Portrait. Of German nationality, Linde Richter is also a member of the Haut-Marne writers’ association. And for good reason, it is in her residence in Droyes, near Lac du Der, that she draws inspiration.
Like every year, Linde Richter, a member of the Haut-Marne Association of Writers, returns to the village in the sunny days to her small country house in Droyes, a nice house (to use the title of her previous opus) to search for the inspiration for his novel currently being written or present a new book. This year, both are relevant.
Last year, the German author brought with her the French version of “Maison chouette”, which earned her a public reading in her host village and an appearance at the Quai des bouquinistes to present her youngest. This year, she will be there again in Joinville with “Perles de Champagne aigres-douces”, in reference to this chocolate and alcohol confectionery invented by a Dervois pastry chef several decades ago.
Any resemblance to characters…
The writer does not go far to find the characters of this novel, she only has to cross her street to portray the inhabitants who will easily recognize each other. The allusions are clear, the first name of her neighbor across the street is not even changed, and Linde embroiders, attributing to her neighbors character traits that are not always complimentary, against a backdrop of jealousies, vaudeville-esque annoyances of a sentimental and /or sexual. However, she warns the reader about the fortuitous nature of any resemblance they might find with reality.
Clichés on the opinion that the Germans have of the French, so-called womanizers, to use his expression as old as these latest sartorial artifices. Remarks on our supposed sexual life through unfounded studies, which seem to be at the heart of the character of the German, who struggles in a tumultuous sentimental life, evoking her personal setbacks so that the reader, witness to the imbroglio , leaves fiction to enter into friction.
Like this budding romance with the veterinarian, who, it seems, makes the animal lovers his own. And this opus is embellished with around fifteen Champagne recipes which, it seems, his gourmet compatriots are fond of, as well as our sparkling regional wines. In the story, Lilly, a writer, for the purposes of writing a gastronomic guide to Germany, travels to our region to discover specialties, and, on this occasion, experiences incredible adventures. She found an injured cat who gives her the opportunity to fall in love with her veterinarian neighbor.
Its seventh and final, still in gestation, will be called “The dead breath of the lake”, a Franco-German family saga spanning four generations. We discuss the construction of the lake, a subject which is in the local news with the commemorations on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its filling. Linde sets out to find witnesses to this event which was not without turmoil, causing the disappearance of three Marne villages forever. A novel with an enigmatic plot. Available on the Internet and from local booksellers.
From our correspondent
Philippe Pierson
