- Paperback: 340 pages
- Publisher: Plume Books; Reprint edition (30 Aug 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0452285631
- ISBN-13: 978-0452285637
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.5 x 1.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,653,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
L'Affaire
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First Sentence
All of Europe had been fascinated for the past few days by televised images of avalanches descending in the wake of storms on certain ski resorts and pretty villages in the Alps. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
All of Europe had been fascinated for the past few days by televised images of avalanches descending in the wake of storms on certain ski resorts and pretty villages in the Alps. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The reviewer who considered this 'a waste of a prodigious talent' does seem out of sorts. I wholly agree that Johnson's is a prodigious talent, and I heartily wish she were better known. I see nothing at all wrong with the slightly lighter approach in this novel: there's nothing that says novelists have to be serrious all the time, as if Johnson's two previous French/American novels were exactly that. This is not chick-lit, but a tongue-in-cheek, perfectly observed comedy of errors. To call her characters 'stereotypes' does little justice to the rounded and detailed nature of many of them. Amy, the central American character, is far from stereotypical, and possesses many delightful unusual thougts and feelings. It is, after all, Johnson's great skill in these three books that she develops the contrasts between the Americans and the French so well, and a certain amount of national characterization has to be present in order to achieve that. If her Americans seemed like anything but Americans, or her French anything but French, it would undermine her grand project of saying witty and often wise things about both nationalities. In the present case, her perception of English mores and habits is acute and well observed. Her prose style is somewhat freer here than in, say, Le Divorce (which is not to say there was anything wrong with the sheer elegance of diction in the latter), and that may, perhaps, suggest greater lightness than is really there. The plot lines, the interweaving of characters, even the introduction of characters from previous novels are all, as ever, clever and adroitly handled. If you enjoyed either Le Divorce or L'Affaire, you will love this, yet another tour de force from a writer who has rapidly become one of my own favourites. A novelist myself, I wish I could write half as well as she does. She's a treasure in a world of badly-written, tawdry, intellectually deficient pot-boilers. I remain impatient for the next.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A novel which gives itself some distinctive airs, L'Affaire concerns Amy, who is a dotcom millionaire. Like many a rich American she decides to spend a few weeks skiing in the French Alps while an apartment is furnished for her in Paris. It is not that I doubt that there are people who prefer not to choose their own furnishings and don't trust their own taste - indeed it's quite endearing that she readily admits her flaws in that regard, but she rather blunders in when it comes to any matter of choice. Being young, single, rich and naïve, leads Amy into some awkward relationships. Not that you get many interesting details.
It's fairly frothy, even given that it deals with a death caused by avalanche and the legal ramifications for a group of unlikeable English people, with an estranged French daughter turning up. Then Amy is embroiled in the avalanche's aftermath when she offers to help. I wasn't impressed by the characterisation (Americans are chiefly good; English people are not so good and and have poor hygiene; the French are sly and rude unless they are making money out of you). What it must be to live in such a polarised world. Although it promised an affair in the title Amy didn't have one. An affair is not the same thing as a couple of one-night stands.
It's fairly frothy, even given that it deals with a death caused by avalanche and the legal ramifications for a group of unlikeable English people, with an estranged French daughter turning up. Then Amy is embroiled in the avalanche's aftermath when she offers to help. I wasn't impressed by the characterisation (Americans are chiefly good; English people are not so good and and have poor hygiene; the French are sly and rude unless they are making money out of you). What it must be to live in such a polarised world. Although it promised an affair in the title Amy didn't have one. An affair is not the same thing as a couple of one-night stands.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is not very often that I actually look up reviews after I have read a book but to be honest I wanted to this time. I needed to see if anyone else was as confused by this book as I am.
I have found that not once have I felt engrossed by this book, I was always able to put it down. Amy is a quite likeable character and I felt sorry for poor Kip,Kerry and harry. I never cared about them though, and I can't really tell you a lot about the plot as I lost interest in it so quickly.
I have found that not once have I felt engrossed by this book, I was always able to put it down. Amy is a quite likeable character and I felt sorry for poor Kip,Kerry and harry. I never cared about them though, and I can't really tell you a lot about the plot as I lost interest in it so quickly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Gave up less than half way through
I recently started to read this - struggled with it, gave it the benefit of the doubt. I have now abandoned it less than half way through. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2008 by K. Ibbotson
I'm still waiting for the ending
Reviews are so personal and for me, it is inextricably linked to my expectations. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this. Read more
Published on 15 July 2006 by Susan Fowler
A waste of a prodigious talent.
This is the third in the series of Johnson's novels about the clash of French and American cultures;a clash which becomes more antagontistic as world events develop. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2004
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