Reviews of Colombe Schneck’s portrayal of loss and self-discovery in “Swimming in Paris: A Life in Three Stories” and Italian author Valeria Corciolani’s art history mystery “Pentimento Mori.”
Sunday Books & Culture is edited by Vanessa Sekinger
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SWIMMING IN PARIS: A LIFE IN THREE STORIES
By Colombe Schneck
Published by Penguin Press (May, 14, 2024)
Hardcover $23.20
Audiobook $14.99
Reviewed by Ashley Riggleson
The premise of Colombe Schneck’s newly translated book, Swimming in Paris: A Life in Three Stories, immediately sparked my intellectual curiosity. This piece of autofiction, which is beautifully translated from the French by Lauren Elkin and Natasha Lehrer, tells the story of one woman (also named Colombe) over the course of three distinct but interconnected novellas, all of which have plenty to say about what it means to be a woman in modern day France.
While I expected my curiosity to be piqued, I did not expect to be emotionally engaged. How very wrong I was! Shneck’s intimate and quietly powerful voice quickly pulled me in, and I read all the novellas over the course of just two days.
In “Seventeen” we meet Colombe at a crossroads of her life. She is a teenager living a life of almost total freedom. She declares, “I’m seventeen years old and I have a lover. I’m not in love but I have a lover.” She calls herself “an independent woman.” Colombe is young and privileged, irresponsible and living a carefree lifestyle. And yet she soon finds herself betrayed by her body. In short, she finds herself pregnant.
Her family quietly arranges for an abortion, an experience that prompts our protagonist to explore in some detail the history of abortion laws in France, where women could not always come by legal and safe abortions. Colombe is aware of her luck in this regard. Her abortion is obtained quickly, safely, and easily. And yet in its aftermath, she struggles with an acute sense of grief and isolation, emotions that she feels unable to explain or even justify.
It is this careful, intimate, and honest exploration that gives this novella its emotional heft, and readers will find that “Seventeen” engages their empathy in ways that transcend language.
In “Friendship” we meet Colombe again. This time we find her on the cusp of losing a lifelong friend. They have been friends since they were children, coming from similar but not identical backgrounds, and Schneck explores their relationship over the years. They take different paths but remain intimately interconnected. And when Colombe’s friend Heloise is diagnosed with a terminal illness, they must face the shared yet distinct grief of that experience. This poignant exploration of female friendship and loss tackles themes that are universal but not often discussed, and “Friendship” fills a much-needed place in the literary canon.
Finally, in “Swimming: A Love Story” readers meet Colombe in middle age. Her sense of self comes as the product of many different but ultimately failed romantic relationships. Yet we find her with a new resilience. Over the course of the novella, Colombe comes to new understandings—about love and about her body, and this authentic and resonant tale about middle age brings the book to a deeply satisfying conclusion.
I am sad to say that, although I loved Swimming in Paris, I have not seen anyone discuss this collection of novellas, and I think that is a real shame. While this book is not set in the United States, Swimming in Paris is an extremely timely work that has much to say about some of the most divisive current issues. It’s obvious that this book is an extremely political text, but this stylistically beautiful and emotionally resonant work is also a literary triumph.
Ashley Riggleson is a free-lance book reviewer from Rappahannock County. When she is not reading or writing book reviews, she can usually be found playing with her pets, listening to podcasts, or watching television with friends and family.
PENTIMENTO MORI
By Valeria Corciolani
Published by Kazabo Publishing (July 16, 2024)
Paperback $14.99
Kindle $8.99
Reviewed by Drew Gallagher
I am fortunate that The Washington Independent Review of Books uses me occasionally as a book reviewer, and the titles they send me are usually a bit more eclectic than the offerings we’re able to procure at The Advance. Such was the case with Pentimento Mori by Valeria Corciolani. (Shameless plug for Washington Independent Review of Books—if you’re a fan of books and reading you really need to check out their website. The number of books they review in a year is stunning, and most of the book reviewers are far better regarded than I am.)
The breadth of my Italian literature exposure does not extend much beyond reading Dante’s Inferno in a high school humanities course. It certainly has never extended into mysteries written by contemporary authors being translated into English for the first time, so reading Pentimento Mori proved to be an interesting venture.
The main character and heroine is art historian Dr. Edna Silvera, who is quite likable and a bit put out by any demands the world holds upon her beyond researching Hieronymus Bosch and his works.
She also has seven chickens named for famous actresses who refuse to lay eggs when she does not provide them with music for their nightly dance parties in the yard around their coop. She is content in her world of Bosch and chickens. But into every Italian countryside a little rain must fall, and it arrives in an unwanted invitation to participate in a festival marking the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. Edna wonders which circle of hell this festival might be.
She agrees to the festival as a favor to her former boss, who happens to be a former lover, but the festival soon becomes secondary after Edna and a local councilor discover a dead antiques dealer who died with his pants around his ankles. Shortly before discovering the dead antiques dealer, Edna finds what appears to be a rare painting amongst the dealer’s cluttered holdings. She is soon propelled into a murder investigation as well as investigating if the painting is possibly a long-lost masterpiece that may have been stolen by the Nazis.
Corciolani sprinkles a fair amount of art history and painting composition into the proceedings which should appeal to anyone who likes their murder mysteries with a syllabus taken from Art History 101. The insights into artworks and the artists are often more fun than the plot although the plot does move quickly and to a somewhat satisfying conclusion. The author anticipates that this will be the first book in a series about Dr. Silvera so the ending leaves open a jumping off point for book two.
Pentimento Mori is a good deal of fun, and one has to wonder if some of the fun is in the translation’s use of simile that may have sounded better in Italian than it does in English like when she compares a fraught situation to a caterpillar walking on a cactus. Do caterpillars not like cacti? They would seem capable of navigating the thorns and so maybe it just means tread carefully? Regardless, no need to tread carefully with Pentimento Mori.
Drew Gallagher is a freelance writer residing in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is the second-most-prolific book reviewer and first video book reviewer in the 136-year history of the Free Lance-Star Newspaper. He aspires to be the second-most-prolific book reviewer in the history of FXBG Advance.
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