating story through Célina’s eyes, told with her curiosity, her wonder and her sharp observations. As the story progresses it becomes clear that what is slowly unfolding here is not so much Victor Hugo’s life as that of the young narrator. It is thought that Célina was the inspiration behind Fantine, one of the key characters in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, forced to become a prostitute before she, too, dies from tuberculosis.
By the age of fifteen, Célina has lost her father to the sea, a brother to suicide, a sister to tuberculosis, her virginity to a man at the inn where she was waitressing, and the job at the inn when another servant informed on her. The narrator soon finds herself summoned at night to her master’s adjoining bedroom. Here Célina encounters the delicate balance between the professional and the personal during her time working for the Hugo family. Vulnerable but resilient, Célina accepts the two francs left under her pillow for a night of sexual favours.
I was completely absorbed by the quality of Axelrad’s writing, which so beautifully captures Célina’s mischievous spirit through vivid and poetic language. Her words are so light yet so profound. It is the kind of book that feels impossible to put down once you've started reading.
Célina is as quiet and devastating novel. From start to finish, it absorbed me completely.
Overall reaction:
Célina is a 'fictional recreation based on Victor Hugo’s Guernsey Diaries and on letters from his wife, sharing a miniature literary monument of a forgotten life cut short.' The book is a fictionalised first-person account by Célina Henry, a maidservant and lover, of Victor Hugo during his time living on Guernsey at Hauteville House, where he lived in exile.
First published by Editions Gallimard in 1997, this short novel offers 'a singular perspective on matters of sexual consent and class dynamics.'
Living in exile in the Channel Islands, the author of Les Misérables went through what is called his “Chambermaid Period”. In this incredibly moving short novel, Catherine Axelrad gives readers a unique insight into Célina’s life. We see this quietly devastating story through Célina’s eyes, told with her curiosity, her wonder and her sharp observations. As the story progresses it becomes clear that what is slowly unfolding here is not so much Victor Hugo’s life as that of the young narrator. It is thought that Célina was the inspiration behind Fantine, one of the key characters in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, forced to become a prostitute before she, too, dies from tuberculosis.
By the age of fifteen, Célina has lost her father to the sea, a brother to suicide, a sister to tuberculosis, her virginity to a man at the inn where she was waitressing, and the job at the inn when another servant informed on her. The narrator soon finds herself summoned at night to her master’s adjoining bedroom. Here Célina encounters the delicate balance between the professional and the personal during her time working for the Hugo family. Vulnerable but resilient, Célina accepts the two francs left under her pillow for a night of sexual favours.
I was completely absorbed by the quality of Axelrad’s writing, which so beautifully captures Célina’s mischievous spirit through vivid and poetic language. Her words are so light yet so profound. It is the kind of book that feels impossible to put down once you've started reading.
Célina is as quiet and devastating novel. From start to finish, it absorbed me completely.
Overall reaction:
