MORE APPEARANCE THAN REALITY
I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH
by Alicia Drake
We don’t want to seem more than we are… says the great-grandson of the last German Emperor and current head of the House of Hohenzollern. In her novel I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH, Alica Drake paints the picture of a certain Parisian social class where the opposite is en vogue.
BY THE EDITOR // KARIN M. KLOSSEK
In his interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ of 8 November 2018), Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preußen emphasises “We don’t want to seem more than we are”. In Alicia Drake’s novel, appearances are the preferred way of life: people live in the 6th arrondissement because it has the supposedly best schools, the right neighbours, the Jardin du Luxembourg and the bakeries that make the baguette according to an old recipe.
With this explanation alone, however, one exposes oneself as an outsider. Of course, for the inhabitants of the 6th arrondissement, an elitist lifestyle is a matter of course and it would be unimaginable to have to give another district as an address in Paris as long as you have children of school age.
In spring, you meet all the right neighbours and friends again in Brittany in the dining room of an exclusive hotel, because thalassotherapy promises to keep your formidable figure in top shape. You spend the winter in a dreamy chalet in Megève, very Instagrammable, of course.
In this world, thirteen-year-old Paul lives and observes his mother and her young new partner, the musician Gabriel, with whom he is on his way to the best hospital in Paris, where his mother has just given birth to Lou, his stepsister. He seeks closeness with his father, who works in the financial industry, and tries to understand his father’s fitness obsession, which he suddenly developed after his divorce from his mother.
No one, however, takes any notice of Paul himself. His mother concentrates on posting the best possible pictures from the hospital and barely lifts her eyes when he enters her room in the hospital’s maternity ward. His father’s attention belongs to the latest training scores and continuous professional conference calls.
His parents are disappointed beyond measure that he has not managed to gain admission to the hip school and do not realise that his urge to eat vast quantities of sweets and fast food at times is an expression of his loneliness.
Only Cindy, the Filipino maid who works in Paris to finance the education of her two children, whom she misses very much, has a good sense of what it is like inside him. The girl Scarlett, who, like him, does not attend the right school in Paris, also seems to understand him.
The entire novel is written from the perspective of Paul, who describes his environment and, never being noticed himself, one day makes an observation that completely upsets his world. In the world of appearances, so immensely important to his parents, grandparents and everyone else, he cannot share his despair at this observation with anyone.
I was moved by the debut novel by Alica Drake, an Englishwoman who lived in Paris for eighteen years before returning to England. It paints a picture of a society preoccupied, with seemingly endless energy, with celebrating the ideal image of eternal youth and a carefree lifestyle, in a cool, laconic language that is unmasking.
Involuntarily, one finds oneself analysing the meaning of appearance and reality in one’s own life and surroundings and breathes a sigh of relief when one realises that one is not a complete image of Paul’s parents.
An exciting book that you don’t want to put down until you reach the last pa
MORE APPEARANCE THAN REALITY
I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH
by Alicia Drake
We don’t want to seem more than we are… says the great-grandson of the last German Emperor and current head of the House of Hohenzollern. In her novel I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH, Alica Drake paints the picture of a certain Parisian social class where the opposite is en vogue.
BY THE EDITOR // KARIN M. KLOSSEK
In his interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ of 8 November 2018), Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preußen emphasises “We don’t want to seem more than we are”. In Alicia Drake’s novel, appearances are the preferred way of life: people live in the 6th arrondissement because it has the supposedly best schools, the right neighbours, the Jardin du Luxembourg and the bakeries that make the baguette according to an old recipe.
With this explanation alone, however, one exposes oneself as an outsider. Of course, for the inhabitants of the 6th arrondissement, an elitist lifestyle is a matter of course and it would be unimaginable to have to give another district as an address in Paris as long as you have children of school age.
In spring, you meet all the right neighbours and friends again in Brittany in the dining room of an exclusive hotel, because thalassotherapy promises to keep your formidable figure in top shape. You spend the winter in a dreamy chalet in Megève, very Instagrammable, of course.
In this world, thirteen-year-old Paul lives and observes his mother and her young new partner, the musician Gabriel, with whom he is on his way to the best hospital in Paris, where his mother has just given birth to Lou, his stepsister. He seeks closeness with his father, who works in the financial industry, and tries to understand his father’s fitness obsession, which he suddenly developed after his divorce from his mother.
No one, however, takes any notice of Paul himself. His mother concentrates on posting the best possible pictures from the hospital and barely lifts her eyes when he enters her room in the hospital’s maternity ward. His father’s attention belongs to the latest training scores and continuous professional conference calls.
His parents are disappointed beyond measure that he has not managed to gain admission to the hip school and do not realise that his urge to eat vast quantities of sweets and fast food at times is an expression of his loneliness.
Only Cindy, the Filipino maid who works in Paris to finance the education of her two children, whom she misses very much, has a good sense of what it is like inside him. The girl Scarlett, who, like him, does not attend the right school in Paris, also seems to understand him.
The entire novel is written from the perspective of Paul, who describes his environment and, never being noticed himself, one day makes an observation that completely upsets his world. In the world of appearances, so immensely important to his parents, grandparents and everyone else, he cannot share his despair at this observation with anyone.
I was moved by the debut novel by Alica Drake, an Englishwoman who lived in Paris for eighteen years before returning to England. It paints a picture of a society preoccupied, with seemingly endless energy, with celebrating the ideal image of eternal youth and a carefree lifestyle, in a cool, laconic language that is unmasking.
Involuntarily, one finds oneself analysing the meaning of appearance and reality in one’s own life and surroundings and breathes a sigh of relief when one realises that one is not a complete image of Paul’s parents.
An exciting book that you don’t want to put down until you reach the last page. Definitely worth reading.
#advertising #product placement #independentGMErecommendation #BecauseWeLoveIt
ge. Definitely worth reading.
#advertising #product placement #independentGMErecommendation #BecauseWeLoveIt
