review
For those who want to read an original book in French, “Les gens dans l’enveloppe” by Isabelle Monnin is definitely recommended. The author buys a cover with 250 photos online. Photos of ordinary people in an ordinary French village. Photos of a little girl with a striped sweater. From a man who looks lonely. From a grandmother with dark glasses. In the first part of the book, Isabelle Monnin makes up a story for the characters in the photos. In the second part she goes in search of the real people. Fiction and reality are sometimes eerily close to each other!
Les gens dans l’enveloppe: the book
The cover: l’enveloppe
Isabelle Monnin is a French writer. One day she orders a cover via the internet containing 250 photos. Ordinary photos of ordinary people: a little girl in a striped sweater, a man who looks sad and lonely, a grandmother with dark glasses who appears to have a fondness for fried chicken, a woman who keeps walking and winning cups.
First part of the book: the made-up story
Isabelle Monnin will write a story based on the photos. She names each person in the photo. The girl becomes “Laurence”, the man becomes “Serge” and the grandmother becomes “Mamie Poulet” (granny chicken). There is also a woman who is always in running outfit in the photos and who has won many cups. She calls this one “Germaine” and she makes it the sister of “Mamie Poulet”. Based on the clothing and furniture, she situates the story in the 1970s. Since there is no mother figure in any photo, Isabelle Monnin assumes that Laurence no longer has a mother. She makes up that Laurence’s mom fell in love with an Argentinian and that after a few months she left for Argentina with him. Serge is left alone and sad with his daughter Laurence. Together they often go to Mamie Poulet and during the holidays they go to the campsite where Mamie Poulet and her sister Germaine fry a chicken every Sunday. The story of lonely, abandoned people who each try to process this in their own way.
photos
Between the two volumes you will find some of the photos that have served as the basis for making up the book and finding the real people. There are also a number of photos on the cover of the book. Old color photos, without legend. Not all cover photos are printed.
Second part of the book: the search for the “gens” (the people)
After writing the first part, Isabelle Monnin goes in search of the real people in the photos. On the basis of a bell tower with a strip of white stones, the writer finds which village in France it is. The village is called Clerval. She contacts a resident of the village who wants to meet her. Thanks to his help, she finds the people again. First Serge, whose name turns out to be Michel. Via “Serge” – Michel, she then meets the daughter who, purely by chance, turns out to be really called Laurence. The grandmother with black glasses turns out not to be the grandmother, but the great-grandmother. Runner Germaine is the grandmother, not the grandmother’s sister. The family’s house is also for sale, so she can also take a look at the house of the photos. Slowly, Isabelle Monnin gets to know the whole family and gets to hear the real story, including about little Laurence’s mom.
Les gens dans l’enveloppe – l’enveloppe des gens
The title of the book is clear: les gens dans l’enveloppe are the people in the cover. People in a photo, people drawn during daily activities, in a certain period of time. Somewhere in the book, Isabelle Monnin mentions during her search that “les gens dans l’enveloppe” tell her a lot, but that it will always remain “l’enveloppe des gens”: the shell of the people. Their inner feelings, deep thoughts and hidden secrets will always remain hidden from her. After all, she is just a stranger who comes into their lives. Truth like a cow and a well-found pun!
Les gens entre guillemets (the people in quotation marks)
The characters in the first part are all given names, invented by writer Isabelle Monnin. When she meets the real people in the second part, she gets to know their real name. The invented characters then become “les gens entre guillemets”, the people in quotation marks. Isabelle Monnin has to say goodbye to the invented names and get used to the real names, just like the readers.
CD with the book
The original version of the book includes a CD made by Alex Beaupain. It contains a number of songs that relate to the characters, the period in which the story takes place and the search for the characters by Isabelle Monnin. The original here is again that the real people from the book agreed to sing some songs as well. The second part of the book regularly refers to the CD and its making of it.
Details of the book
The original version
- Title: Les gens dans l’enveloppe
- Author: Isabelle Monnin / Alex Beaupain
- Issuing date: September 2, 2015
- Publisher: JC Lattès
- Number of pages: 370
- ISBN: 2709649837
- Cover: a number of old photos crisscrossed together
- With CD
Book published by France Loisirs
- Title: Les gens dans l’enveloppe
- Author: Isabelle Monnin
- Issuing date: July 2016
- Publisher: France Loisirs, Paris
- Number of pages: 357
- ISBN: 978-2-298-11486-7
- Cover: a number of old photos crisscrossed together
- Version without CD and without the lyrics of the songs
Isabelle Monnin
The writer
Isabelle Monnin was born in France, in Franche-Comté. She is a journalist at Nouvel Obs, but has taken a break to be a full-time writer and to work as a publisher at publishing house JC Lattès. Little is known about her private life. Also on her own site there is only information about her books.
Other books by Isabelle Monnin
- Ils sont devenus Français: dans le secret des archives, in collaboration with Doan Bui. Document about famous people (Gainsbourg, Aznavour, Goscinny, Uderzo, Drucker …) who became French. Compiled after a long search in the French archives.
- Les vies extraordinaires d’Eugène. The story of Eugène, a baby who is born seven days prematurely and dies seven days after his birth. And yet his short passage leaves a huge impression on many people, starting with his mom and dad.
- Daffodil Silver. Lilas is devastated by the death of her twenty-eight-year-old sister Rosa. A crazy project makes her survive and drags the whole family along.
- Second Tour ou Les bons sentiments. May 5, 2012. A novel about politics and love on the eve of the French presidential elections and about what has changed or remained the same in the last thirty years.
Alex Beaupain
Born 1974 as Alexandre Beaupain in Besançon (Doubs), songwriter. He wrote songs that were used in the movie “Les chansons d’amour”. When Isabelle Monnin spoke to him about her book, he immediately agreed to write songs about her characters and her quest. Some songs can be listened to on YouTube, such as “Mon Cher” sung by Clothilde Hesme.
Original book
A genius idea
The first part of the book reads like a train. You are fascinated by the life that the characters in the pictures will lead and you are constantly looking for the picture that served as the basis for that part of the story. The second part of the book is also interesting, but at times a bit confusing. The characters who suddenly get different names and who turn out not to be what Isabelle Monnin thought they were, events that are put in a completely different light and so on. Fortunately, at the end of the book you have a family tree containing the characters with their fictional and their real names. Unfortunately, this is not mentioned anywhere, so that you only end up when the book is completely finished.
Writing style
The writing style is sometimes very poetic, sometimes a bit philosophical. There are very nicely found comparisons in the book and very nice statements. Like, for example, the statement that she will only learn the shell of the people in the cover. A small sentence with a big truth. The sentences are usually short and sweet.
photos
The photos complete the story and the search, but since they are not all published in the book and they were not printed chronologically, it is sometimes searching for the photo that served as a source of inspiration. The photos do show the period well and bring you back to the typical atmosphere of the seventies.
CD
Unfortunately there is no CD with the release of France Loisirs. This is a mistake on the part of the publishers, because when you read the criticisms of people who have the CD with the book, then the CD does add value to the book. Fortunately, you can still listen to some songs on YouTube.
