What is The Unexpected Tale of Bastien Bonlivre all about?
Bastien Bonlivre is a boy with a big imagination, determined to finish the story his parents started, left to him in a red notebook. On the other side of Paris, bestselling author Olivier Odieux is struggling to complete his latest novel. Along with his villainous brothers, he is masterminding his greatest plot yet...one that will spread fear throughout the city and beyond. What connects these two stories is a dangerous secret, a hidden mystery and an unexpected race across Paris for the truth. Can Bastien and his friends Alice, Theo and Sami be brave enough to stop Olivier stealing the ending they deserve?
Bravery and friendship are essential elements of children’s books and mine is no different. The two work alongside each other; I am brave because of the brilliant friends and relationships I have made and I wanted to write about friends who lift and support each other up at all times.
The power of imagination is another important theme. When Bastien reminds himself of what his father said, about how a story is the only thing in the world that can detach the mind from the body, I feel that on every level. I always turn to stories whether that is in the form of a book, TV show, graphic novel or video game.
What inspired you to write this book?
Growing up in Chadwell Heath, a place that straddled the border of Essex and London, I loved learning languages as it made me feel as though I was somewhere else. French was my first (language) love. My parents bought me Usborne’s First 1000 Words and I remember the thrill of being able to order an ice cream on our first trip to France. The itch of learning new languages lingered on my skin for the rest of my time throughout school and sixth form, and ultimately led to me enrolling on the French & Francophone Studies course at the University of Sheffield. I studied everything from to Nouvelle Vague cinema to the literature and politics of the post(-)colonial, and lived in a small town just outside of Lille, teaching primary school children.
All of the above pulled me towards writing a story set in France.
Why did you decide to set Bastien’s adventures in the 1920’s?
The interwar period has always been of great interest to me, especially the 20’s, or as they were known in France as Les Années Folles. Paris was the heart of great cultural and social change and so I knew that I would set my story there. The book takes place in the year of 1922.
Why did you send Bastien to an orphanage?
It’s certainly not an understatement to say that orphanages feature often in children’s books and when I first started writing The Unexpected Tale of Bastien Bonlivre back in late 2017 I wasn’t as informed about this and the ‘trope’ of the nasty orphanage director as I am now and I know to write better and smarter.
But here is some historical context for my story and one of its many settings:
After the devastation of the First World War, a lot of children were left without parents. France, in particular, Adoption wasn’t legal in France until 1923 and so I knew that Bastien, along with the other boys, would live in an orphanage. The Orphanage for Gentils Garcons is originally ran by Monsieur Dupont, a kind man who mysteriously vanishes one day.
Enter Monsieur Xavier, a cruel man who takes over the orphanage. Part of the mystery is for the readers to find out who Monsieur Xavier is and why he is there, as he certainly isn’t who he says he is…
Bien sûr que oui! For me, reading and learning is just as much fun as sitting down to write the story.
I’d like to stress that any oversights or mistakes are my fault alone.
During the first draft, the second, and every other edit that followed, I read all types of books. As part of my university degree, I was lucky enough to study and read a lot of work from the ‘francophone’ world – from Flaubert’s L’education sentimentale to Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l'Atlantique. I revisited old texts as well as reading many more, from Graham Robb’s Paris to Olivette Otele’s African Europeans and France by Emile Chabal, as well as countless academic articles on JSTOR and my old lecturers – from the treatment of North and West African tirailleurs by the French during WW1 to looking at the cultural impact of Les Années Folles.
I spoke to my French friends who helped me with the language of the time, as well as working with two brilliant sensitivity readers. Ouissal Harize advised me on Theo’s Algerian heritage and Fadwa read my manuscript to offer suggestions and improvements on the character of Sami.
We largely see the world through Bastien’s eyes and it was crucial for him to see Sami’s difficulties, as well as Theo’s, through his own lens and not theirs. He can never understand Sami’s pain as it is wrapped up in colonial trauma.
As invaluable as their help was, sensitivity readers are not responsible for ensuring that everything is right in my story. Every person has their own individual experiences, but I wanted to show 1920s Paris as the city it would have been, not a whitewashed version. I hope that I have represented the reality of the time while also respecting stories that are not mine to tell.
I also spoke with a number of people at Action for Children, a charity who do a range of brilliant work from neglect and abuse, fostering adoption and residential care, mental health, younger carers etc. I spoke to them for guidance on writing about children with trauma.
I spent my year abroad in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, but I visited Paris often, to meet friends. I have been lucky enough to visit every location in my book; from the hills of Montmartre to the inspiration behind Le Chat Curieux; librairie Gibert Jeune, which is sadly closing indefinitely at the end of March 2021 after 135 years of bookselling.