French Exit

 

Shirley J.                    Adult Fiction                 Dark comedy about jaded people meeting up in France    

French Exit: A Novel by Patrick DeWitt     256 pages

Such an enjoyable read.   The characters are so dead pan and jaded they are comical.  And of course Small Frank the cat is possibly the most sane one, but, then he is possessed by the spirit o Big Frank then, isn't he?    Egad!  Scandal!  Bankruptcy!    A wealthy widow and her man-child son leave the shame forced upon them in New York and when a family friend offers the enticement of her home in France as a refuge from their storms they jump at it like drowning folks to a life preserver.   Hence French Exit.   Of course, they cannot leave Small Frank behind so he is smuggled across the ocean and into France where they all alight in Paris.  Once they move into their friend's abode in Paris it seems they are beacons for an odd array of folks who just seem to drift in and stay (a shy detective, a psychic they met while on the ship they came over on, who holds a seance for them to contact Big Frank, a doctor and his wine merchant,  Malcolm's (the son's) former girlfriend and her new fiancee' and another clingy American wealthy widow who is desperate for friends and latches on to the widow and her son).   When the friend who owns the apartment in France comes over to visit she is astounded by all the people in the apartment and asks how many people are living here now?   A dark balance of levity and tragedy but an enjoyable story nonetheless.   I recommend it to highschoolers on up.  Also, I just found out it was made into a movie and I am looking forward to seeing Michelle Pfeiffer in the lead role.