Beach romances that are deep. But not too deep. Where are they?

June 8, 2007 12:36 PM

What books are similar in attitude and environment to Bonjour Tristesse (Françoise Sagan)?

I've only read a few books twice, and this is one of them, so I'd love to find more like it. It's the only Sagan book I've read, so that might be a good place to start looking if she kept largely to the style of this first novel.

Elements of the novel I was particularly fond of:

— French Riviera/beach leisure/summertime
— Ravishing, young, independent women
— the 'existential romance' of it. self-consciousness and manipulation (benign and not). Distinguishing it from a dopey romance, I hope.

I'm hoping that a few other books (or movies, comics, anything really) have the same features and simple style of Bonjour Tristesse. Thanks for the help!

posted by cowbellemoo to media & arts (3 comments total)

I haven't read that one, but from your description it sounds like you might like "The Lover" by Marguerite Duras.
posted by rhizome at 1:29 PM on June 8, 2007

I loved Bonjour Tristesse. I second Duras' The Lover. So may I suggest some novels that don't follow the pattern you mention but for some odd reason just popped on my mind as I read this?

"Brideshead revisited" by Evelyn Waugh
"A room with a view" by EM Forster

The only other book by Sagan I've read is "Dear Sarah Bernhardt", an interesting if somewhat fictional bio of the actress through an imaginary correspondence formula. Not beach leisure but at least one heck of an independent woman.
posted by claudiadias at 2:59 PM on June 8, 2007

The classic independent woman romance is Collete's "The Vagabond."
posted by larva at 10:26 PM on June 9, 2007