Claudine at School

Claudine lives in a small rural village in France and attends the local girls school. Headstrong, rebellious and a lover of mischief, she knows how to fill her days with adventure.

Claudine at School is part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics bound in real cloth with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated by Janet Flanner, who was an extraordinary writer and journalist. She was the Paris correspondent for The New Yorker for fifty years.

From gossip to exams, to crushes and betrayals, Claudine treats us like her closest friend, telling us her deepest secrets. In a day-to-day account of her life at school, we learn that she falls head over heels in love with Miss Aimee - one of her teachers - which leads to a brief affair; she provocatively plays with the affections of a young pupil; and she boldly defies the strict headmistress. Clever, crafty and fiercely independent, Claudine thrives at the centre of the action.

Immensely witty, utterly charming and closely reminiscent of Colette’s own life, Claudine at School is a love letter to rural France and the joie de vivre of youth.

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, known as Colette, was born in Burgundy in 1873. An outstanding stylist and penetrating observer, Colette’s early works appeared under her first husband’s pen name, ’Willy’. She claimed that she would never become a writer had it not been for his help. But her husband kept almost all the earnings from these successful early novels, leaving Colette in poverty and ill-health following an inevitable divorce. She supported herself in a variety of ways, including acting and mime but most notably through journalism. She kept writing fiction, using her exceptional literary talents to tell painful stories that frequently centre on gender inequalities. A true pioneer, she wrote passionate stories about love, sexuality and gender, writing prolifically until she died in 1954.