Victoria Mas Livres

Chaque année, à la mi-carême, se tient un très étrange Bal des Folles. Le temps d'une soirée, le Tout-Paris s'encanaille sur des airs de valse et de polka en compagnie de femmes déguisées en colombines, gitanes, zouaves et autres mousquetaires. Réparti sur deux salles - d'un côté les idiotes et les épileptiques ; de l'autre les hystériques, les folles et les maniaques - ce bal est en réalité l'une des dernières expérimentations de Charcot, désireux de faire des malades de la Salpêtrière des femmes comme les autres. Parmi elles, Eugénie, Louise et Geneviève, dont Victoria Mas retrace le parcours heurté, dans ce premier roman qui met à nu la condition féminine au XIXe siècle. (Payot).

Sometimes the truth lies in the things you cannot see. In 1830 a young novice called Catherine Laboure was granted a vision of the Virgin Mary. Nearly 200 years later, Sister Anne is also waiting for a sign. Which is why she accepts a mission to go to a tiny community on an island just off the coast of Brittany. Her only companion there is a sceptical, chain-smoking older nun who just wants to be left in peace. On the island she meets Hugo, the son of a devout family who prefers to look for the meaning of life amid the stars; Madenn, a grandmother whose daughter was killed in a crash and who finds meaning in routine; Isaac, Madenn's grandson, an otherworldly teenager who doesn't fit in but who befriends Hugo, and Julia, a sickly child. If anyone needs a miracle, it is her. But it is not Sister Anne who receives a vision. Instead it is Isaac who is found on a promontary, transfixed, unable to utter more than the words 'I see'. The event soon becomes headline news and the world descends on the small island, opening old wounds and unleashing a chain of events none of them could have foreseen.

Whether you're spending a semester in Paris, vacationing in the Riviera, dining at a local bistro or mastering the French culinary art in your own kitchen, The Farm to Table French Phrasebook opens a bountiful world of food that you won't find in any textbook or classroom: Navigate produce markets, charcuteries and patisseries ; Prepare meals the French way with delicious, authentic recipes ; Speak the lingo of Paris's top restaurants and bistros ; Pair regional wines with delightful cheeses ; Master the proper table etiquette for dining at a friend's house.