Reading Groups
What is One Book - One Federation?
2007 Selection:
Victoire: les saveurs et les mots by Maryse Condé is announced as the One Book - One Federation Committee selection for 2007. The One Book - One Federation program highlights the Federation's efforts to encourage the reading of French literature and support the activities of reading groups in Alliances throughout the United States.
The reading guide for Victoire: les saveurs et les mots by Maryse Condé is now available as a downloadable pdf for use by all AF chapters.
Winner of the 2006 Prix RFO du Livre, the book is an intimate story of the grandmother this acclaimed writer never knew --
an illiterate island girl impregnated by an egotistical but talented young man who was to become an influential public figure on the island. This girl moved to the island’s main city where she developed the reputation of being a cook of exceptional skills. Her daughter was raised to become an influential educator and, in turn, produced a daughter who became the world-renowned author of such books as Segou and Moi, Tituba sorci among many others.
Maryse Condé's mother seldom spoke of her own mother, Victoire, and this book is the story of Condé’s own search for that lost person. As she says of the book: "The mental image of her is uneasy, hard to make out. For some she was beautiful; to others, pale and ugly. To some she was a submissive creature, illiterate and without interest. But to others, she was a veritable Machiavelli in skirts. Whatever she was, this book is the portrait that I was able to trace, of which I promise neither impartiality nor even accuracy.
Maryse Condé was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, the youngest of eight children. In 1953 she was sent by her parents to Paris, where she was educated at Lycée Fénéleon and the Sorbonne, majoring in English. In 1958 she married Mamadou Condé, an African actor, from whom she was divorced in 1981. From 1960 to 1964 she was instructor at École Normale Supérieure, Conakry, Guinea. Then she worked at Ghana Institute of Language in Accra from 1964-1966 and Lycée Charles de Gaulle, Saint Louis, Senegal from 1966-1968. In 1968 Condé moved to London and was awarded a Ph.D in comparative literature in 1975 based upon her dissertation about black stereotypes in the Caribbean.
Since 1986, Condé has divided her time between Guadeloupe and the U.S., writing and teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, the University of Maryland, Harvard, and Columbia University, from which she retired as Professor Emeritus of French. Her husband, Richard Philcox, has translated many of her works into English.
The selection committee feels that this book will be an excellent opportunity for our reading groups to learn more about a French-speaking part of the world close to our own shores, and to enjoy the intimate story of a fascinating woman, told by a mature author writing at the peak of her form.
Previous One Book - One Federation Selections:
2006 - Le gone du Châba by Azouz Begag. Click here for the Reading Guide.
2005 - Les âmes grises by Philippe Claudel. Click here for the Reading Guide.
2004 - Le testament Français by Andrei Makine. Click here for the Reading Guide.
How can you help
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There are several ways for Federation members to help in the effort. And they are encouraged to volunteer for one or more of them:
Nominate a book
Nominations for the "one book" are always welcome. Please send your nomination, along with a brief statement of why you think it would appeal to Alliance audiences, including any positive experiences you have had with a reading group, to Randy Williams at: hrw@wb-legal.com. Please take into consideration (a) reading level and length of the book, (b) general appeal of subject matter and setting to a primarily American audience, and (c) critical evaluation in France. The nomination can be a work of either fiction or non-fiction.
Join the selection committee
The selection committee will work by email throughout the spring and summer to select the "one book" for the succeeding year. It is hoped that people willing to serve on the selection committee will have enough familiarity with French literature to evaluate the nominations, even though it is not required that they have read all of themIf you are willing to serve on the committee, please send your e-mail address to: hrw@wb-legal.com.
Help create the reading guide
Once the selection has been made by mid- to late summer, it is time to create the reading guide to be distributed at the Annual Meeting of the Federation in October. If you are willing to take part in the work of this committee, either as the writer of a section (biography of author, critique, discussion questions, etc.), or as a reviewer of the work produced by others, please send your e-mail information to hrw@wb-legal.com