num_pages: 130
description: Set against the translucent beauty of France in summer, Bonjour Tristesse is a bittersweet tale narrated by Cécile, a seventeen-year-old girl on the brink of womanhood, whose meddling in her father's love life leads to tragic consequences. Freed from boarding school, Cécile lives in unchecked enjoyment with her youngish, widowed father -- an affectionate rogue, dissolute and promiscuous. Having accepted the constantly changing women in his life, Cécile pursues a sexual conquest of her own with a "tall and almost beautiful" law student. Then, a new woman appears in her father's life. Feeling threatened but empowered, Cécile sets in motion a devastating plan that claims a surprising victim. Deceptively simple in structure, Bonjour Tristesse is a complex and beautifully composed portrait of casual amorality and a young woman's desperate attempt to understand and control the world around her.
language: English
title: Bonjour Tristesse
titlecomplete: Bonjour Tristesse
characters: Elsa Mackenbourg, Cyril, Raymond, Cécile, Anne Larsen
genres: Fiction, France, Coming Of Age, French Literature, Romance, Literature, Classics, Novels, Contemporary, 20th Century
ratings_count: 47408
places: France, French Riviera
awards: awardedAt: -504892800000
name: Prix des Critiques
publisher: HarpPeren