The Little Madeleine by Mrs Robert Henrey
By Rosemary MorrisLittle Madeleine begins:Iwas born on 13/08/1906 in Montmartre in a steep cobbled street of leaning houses,slate-coloured and old,under the shining loftiness of the Sacre Couer.
As a historical novelist I enjoy reading about eras that have gone with the wind. I! have ju st re-read The Little Madeleine by Mrs Robert Henrey which relates the joys and sorrows of a French girl daughter of a seamstress and a picturesque father from the Midi. Mrs Robert Henrey's autobiography is the story of her girlhood in Monmartre and the wastelands, the Paris fortifications, or city walls, where the Apache wielded his knife. Her mother toiled for long hours for customers and made 'adorable clothes' for Madeleine. The autobiography brings to life the people and scenes of her childhood along with its few joys and many difficulties.The author never indulges in self-pity and reveals her impoverished childhood whether writing about a street musician murdered by apaches,her experiences in the 1st World War, her intermittent ill-health probably caused by being under-nourished and her determination to excel at school. http://www.rosemarymorris.co.uk
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