In This Edition of
The BookBrowse Review
The BookBrowse Review
Published January 24, 2024
ISSN: 1930-0018
The BookBrowse Review
Published January 24, 2024
ISSN: 1930-0018
Contents
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Literary Fiction
Historical Fiction
Short Stories
Essays
Poetry & Novels in Verse
Mysteries
Thrillers
Romance
Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Biography/Memoir
History, Current Affairs and Religion
Science, Health and the Environment
Literary Fiction
Historical Fiction
Poetry & Novels in Verse
Thrillers
Romance
Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Biography/Memoir
| Critics: |
From the best-selling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog comes a family story with a difference, a novel about the decisions one makes and the destiny they determine by one of Europe's most brilliant and stylistically subtle authors.
Haru, a successful Japanese art dealer, loves beauty, harmony, art, balance, intriguing women, sophisticated conversation, and elegance. Months after a brief affair in Japan with a French woman, Maud, he discovers she is pregnant with his child. She warns him, however, that if he ever tries to see her or the child, she will kill herself. Quietly devastated at the thought of never knowing his daughter, who will become a dark presence in an otherwise elegantly orchestrated life, Haru decides he will respect Maud's wishes. His daughter grows to adulthood without ever knowing him. Is it too late to change things?
This is Haru's story. In her poetically precise prose, Muriel Barbery explores the deep love of a father, and what is gained and what is lost when one chooses a "family" of friends over one's biological family. In doing so, she captures the darkness that pushes people apart and the circumstances that can draw them together again.
"Exquisite...Readers will be rapt." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Barbery's beautiful descriptions of nature and her infusion of Japanese folklore and wisdom give her story an elegant and meditative quality. With its many poetic observations on life, this is a perfect novel for book groups." —Booklist
"With delicacy and compassion, Muriel Barbery paints the portrait of a man who loves beauty and others." —Madame Figaro (France)
"If Muriel Barbery's sentences were stones, her books would be cathedrals. Her voice is a song, a rising prayer. She speaks the language of the stars… Moving and hopeful, One Hour of Fervor is a splendid novel about our relationship to others." —Le Figaro Littéraire (France)
"A book of great beauty, imbued with poetry and melancholy." —RTL (France)
"A delicate and impressionistic book." —Mode et travaux (France)
"The writing unfolds like the stroke of a Japanese calligrapher: the relevance of each touch gives vividness to the story while retaining the breadth of poetry." —Sud Ouest (France)
"A sober, poetic, and delicate diptych." —Le Journal du Dimanche (France)
"An extremely gentle, extremely poetic book. Sad, luminous, and dark too… One Hour of Fervor is a marvel." —France Info
Muriel Barbery's novels include the New York Times bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Europa, 2008), and Gourmet Rhapsody (Europa, 2009). She is also the author of The Writer's Cats, illustrated by Maria Guitart, a short tale about esthetics, inspiration, the writing life, and cats. Barbery has lived in Kyōto, Amsterdam, and Paris, and now lives in the French countryside.
Other books by this author at BookBrowse:
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