Francophonie mon amour ❤️
==== Work In Progress, taking recommandations! ====
Based on my original post on having quests for French Literature! Thanks to everyone that participated in the discussion and still do!
This list covers books first published in French, from all over the world!
See also:
- French Classics Starter Pack I
- French Classics Starter Pack II
- French Modern Classics Starter Pack I
- French Literature Final Boss
created by aoitsuki
last updated August, 2026
Comments
in terms of French Canadian lit: Michel Tremblay's pretty big in general (both for class and queer representation)
one that might be a good addition for this list would be Pas pleurer/Cry Mother Spain (Lydie Salvayre)!
aoitsukiOP
Thank you so much for your great recommendations!! I added Cry Mother Spain and for Michel Tremblay The fat woman next door is pregnant because it was already logged on PB, but I've seen he has some other translated works on Goodreads. Do you have a recommendation for which other one to add? (Hosanna, The Unmanageable Sisters which might be the same as Les Belles Soeurs not sure, Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer...)
PS: sorry it took me so long to respond, I'll be more reactive next time 🙇♀️
No worries!! In terms of his novels I’ve read La grosse femme too and it is a good option unless the translation is iffy. And both La Duchesse et le roturier/The Duchess and the Commoner / Des Nouvelles d’Édouard / News from Edouard is in the same series and both have more queer representation (Edouard is the focal point - similar to the main character in Hosanna he is gay and adopts a drag persona; Edouard appears in GFDCEE but more briefly). I have more familiarity with Edouard’s appearances in theatre though.
In terms of plays Les Belles Soeurs in my experience is kept the same in English as a title? But it doesn’t translate the joual very well, at least on internet archive :/ Albertine en cinq temps / Albertine in Five Times is pretty interesting but more niche. It’s a bit more accessible than LBS in terms of plot, though it has some similarities in terms of themes and style (it’s the character of Albertine across 5 different major times in her life all on the same stage)!
Also, sorry, I was double checking Salvayre because I was remembering the plot of the novel and she’s considered French (her parents fled Spain in the Spanish civil war but she wasn’t born in Spain, she was born in Autainville in France). I’m not sure if this means it should be moved to the other list? My bad, I should’ve doublechecked whether she was born before or after her parents moved.
aoitsukiOP
Ah yes, I've had the issue when checking her bio, don't apologize! I can see you took the time to check the parameters and are doing your best to provide great inputs, thanks again!
At first, I only checked Wikipedia in French, which doesn't list her nationality, lays on the fact that her parents are Spanish and that French is not her mother tongue and the intro even says "écrivaine d'expression française" instead of "écrivaine française", which usually is a way of saying that she isn't French but writes in French... So I assumed she either never asked for/got the nationality for some reason, or the information is unknown/has never been confirmed...
But other sources like Babelio mention that she is indeed French (and it's probable as having been born in France, she probably is untitled to the French nationality by "droit du sol"), so now I'm not so sure anymore 🫠
In any case, I need to clarify the distinction between the French Lit and Francophonie lists for sure, but so far I've wanted to allow crossovers like it's the case for many books across quests 😊 I'd rather have some authors shine even more rather than have a strong separation, as the French history and its relationship to the Francophonie isn't always that simple and easy to put into boxes. So for example, for authors that came from another country but at some point also obtained the French nationality, they can be in both (e.g Leopold Senghor, Romain Gary, Dai Sidjie). Same for authors that are "only" French but during controversial times under French colonialism, as well as current oversea territories (e.g Maryse Condé, Aimé Césaire, René Maran). I don't know, it might be gauche, I'm still trying to find a way...
All that to say she could actually be in both!
aoitsukiOP
Ouh you making it very hard to decide with so many good options and remarks! I would say I'm not a fan of adding several books of the same series, especially if we are skipping a few in between, so would you say Hosanna can be read on its own even though it seems to be referring to the characters from News from Edouard? Or should we pick Albertine instead? I don't mind a niche pick especially if it allows to show more diversity (can be in terms of authors but also kinds of work from the same author), but would it be the case here? 🤔
Thank you so much for taking the time to bring up such interesting picks and explain your train of thoughts in detail, I really appreciate it!!
Hosanna isn’t the same character, he just has a similar archetype and themes! The play Edouard’s in is La Duchesse de Langeais (and I stg there’s one with him in an asylum? But I can’t find it)
EDIT: of the bunch I’d say Albertine might be the most accessible? I haven’t read the Edouards though, I’ve only read secondary literature on them
