THE GIRL AT THE LION D'OR [Import] [Paperback]

Sebastian Faulks (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books; 10th printing edition (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099774909
• ISBN-13: 978-0099774907
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,855,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tender and very moving story of love., February 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Girl at the Lion D'or (Ulverscroft Large Print Series) (Hardcover)

This book varies hugely from the action in both Birdsong and Charlotte Gray but is still to date the best novel that Faulks has penned. He has the amazing ability to create characters that seem so real they could almost be your neighbours. In Anne there is a true victim but her robust attitude to all the trouble the world throws at her is inspiring. I have read.. and re read this book and each time I discover a new and very varied angle or character. This novel has not the profile or impact of Birdsong but it contains an elequence that is so often lacking in modern novels today. Faulks is not afraid to put characters at the centre of his novel and for this he should be aplauded. Read this book and fall in love with France, I feel like I am actually watching an art house European film when I read it.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written and thought provoking., July 10, 2001

By 

"iloveprovence" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Girl at the Lion d'Or (Paperback)

This story opens with a prologue about three newspaper stories. Two of the stories deal with the demise of two political figures. The third story, very brief, almost lost on the page, deals with an unknown female intruder in the grounds of the prime minister's residence. The newspaper makes the French of the day believe the girl is unimportant, but if Faulks' readers are alert, they will see him peel back the layers to show us how important her insignificance is to France. We are introduced to Anne Louvet, a twenty-something girl with a secrect. She has answered an ad to be a waitress at the Hotel du Lion d'or, and when she meets the various characters of the novel, we are equisitely and subtlely introduced to the themes that caused the fall of France. Each character represents something that is amiss in pre-World War II France. In Anne, we come to know the beauty and vulnerability of France; In Hartmann, her married lover, Jewish and wealthy, we see the noblese who makes excuses for deflowering her. In the beginning, he convinces himself that he provides for her because he feels sorry for her, but that is the only way he, as a member of the gentry, can justify to himself that his actions are of a higher calling rather than that of a typical, wayward husband. But Hartmann is not alone. Each of the members of the upper classes, in this novel, are ruthless, wolves-in-sheep's clothing, who can manipulate the weak and convince themselves that they were the victim. At work here, also, is the precursor to the Jewish Final Solution in France. Pay close attention to the characters who interact with Hartmann. The other characters of this novel represent various classes and ways of looking at the world. See if you can identify their role in the shaping of France prior to World War II. Read this novel for it's beautiful, lyrical style, but don't cheat yourself by thinking that is all it is. Faulks is a master of the written word who understands the class system in Europe; it is a subtle yet powerful character in and of itself.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple story beautifully told, January 14, 2000

By 

Chris Bobrick (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Girl at the Lion d'Or (Paperback)

This story does not have the drama of Birdsong or Charlotte Gray but in some ways I think it may be better than eitherof them. The story unfolds like a flower, becoming more beautiful as each piece of Anne and Hartmann is revealed. The characters seem like real people trying to make sense of a world turned upside down by war. Yet, while there is great sadness in the story it never becomes maudlin. As always, Faulks is masterful at bringing France alive for the reader.