A beautifully controlled and powerful story of love and conscience, will and desire which begins when a mysterious young girl arrives to take up a post at the seedy H-tel du Lion d'Or in a small French town in the mid-1930s. The Girl at the Lion d'Or is the first book in Sebastian Faulks' French trilogy of novel. Birdsong and Charlotte Gray are also available from Random House Audio Books, read by Samuel West.
©1993 Sebastian Faulks (P)2011 Random House AUDIO GO
"Not Faulks' best"
Having listened to both "Birdsong" and "Charlotte Grey" and being truly impressed and entertained by every aspect of both stories, I was frankly disappointed in the 3rd book of the trilogy and am still trying to work out any connection between this rather dull story of an orphaned waitress in a small French provincial town who falls prey to the lust of the local bourgeoisie and Faulks' other two more remarkable offerings.
James Wilby's rendition was, however, excellent although I was a little confused at first by the English west country accent applied to French country folk and the chef de cuisine with a Yorkshire accent.