Chantal Thomas
Chantal Thomas | |
|---|---|
 "Le Livre sur la Place" in 2019 | |
| Born | 18 October 1945 Lyon, France |
| Language | French |
| Nationality | French |
| Genre | European history Historical fiction |
| Notable works | Les adieux à la reine Le Testament d'Olympe L'esprit de conversation |
| Notable awards | Prix Femina |
Chantal Thomas (born 18 October 1945) is a French writer and historian. Her 2002 book, Farewell, My Queen, won the Prix Femina and was adapted into a 2012 film starring Diane Kruger and Léa Seydoux.
Career
Thomas was born in Lyon in 1945, and was raised in
In 2002, Thomas published Les adieux à la reine (Farewell, My Queen). The novel gave a fictional account of the final days of Marie Antoinette in power through the perspective of one of her servants. It won the Prix Femina in 2002,[2] and was later adapted into the 2012 film Farewell, My Queen. The film stars Diane Kruger as the titular queen and Léa Seydoux as her servant Sidonie Laborde. Thomas co-wrote the screenplay,[3][4] and it opened the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.[5][6] Helen Falconer of The Guardian called the work "a well written slice of history" with "evocative, observant prose," but criticized it for creating a narrator who "merely provides us with a pair of eyes to see through rather than capturing our interest in her own right." While disagreeing in its classification as a novel, Falconer did however add that Farewell, My Queen "generates in the reader a real sense of being a fly on the wall, eavesdropping on the affairs of the great and the not so good."[7]
Thomas is currently the director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.[1]
She was elected a member of the
Works
- Sade, L'œil de la lettre (1978)
- Casanova, Un voyage libertin (1985)
- Don Juan ou Pavlov, Essai sur la communication publicitaire (1991)
- La Reine scélérate, Marie-Antoinette dans les pamphlets (1989)
- translated into English as The Wicked Queen : The Origins of the Myth of Marie-Antoinette[9] (1999) by Julie Rose
- Thomas Bernhard (1990)
- Sade (1994)
- La Vie réelle des petites filles (1995)
- Comment supporter sa liberté (1998)
- translated into English as Coping with freedom : reflections on ephemeral happiness[10] (2001), by Andrea L. Secara
- Les Adieux à la Reine (2002)
- translated into English as Farewell, My Queen[11] (2003), by Moishe Black
- La Lectrice-Adjointe (2003)
- Souffrir (2003)
- L'île flottante (2004)
- Apolline ou L'école de la Providence (2005)
- Le Palais de la reine (2005)
- Chemins de sable, Conversation avec Claude Plettner (2006)
- Jardinière Arlequin, Conversations avec Alain Passard (2006)
- Cafés de la mémoire (2008)
- Le Testament d'Olympe (2010)
- L'esprit de conversation (2011)
- L'Échange des princesses (2013)
- translated into English as The Exchange of Princesses[12] (2014), by John Cullen
- Un air de liberté. Variations sur l'esprit du XVIIIe siècle (2014)
- Souvenirs de la marée basse (2017)
- translated into English as Memories of Low Tide (2019), by Natasha Lehrer
- East Village Blues (2019)
- Café Vivre. chroniques en passant (2020)
- Journal de nage (2022)
References
- ^ a b "Chantal Thomas" (in French). Encyclopédie des auteurs. Archived from the original on 31 December 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "Tous les lauréats du Prix Femina" (in French). Prix-litteraires.net. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- ^ Angelico, John (22 April 2012). "SFIFF 2012: Opening night film 'Farewell, My Queen'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ Young, Deborah (9 February 2012). "Farewell, My Queen: Berlin Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "Marie Antoinette drama to open Berlin Film Festival". BBC. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ^ "Benoît Jacquot's Les Adieux à la reine to Open the 62nd Berlinale". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ^ Falconer, Helen (9 January 2004). "The rats of Versailles". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ Clermont, Thierry (2021-01-28). "Académie française: Chantal Thomas succède à Jean d'Ormesson". Le Figaro (in French).
- OCLC 35961483
- OCLC 49852623
- OCLC 51817401
- OCLC 893016783
External links
- Chantal Thomas at IMDb
