Marie de Gournay was eighteen when she read, and was overwhelmed by, the essays of the French philosopher Montaigne. She had to be revived with hellebore. When she finally met Montaigne, she stabbed herself with a hairpin until the blood ran in order to show her devotion. He made her his adopted daughter for the two months they knew each other. He died four years later, after which, though scorned by intellectuals, she became his editor. Jenny Diski engages with this passionate and confused relationship between 'father and daughter', old writer/young acolyte, possible lovers, using both their voices. Much of their story is about absence of the people they love. In Jenny Diski's hands it becomes a fascinating tale.
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Review
** 'A compelling and complex tale . . . Diski's prose is elegant and visceral . . . Like all good historical fiction, APOLOGY FOR THE WOMAN WRITING not only illuminates an undeservedly little-known episode of literary history, it also demonstrates a rare subtlety and sense of moral ambiguity of restrained devotion transformed by the writer's incisive eye, into art (Josephine Balmer, THE TIMES )
** 'Diski has cleverly adapted the historical sources to fashion an exceedingly literary novel... Diski's cool, modulated prose exhibits the moderation so prized by Montaigne, and Marie's fate offers a salutary warning to those of us who love books that the (Michael Arditti, INDEPENDENT )
** '4 Stars. Diski never takes the easy or obvious approach and the result is a brilliantly witty and stylishly simple look at disappointment in love and life (Tania Ahsan, METRO )
** 'Diski's understated method and her decision to observe rather than judge give the surface of this novel an even-handed authority . . . Diski's compelling, beautifully crisp fictional reconstruction of this bizarre and uncompromising woman's life serve (Patricia Duncker, OBSERVER )
** 'Diski has cleverly adapted the historical sources to fashion an exceedingly literary novel... Diski's cool, modulated prose exhibits the moderation so prized by Montaigne, and Marie's fate offers a salutary warning to those of us who love books that the (Michael Arditti, INDEPENDENT )
** '4 Stars. Diski never takes the easy or obvious approach and the result is a brilliantly witty and stylishly simple look at disappointment in love and life (Tania Ahsan, METRO )
** 'Diski's understated method and her decision to observe rather than judge give the surface of this novel an even-handed authority . . . Diski's compelling, beautifully crisp fictional reconstruction of this bizarre and uncompromising woman's life serve (Patricia Duncker, OBSERVER )
Review
'Diski has cleverly adapted the historical sources to fashion an exceedingly literary novel . . . Diski's cool, modulated prose exhibits the moderation so prized by Montaigne, and Marie's fate offers a salutary warning to those of us who love books that there can be a danger in loving them too much'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By Lulubeth
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a huge fan of Jenny Diski's "Skating to Antarctica" who had not yet read any of her fiction, I bought this to see what I had been missing. Quite a lot, it turned out. This recreation of a life in Renaissance France - the largely imagined story of a woman writer inspired by the great Montaigne to live by her pen, eventually taking liberties beyond the call of common sense - inches into the bloodstream stealthily, increasingly powerfully, completely convincingly. Diski's skill in creating a credible psychology- an apology - is stunning, and the tenderness upon which the whole conceit hangs is, after the slow-burn of Diski's astringency and ruthless lack of partisanship for her protagonists - moving and compassionate. I loved this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
'to be the fille d'alliance of Michel de Montaigne is to be better than a princess'
5 Aug 2012
By sally tarbox
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Historical novel, based on the bookish Marie de Gounay who discovers the essays of Michel de Montaigne and resolves to meet the great man and to become part of the literary world herself - unheard of in the late 1500s.
'The more she read and the more Latin she learned,the more it seemed to Marie that an entire and good life might be spent in the company of books. Any other of the few possibilities open to her would be an interruption to her reading...She resolved to be neither a nun nor a wife. She could see nothing wrong with just reading books.'
Marie does meet the -much older- Montaigne, and becomes his 'adopted' daughter (a fact of which she makes much throughout the rest of her life.) Her own somewhat over-the-top literary efforts have limited success; most of her time is devoted to helping revise Montaigne's works.
While Marie certainly achieved things most 16th century women never dreamt of, her life was largely spent poring over manuscripts, and as such she is perhaps an unlikely subject for a book. A fallible character, she nonetheless remained a little 2-dimensional for me.
'The more she read and the more Latin she learned,the more it seemed to Marie that an entire and good life might be spent in the company of books. Any other of the few possibilities open to her would be an interruption to her reading...She resolved to be neither a nun nor a wife. She could see nothing wrong with just reading books.'
Marie does meet the -much older- Montaigne, and becomes his 'adopted' daughter (a fact of which she makes much throughout the rest of her life.) Her own somewhat over-the-top literary efforts have limited success; most of her time is devoted to helping revise Montaigne's works.
While Marie certainly achieved things most 16th century women never dreamt of, her life was largely spent poring over manuscripts, and as such she is perhaps an unlikely subject for a book. A fallible character, she nonetheless remained a little 2-dimensional for me.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2.5 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
What an unpleasant main character
27 April 2011
By Susan Wiser
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I read this book because of my current interest in novels set in France. This one takes place during the late 1500's, which is a period I know little about and the premise sounded interesting. I was very disappointed, however. Although the quality of the writing is good (that's why I ranked it with 2 stars instead of 1), I found the main character of the novel intensely irritating. She is a self-absorbed, arrogant, socially obtuse person. And on top of that she is a mediocre writer. Further, the story of her life isn't especially interesting. I wonder what the author hoped to achieve with this book. At least it gave me an excuse to make myself learn a bit more about the Huguenots, who are mentioned in passing.
3.0 out of 5 stars
'to be the fille d'alliance of Michel de Montaigne is to be better than a princess'
6 Aug 2012
By sally tarbox
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Historical novel based on the bookish Marie de Gournay who discovers the essays of Michel de Montaigne and resolves to meet the great man and to become part of the literary world herself- unheard of in the late 1500s.
'The more she read and the more Latin she learned, the more it seemed to Marie that an entire and good life might be spent in the company of books. Any other of the few possibilities open to her would be an interruption to her reading...She resolved to be neither a nun nor a wife. She could see nothing wrong with just reading books.'
Marie does meet the - much older - Montaigne and becomes his 'adopted daughter' (a fact of which she makes much throughout the rest of her life). Her own somewhat over-the-top literary efforts have limited success; most of her time is devoted to helping revise Montaigne's work.
While Marie certainly achieved things most 16th century women never dreamt of, her life was largely spent poring over manuscripts and as such is perhaps an unlikely subject for a book. A fallible character, she nonetheless remained a little 2-dimensional to me.
'The more she read and the more Latin she learned, the more it seemed to Marie that an entire and good life might be spent in the company of books. Any other of the few possibilities open to her would be an interruption to her reading...She resolved to be neither a nun nor a wife. She could see nothing wrong with just reading books.'
Marie does meet the - much older - Montaigne and becomes his 'adopted daughter' (a fact of which she makes much throughout the rest of her life). Her own somewhat over-the-top literary efforts have limited success; most of her time is devoted to helping revise Montaigne's work.
While Marie certainly achieved things most 16th century women never dreamt of, her life was largely spent poring over manuscripts and as such is perhaps an unlikely subject for a book. A fallible character, she nonetheless remained a little 2-dimensional to me.
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2.5 out of 5 stars
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