Gigi & The Cat

Bought in a Highland charity shop purely because I loved the cover: the gorgeous pen and ink illustration of the long-necked Greek-nosed young lady with her jaunty black hat juxtaposed by the classic Penguin bold orange stripes. Inside I found two very different, but complimentary, novellas beautifully translated from the original French.

The first follows Gilberte - Gigi - who, on the cusp of womanhood rebels against her courtesan education and, perhaps, finds love. This was so, so short and I wanted more of Gigi. Was she happy, will she be happy? If her mother, grandmother and great-aunt are anything to go by she isn't destined for love and joy. There was so much hope and love in the girl that this saddens me.

The Cat is a strange and twisted ménage à trois with murder mystery undertones. Alain, who loves nothing more than to sit peacefully in the garden of his family home with his beloved feline Saha, weds Camille a materialistic teenager with a love for modernity and fast cars.
Alone together in a third floor apartment the young couple quickly find faults in each other but cannot deny the sexual attraction they have. Meanwhile Saha pines at home, fading fast, until Alain can take it no longer and brings her back to the apartment. Here Camille's jealousy turns murderous and Alain must choose whom he truly loves.

These were my first introduction to Collette, apparently they are amongst the lightest of her works. However I found they both had much sadness, darkness and loss so dread to think what her other novels are like. I'll definitely look them out though, back to the charity shops I go...