Bonne-Marie, a Tale of Normandy and Paris

Henry Gréville

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(4.1 stars; 4 reviews)

Bonne-Marie, Henry Gréville’s last work, will no doubt create a sensation, such is its freshness, beauty, and delicacy. It is the story of a young girl, the daughter of a smuggler in Normandy, on the coast of France. Having been educated in a Convent, at Cherbourg, she returns from school where her father had placed her, and struggles in spite of her discontent to do her duty in her humble home. She turns a deaf ear to a lover’s pleading, and when her father is killed in a fray with the Coast-Guard, she leaves her home and goes to Paris to seek her fortune. The tale of her struggles with poverty, of her debut as a singer in one of the celebrated Cafés – where, after a great success, she loses her heart to an artist, is simply, powerfully and most pathetically told. What happens after we must leave the readers of this charming volume to discover for themselves, all of which is beautifully sketched, and the story from beginning to end is pure, fresh and breezy. Mrs. Sherwood’s English in this translation is beyond all praise – it flows freely on from beginning to end. - Summary by the Publisher (4 hr 17 min)