The Vagabond Summary and Reviews

The Vagabond
by Colette

The Vagabond
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Book Summary Information

Author: Colette
Translator: Enid McLeod
Introduction: Judith Thurman
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09-05
ISBN: 0374528047
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Book Reviews of The Vagabond

Book Review: Colette breaks free of Willy in great triumph!
Summary: 5 Stars

Colette's beginning as a writer is one of the strangest in literature. In her early 20s, she married a no-talent hack named "Willy" (that was how he signed his pieces) and wrote a series of novels about a young girl named Claudine. Willy took these pieces and published them under his pen name, giving his young wife no credit.

In her early to mid 30s, Colette grew weary of Willy, and turned her back on him to embark on a career as a dance hall performer. This is the setting for THE VAGABOND, Colette's first post-Willy novel, and the first to bear her own name.

The main character, Renee Nere, has been touring for 3 years, and although she's sometimes lonely, is enjoying her freedom and self-sufficiency. She's also suffering from what we'd refer to nowadays as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Her marriage to her philandering and abusive husband was so wretched, that when she meets another man who loves her, the slighest familiar gesture or word will trigger memories that incite revulsion.

THE VAGABOND is a gem of a novel that beautifully shows off Colette's gift for prose as well as her wonderful descriptions of life backstage as part of a touring group. If that isn't enough, she is also very gifted at revealing the psychological insights of her character. The introduction by Judith Thurman is well-done, and both the introduction and the novel left me wanting more Colette.

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