Product Description

In My Mother's House and Sido, Colette plays fictional variations on the themes of childhood, family, and, above all, her mother. Vividly alive, fond of cities, music, theater, and books, Sido devoted herself to her village, Saint-Saveur; to her garden, with its inhabitants and its animals; and, especially, to her children, particularly her youngest, whom she called Minet-Chéri. Unlike Gigi and Chéri, which focus largely on sexual love and its repercussions, My Mother's House and Sido center on the compelling figure of a powerful, nurturing woman in late-nineteenth-century rural France, conveying the impact she had on her community and on her daughter -- who grew up to be a great writer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108812 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About the Author
Born in 1873 in France, Colette was the author of many acclaimed novels noted for their intimate style. She died in 1954.

Customer Reviews

The essence of Colette
There are many Colettes, and I cherish them all. But the one dearest to me is the Colette who wrote so lovingly and voluptuously of her early years. In "My Mother's House" and "Sido" Colette writes about her family, her childhood in the country, and the creatures - human and otherwise - which informed those years.

In her writing about these years, Colette describes the inner life of children, country life, and her parents and their odd, affectionate and often difficult relationship with each other and with their children. We have the sense of lives tied to the earth and the turn of seasons, particularly through loving descriptions of her mother, Sido.

These two memoirs are not about "not much" as one reviewer puts it, they're about the sensuality of life, about enduring bonds of love and of blood, and about the education of a writer. Perfectly gorgeous work, and highly recommended.

Delighted in provencial
Collette holds out parts of her life for us to examime the way a woman lays out photographs for visitors to browse. These unique literary snapshots offer a delicate image of a woman's memory of a part of her life, and they are at once both delightful and common in the way they speak to women of those experiences and insights that are female. Deceptive simplicity in its wonderfully written images of provincial life.

I keep having to buy this book again and again
I first read this book back when the earth was cooling. When I wanted to reread it, I couldn't find it, so I bought another copy. I've loaned it out, never had it returned, bought it again, ditto, ditto, ditto.
I've probably bought this book 10 times over the past 20 years, and that's no doubt a record for me.
People associate Colette with Cheri and her other erotic and somewhat scandalous writing and life-style.
Sido (her mother) and My Mother's House are written in an altogether different tone: lyrical, idyllic, dreamy, funny (of course; she's a very funny writer), nostalgic.
Read these two companion books, usually sold in a single volume, to get a real taste of what it was like to spend your childhood in rural France before the turn of the last century, in an eccentric household run by an unusually permissive mother and a much older, loving but distant father.
To read these books is to be sucked into another era by a writer uniquely skilled at her craft - and most of all, it gives you a fresh appreciation for the child who became Colette.