Chapters 1 – 2

1. Transcribe, translate and reproduce in the context:

flimsy (adj.)

to bear / unbearable (adj.)

to embarrass sb

bygone (adj.)

cloying (adj.) (formal)

piecemeal (adv.) (often disapproving)

to enliven sth (formal)

contentment (n.)

to dwindle

to waft + adv./prep.

to shoo sb/sth (+ adv./prep.)

2. Provide synonyms and translate:

lure (n.)

unnerving (adj.)

to stutter

soiled (laundry)

wilful(adj.)

adolescent (adj.)

eclectic (adj.) (formal)

to season sth (with sth)

sultry (adj.)

to exhale
3. Paraphrase and reproduce in the context:

to put up with sb/sth (phrasal verb)

to part with sth (phrasal verb)

baby memorabilia /plural/

to feel compelled to do sth

to dance attendance on sb (idiom; formal)

to be given to something / to doing sth (idiom; formal)

somebody can’t/couldn’t help (doing) sth (idiom)

to report for duty

Topics for discussion:

Chapter 1
1. Why does the narrator find herself looking backward?
2. Why does the narrator go to the attic? What is she looking for?
3. What is the narrator’s first impulse when her son comes? What is perturbing
her?
4. The narrator’s last request.
Chapter 2
5. Describe Antoine.
6. Was there anything in particular Vianne loved about Antoine? When did she fall
in love with him?
7. What happened when Vianne was only fourteen? Would you call her a victim of
circumstance? How did she feel?
8. How did she endure her miscarriage?
9. Describe Vianne’s neighbourhood, that corner of the Loire Valley and
Carriveau.
10. What topics couldn’t Vianne tolerate?
11. Expand on the interior and exterior of Le Jardin, the stone country house that
had been in Vianne’s family for three hundred years.
12. Why did Sophie feel a growing sense of alarm after the supper?