Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An unforgetable book., 25 Oct 1999
By A Customer
I read this book many years ago, but it has probably stuck in my mind more than any other. It follows the fortunes of a young girl from London, and details various times she spent visiting a small holiday village in France. As time passes and the events of her life change, her emotions develop and mature. The characterisation and scenery in the book is so real, and certain events so moving, that you would be forgiven for thinking it was autobiographical, and that were you to visit the town described you could come across the people she met there and the places she frequented. Its a deeply touching, but unsentimental, tale about growing up, falling in love, and experiencing life and its changing fortunes.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
long, hot, poignant summer, 8 Jul 2005
Like the previous reviewer, I read this book, dare I admit, about 27 years ago when I was a young teenager, but its one of those rare, rare books, out of the hundreds inbetween, that have stayed with me. Whilst I don't recall all the exact details, the descriptions of long summer days, vibrant characters and the reality of raw, first emotions, along with the atmosphere evoked, transported me to that place. It was the first book that I couldn't put down. This is excellent read, and instilled in me a sense of romanticism, not to mention an awareness of how full and heavy a heart can be. There was no going back from the impact of this book and I am so happy to have had the pleasure to read it in my formative years, it was an important part of my education.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
a wonderful book, 21 Aug 2009
I too first read this book as a young teenager. It's about a young girl staying in a French seaside resort, the people she meets there and the things that happen to her - especially, of course, her first experiences of love. I had just spent my first summer in France when I read it, and the whole experience of staying with a French family had been a revelation - the food, the culture, the language, and of course the penfriend's older brother, had all been a very far cry from my suburban existence in 1970s London. This book summed it all up for me - like the other reviewers, I have never forgotten it, and although I can't now recall all of the details, I do remember just how much it moved me, and how it seemed to express all of my adolescent emotional turmoil. The ending, which is very sad, is as clear to me now as when I read it, maybe 35 years ago.
I hope that today's teenagers will enjoy this book as much as we did - its themes won't date and it is a really wonderful read.
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