Literature in Focus L’étang - Mathilde Fontanet

"The Pond" (L’étang), one of the eleven short stories that lends its name to the collection, is the tale of a forty-something woman who, alone and scared on a twenty-four-hour trip to the wilds of Yorkshire, makes a disturbing discovery along a meandering woodland pathway.

The characters who haunt these pages - from the chronically shy young librarian or the divided twins, to the obsequious neighbour, the amnesiac aunt or the people encountered on a bus or at the hospital - are neither heroes nor heroines; they’re just people living ordinary lives, unremarkable destinies.

These brief encounters, these snapshots of ordinary life, these snippets of existence made up of hesitant dialogue, insignificant gestures and feelings of love, whether acknowledged or not, are retold by Mathilde Fontanet with consummate artistry and restrained emotion. Ordinary they may be, but they leave an indelible impression on us.

Wednesday 21 October, 4.00 p.m.
Library (Building 52 1-052)
Tea and coffee will be served.

Tullio Basaglia