Diane Johnson is an American novelist and essayist whose satirical novels often feature American heroines living abroad in contemporary France. Her work is characterized by keen observations of cultural clashes and adaptation. Johnson explores the ironies and complexities of life away from home, often with a light touch and sharp wit. Her writing invites readers to contemplate identity and belonging in a globalized world.
The plot revolves around the enchanting city of Picturia, which faces a dire threat from Ig, who unleashes The HAZE, a force that spreads apathy and indifference among its citizens. As the vibrant spirit of the city begins to fade, Ig's sinister plan aims to destroy Picturia while its inhabitants remain oblivious to the looming danger. The story explores themes of awareness, community, and the battle against complacency in the face of adversity.
The two-time Pulitzer Prize- and three-time National Book Award-nominated author of the bestseller "Le Divorce" returns with a mesmerizing novel of double standards and double agents.
Fourteen short stories about Paris by Evan S. Connell, Alice Adams, Hortense Calisher, Mark Helprin, James Laughlin, Robert McAlmon, Ellen Gilchrist, Paul Theroux, Peter Taylor.
When Amy Hawkins, a successful dot-com executive from California, overhears elderly socialites criticizing her generation's worldly incompetence, she embarks on a journey to Europe in search of culture, her roots, and a worthy cause for her fortune. Her adventure begins at a luxurious hotel in the French Alps, renowned for skiing and cooking lessons, located in the town of Valméri. Shortly into her stay, an avalanche nearly engulfs her, while two fellow guests, esteemed English publisher Adrian Venn and his younger American wife, Kerry, are left comatose in a nearby hospital. The differing French and English laws regarding inheritance prompt Adrian's diverse children—both legitimate and illegitimate—to converge in Valméri, eager to secure their financial interests should he not survive. As an American, Amy's presence complicates the already tense social dynamics, and her well-meaning actions inadvertently trigger a chain of events that reveal deep-seated national differences, customs, and legalities. With the potential for romantic entanglements threatening fragile alliances, the situation quickly escalates into a complex web of intrigue and cultural clash.
The French Riviera: home to the Beautiful People. And none are more beautiful than Cécile, a precocious seventeen-year-old, and her father Raymond, a vivacious libertine. Charming, decadent and irresponsible, the golden-skinned duo are dedicated to a life of free love, fast cars and hedonistic pleasures. But then, one long, hot summer Raymond decides to marry, and Cécile and her lover Cyril feel compelled to take a hand in his amours, with tragic consequences. Bonjour Tristesse scandalized 1950s France with its portrayal of teenager terrible Cécile, a heroine who rejects conventional notions of love, marriage and responsibility to choose her own sexual freedom.
Marriage has long been a focal point for great European novelists, with Tolstoy portraying it as a lonely affair and Flaubert as tragic. In contrast, American literature has often overlooked the theme, especially in the 20th century, which focused more on individualism. Diane Johnson's latest novel signals a revival of interest in marriage in the 21st century. Dividing her time between San Francisco and Paris, Johnson writes with the depth and insight reminiscent of Tolstoy, while infusing her work with distinctly American humor. Her characters grapple with comedic self-consciousness, and the plot explores the bizarre aspects of modern life.
The narrative centers on Tim Nolinger, an American journalist in Paris, and Anne-Sophie d'Argel, a French art dealer. Tim, who contributes to both conservative and liberal magazines, embodies the dispassionate American, while Anne-Sophie represents quintessential Frenchness. Their impending marriage unfolds against the backdrop of a medieval manuscript theft linked to a murder, leading them to the Crays, a couple facing marital decline, and Delia, a tourist with her own complications.
As the wedding date approaches, the characters navigate their chaotic lives, revealing their inner struggles and desires. Johnson's mastery of plot ensures that every character's journey is compelling and interconnected. With a keen understanding of the contemporary French milieu and the American expatriat
Le Divorce is about Americans in Paris. Worse, Americans from Santa Barbara, California, in Paris. Also, French cultural superiority and American innocence. One sister's marriage. Another's illicit love. Infidelity. Family disapproval. A crime of passion. Perhaps murder. When California girl Isabel Walker, film school dropout, comes to visit her stepsister Roxy in Paris, she arrives on the day that Roxy's French husband, Charles-Henri de Persand, has left her for another woman. Roxy is distraught and pregnant. Charles-Henri's powerful and prestigious French family is counseling patience and acceptance: Isabel is soon caught up in the romantic intrigue and Roxy's parents are just as soon on their way to France to lend their daughter support. Add to all of this a contretemps over a painting belonging to the Walkers but given by Roxy as a wedding gift to her husband, which turns out to be extremely valuable. It is, as the French say, a situation. It is also the basis for a comedy of manners that looks with delicious wit at cultures and carnal desires in collision: at the absurd way in which love can lead us toward grand tragedy or, at least, toward jealous crimes of the heart.
This "brilliant, engaging, cleverly manipulated piece of fiction" ("San Francisco Chronicle"), written by the author of "Le Divorce", captures the moral dilemmas and life-and-death decisions that are the foundation of hospital life, portraying the continuous clashes of motive and sensibility that create the ongoing comedy of medical manners.
