Masséna Around the World – Great Summer Reads

LIBRAIRIE MASSÉNA16 June, 20264 Mins read186

Librairie Masséna Around the World in Nice

And it seemed appropriate that we should start with some of the amazing novels set right here on the French Riviera…

MADAME MATISSE
by Sophie Haydock

This was our best selling book of last year. Historical fiction at its best and largely set in Nice and the French Riviera in the 1930s. It recounts the life of artist Henri Matisse, told through the eyes of three women who played a huge role in his career; his wife, his daughter, and an orphan and refugee trying to make a life for herself in Nice (and who finds employment with the Matisse family). All three women were his muse at some point. If you read the book, then head to the Musée Matisse afterwards so you can head down the same rabbit hole we did!

Summer reads from Librairie Masséna Around the World in Nice

ORPHANS OF THE STORM
by Celia Imrie; researched by Fidelis Morgan

Another great book based on a true story. It tells the story of the “Titanic Orphans” and begins in Nice in 1911 where we meet young seamstress Marcella who is planning to divorce her abusive husband. He finds out, abducts their two little boys, and makes the terrible decision to sail to America on board the Titanic… this is when Marcella’s nightmare truly begins, with her desperate struggle to find out what has happened to her children.

We were lucky enough to host Celia Imrie and Fidelis Morgan at the bookshop last year. They told us all about their fascinating and meticulous research and the amazing coincidence that they both had relatives who survived the Titanic disaster!

BONJOUR TRISTESSE
by Françoise Sagan

Published in 1954 when the author was only 18, the book was an overnight sensation and caused quite the stir in France, for its seemingly amoral tone. It tells the story of 17 year old Cécile, who is spending her summer in a villa on the French Riviera with her widowed father Raymond and his latest lover, Elsa. Cécile is exploring her own first romance and then intervenes, with tragic consequences, in her father’s love triangle…

TENDER IS THE NIGHT
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This classic was published in 1934 and is set during the Jazz Age. It follows American psychoanalyst Dick Diver and his wife Nicole who live in a villa on the French Riviera, surrounded by a circle of glamorous friends… When young movie starlet Rosemary Hoyt arrives on the scene, she is drawn to the couple. Dick contemplates an affair, while Nicole believes she has found a new best friend… Hedonistic high society, moral decline… all set against the backdrop of the roaring twenties, this book explores subjects like love, ambition, alcoholism and mental illness, and was largely based on Fitzgerald’s own tragic personal experiences.

More summer reads from Librairie Masséna Around the World in Nice

THE FRENCH BOOKSHOP MURDER
by Greg Mosse

Well it’s not the French Riviera … but it is set in France, and involves a bookshop, so how could we not include it?

Zoe Pascal has decided to live her dream. She’s leaving England to open up a bookshop in a small village in the South of France… but when the body of a tourist is found inside the local church, and Zoe is the last person to have seen the deceased alive, she finds herself at the centre of a murder investigation… and it’s up to her to prove her innocence or say au revoir to her French countryside dream.

We have picked just five books, but there’s an entire section of the shop devoted to books set on, and around, the Côte d’Azur. If you do pop by, don’t forget there is a 5% discount for RIVIERA BUZZ readers.

We will be back next month with some more of our favourite reads. Don’t hesitate to let us know yours via our Instagram.

Upcoming Events In-store

There are two author events coming up in the bookstore this June. These events are free admission and all are welcome.

Dr Helen Murray Taylor returns to the bookshop between 5pm and 7pm on Thursday, 25th June for conversation, readings and a celebration of the paperback release of her memoir love lay down beside me and we wept, a raw, profoundly moving and masterful account of life-shattering mental illness. Helen’s book has helped people all over the world and is testimony to the healing power of writing. And for any authors among you, Helen has another story with a happy ending, which involves her first publisher going bankrupt… and a happy new beginning with another one.

^{Courtesy Helen Murray Taylor on Instagram}

On Saturday June 27th, Paul Christopher Walton will be in-store between 5pm and 7pm for an evening of poetry, music and short readings celebrating the places that inspire us – from the Côte d’Azur to other landscapes with the power to make us pause, reflect and remember. His latest collection, Poetry of the Côte d’Azur, will take centre stage.