For three years, Charlotte Casiraghi is at the initiative of Literary meetings rue Cambon from the house Chanelduring which she leads passionate discussions with women writers, such as Maria Pourchet or Rachel Cuskto name only the most recent guests. After a literary baccalaureate and a philosophy degree at the Sorbonne, she completed internships in the world of journalism and publishing. In 2015, she founded Philosophical Meetings of Monaco, of which she is president.
Passionate about literature and philosophy, Charlotte Casiraghi offers for this end of year a selection of books which bring together “favorites and desires” in his own words. “These four books are linked by the theme of love faced with many obstacles. Once passion has passed, what can thwart love? It can be history, social conditioning, age, sometimes simply a feeling of rivalry between two peopleshe adds. This selection pays homage, in my opinion, to the courage of women in love. How writing also allows you to free yourself from a certain number of stereotypes that can weigh on a love story”.
Maud Ventura My husband
Published in 2021, My husband is the story of a 40-year-old woman, married with two children, with a perfect and pretty life in every aspect. The problem ? She is madly in love with her husband. For 15 years, the butterfly in his stomach has never left him. “It’s a fairly surprising book, already in its form, in its tone, in the way in which the book evolves in itself. It’s the story of a married woman who is obsessed with her husband, haunted by the fact that he might eventually leave her or turn away from herspecifies Charlotte Casiraghi. As the book progresses, we understand that there is a form of madness in love, and we discover the fragility of the character who can no longer control his world.”.
Nourished by contemporary feminist discourses, Maud Ventura feels a gap between his readings and the conversations of the young women around him. Rather than imagining the contours of a strong and independent character, she chooses to portray an extremely dependent character, to the point of taking herself for the Phaedra of Racine. “It’s a bit of a twist at the end with something prodigious and unexpectedadded Charlotte Casiraghi. It’s still great to have a completely unpredictable ending.”.
Elizabeth von Arnim, Love
Often compared to Jane Austen, Elizabeth von Arnim (1866 – 1941) was an English writer, cousin of the novelist Katherine Mansfield. His most famous work, Elizabeth and her German gardenpresents itself as a personal diary in which she confides her thoughts on the harshness of northern Germany where she has just moved, and her attempts to create an English garden. But Charlotte Casiraghi recommends another book by the British author, Love : “It’s the story of Catherine, a widow who is 47 years old, who meets Christopher who is around 25 years old, and they fall in love. This is where a whole bunch of things come in the way, linked to his age. It tells a little about that, and this moment in the life of a woman who made her family, who had a well-ordered life, and who decides to live a love story for herself. Except that Elizabeth von Arnim tells us that it’s not that simple. It becomes a cruel tale”.
“At the start we are a little caught in the illusion of passion, of the encounter, where perhaps a certain number of elements are eclipsed in the face of desirefool Charlotte Casiraghi. Ultimately, this issue of aging is crucial. An older woman with a younger man poses many more issues, obstacles, in relation to society. She shows this without disguise”.
Elizabeth von Arnim – Love
George Sand, Indiana
Emeritus writer of the 19th century, contemporary of Victor Hugo et Gustave FlaubertGeorge Sand wrote a huge number of novels under this male pseudonym, which facilitated their reception. Indiana is his first work written alone: “I found it quite symbolic to show the entry into literature of George Sand, who is one of the writers who has had the most impact on literary history.specifies Charlotte Casiraghi. It’s a novel that I find absolutely prodigious on several levels. Already from a literary point of view it is very rich. From a historical point of view too since she analyzes many elements of the society of her time. It’s exciting”.
