Goodbye First Love - a french romantic treat

It is such a treat when a random Sunday night movie turns out to be a real surprise. Despite a slightly cheesy title, I quickly relaxed into the subtle french romantic imagery. It is so easy to reimagine oneself as a stunning french 15 year old school girl being seduced by an older college student, who looks very calm and cool on his bike. Glimpses of inner city streets, an urban studio lovenest and several suburban family homes all created a sense of normal life... Of course, no teenage life can ever be normal and the inherent tension is just below the surface... Sullivan wants to drop out and travel to south america with his mates to explore and find himself; while Camille wants to build the long term dream of being with him, enjoying their french lifestyle in town and at her family's house in the mountains above the Loire river. It really is quite a simple story of how they both find themselves, reconnect and make somewhat more mature decisions. What is special is the aesthetics of beautiful places, clothes, settings and the quick screen catches of somewhat incidental events. The producer Mia Hansen-Love has captured the excitement of living on the brink of the rest of your life and charted the emotional roller coaster within the natural rhythm of life. Camille's romantic idealism and dependence gently gives way to a creative professional independence. Yet when they meet again, I was wondering how much they both really had changed - the tension was palpable - the challenge for them both was real and the question of the strength of first love asked again...

Impressed and entertained Distant Thunder by TD Griggs

I so enjoyed reading this book in bed this morning and it was such a treat to finish it - I was gripped to the last page and I was so impressed - it was not the obvious cheesy ending although it was heading there fast - but there was a stunning twist in the tail of the tale and I was genuinely satisfied ... and there could be a sequel! This was a very interesting book - and probably not one I would have chosen by topic - the Empire, colonial trade and wars, and class differences are not really my thing - they are what made this country great but I don't think they are so relevant anymore. Needless to say, I was gripped by the power of the people and the diversity of settings. Frank Gray got me in - he was seriously flawed or maybe damaged by being in the wrong place at the right time and it seems this haunted him way beyond what seemed reasonable - but then probably that is quite realistic. Grace Dearborn was a believable bolshy rich girl who really did seem to be able to survive on her own. She played the romantic to its logical conclusion and I was pleased that finally I saw a pragmatic compromise. These two great characters also played in some great places, London, country England, Bangalore, Vienna and the Sudan. There was sufficient detail to go along with them without it being a tourist guidebook - and I realised the author T D Griggs knew his history and geography well. I am not sure that I would call this a historical romance because it was slightly deeper and more challenging than that - but not as complex as a classic thriller. Nevertheless, I would recommend this for the summer holiday.