Between thought and the treetops

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texte, Émilie Rivard

Louis adorait se rendre chez son grand-père pour qu'il lui raconte toutes sortes d'histoires farfelues. Mais maintenant, c'est à lui de faire des prouesses d'imagination pour redonner le sourire au vieil homme qui est privé de sa mémoire. Sa "méchante" maladie l'empêche de se souvenir et l'isole. Il va même jusqu'à oublier qui est Louis, ce qui chagrine bien sûr son petit-fils, qui en profite cependant pour prendre le rôle d'un joyeux lutin qui aura tôt fait de les faire sourire tous les deux. [SDM]. Un récit réaliste, plus doux qu'amer, mais qui n'élude pas la tristesse que provoque la maladie d'Alzheimer sur la famille du vieil homme. De rigolotes aquarelles rebondies allègent toutefois cette thématique difficile dont on aborde le rapport des enfants et le malade avec, peut-être, un soupçon d'idéalisme. [SDM].

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Alexander McCall Smith

Welcome to 44 Scotland Street, home to some of Edinburgh's most colorful characters. There's Pat, a twenty-year-old who has recently moved into a flat with Bruce, an athletic young man with a keen awareness of his own appearance. Their neighbor, Domenica, is an eccentric and insightful widow. In the flat below are Irene and her appealing son Bertie, who is the victim of his mother's desire for him to learn the saxophone and italian--all at the tender age of five. Love triangles, a lost painting, intriguing new friends, and an encounter with a famous Scottish crime writer are just a few of the ingredients that add to this delightful and witty portrait of Edinburgh society, which was first published as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper.From the Trade Paperback edition.

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translated with an introduction by G. H. McWilliam

Decameron, collection of tales by Giovanni Boccaccio, probably composed between 1349 and 1353. The work is regarded as a masterpiece of classical Italian prose. While romantic in tone and form, it breaks from medieval sensibility in its insistence on the human ability to overcome, even exploit, fortune. The Decameron comprises a group of stories united by a frame story. As the frame narrative opens, 10 young people (seven women and three men) flee plague-stricken Florence to a delightful villa in nearby Fiesole. Each member of the party rules for a day and sets stipulations for the daily tales to be told by all participants, resulting in a collection of 100 pieces. This storytelling occupies 10 days of a fortnight (the rest being set aside for personal adornment or for religious devotions); hence, the title of the book, Decameron, or “Ten Days’ Work.” Each day ends with a canzone (song), some of which represent Boccaccio’s finest poetry. –Britannica

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Sarah Wisseman

"In the magical and historically rich city of Siena, Italy, old paintings are as common as cobblestones. But what if some of those paintings are forgeries? And what if your employers at a respected firm of art conservators might be smuggling antiquities? After colleague and roommate Ernst Mann is found dead in the street below their apartment balcony, Flora Garibaldi suspects her bosses are crooks and that her new job is disintegrating into desiccated paint flakes. Burnt Sienna is a suspenseful mystery combining a spectacular Italian setting with complicated art historical dilemmas. The story of Flora Garibaldi and the colorful Lorenzetti family will take the reader on a labyrinthine journey while probing family and professional loyalties that no amount of yellowed varnish can hide "--