“Faussement douce, LA LOIRE, ce que les écrivains nous disent du fleuve”

"Not all writers have the same perception of the Loire. Those who were born on its banks, or who made it their home (Joachim Du Bellay, Balzac, René Bazin, Maurice Genevoix, Hervé Bazin, Julien Gracq to mention just a few) know the river inside out, unlike writers who have discovered it on their travels (such as Jean de La Fontaine, la marquise de Sévigné, Stendhal and Flaubert) and have a more distant view of it. Taking this twofold approach, I have tried to pinpoint what characterises this often paradoxical river and sets it apart - by looking particularly and naturally at riverside writers.» 

Published by Siloë, 2011 

160 pages, €16.