The Suitors

December 3, 2012
The paper-thin narrative of David-Weill’s third novel doesn’t diminish the book’s delightful rendering of L’Agapanthe, an old French family’s summer estate on Cap d’Antibes dedicated to the art of gracious living. Told in the first person by 30-year-old Laure, the story follows a scheme devised by an eccentric family friend that Laure and her sister set in motion to keep the estate in the family after their parents decide to sell. The sisters invite a series of wealthy men to L’Agapanthe hoping to seduce one into marriage, thereby keeping the estate in the family. Included are each weekend’s formal menus and room assignments, plus descriptions of the guests themselves; their occupations, backgrounds, and ability to fit into a rarefied atmosphere where one’s opinions on culture are only somewhat more important than their level of bourgeois pretentions. Though the sisterly relationship is explored, the estate itself assumes center stage alongside the intricate set of mores and manners of the French elite. David-Weill (Crush) draws readers in as graciously as any good hostess, but because of her personal background—she comes from an old-monied French family who vacation on Cap d’Antibes—readers may wonder if this is a roman à clef and will likely try to play a who’s who guessing game.

January 1, 2013

Ah, L'Agapanthe, that beauteous summer home in the south of France where wealth is without question and the discreet, proper manners of another era predominate. Laure and Marie have summered there since childhood with their parents, Flokie and Edmond Ettinguer, enjoying carefully arranged weekends (no journalists) that are so legendary new guests need not be given the address. But times have changed, the parents are tired of managing the big house, and Laure learns to her dismay that L'Agapanthe is to be sold. Her cheeky friend Frederic suggests that she or Marie find a suitor willing to buy the place, and so begins a round of weekends during which the sisters entertain a string of gauche and hilariously inappropriate prospects. Each weekend is illustrated with placards showing who is coming and where they are sitting at dinner, a touch that adds both formality and fun to the proceedings. VERDICT Deceptively charming and delightful, this novel by the French American David-Weill (Crush) portrays class issues and changing mores with the kind of intelligent taste that would make the Ettinguers proud.--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

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