Reading group “Madelaine avant l’aube” by Sandrine Collette
Tue 20 Oct at 12.30Once a month, the reading group meets up to discuss a couple of books selected in advance (from classical to contemporary French literature) and discovers other members’ views on them. Meetings take place at the Institut français d’Écosse, usually on the last Tuesday of the month.
About the book:
Madelaine avant l’aube by Sandrine Collette is a fierce, atmospheric novel about survival, oppression, and the spark of rebellion. Set in a timeless, isolated hamlet ruled by cruel feudal lords, the story follows a poverty-stricken family enduring a brutal winter on land they do not own. Their desperate routine is disrupted when they take in Madelaine, an untamed, wild child found in the deep forest. As she grows, Madelaine’s innate freedom and absolute refusal to submit to the village’s harsh, patriarchal rules slowly awaken a spirit of defiance among the local women, eventually igniting a chaotic social revolt against their oppressors.