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The Godmother
The Godmother: A Crime Novel | Hannelore Cayre
18 posts | 13 read | 28 to read
Inspiration for the major motion picture Mama Weed; translated from the international bestseller La Daronne, winner of the European Crime Fiction Prize and the Grand Prix de Littrature Policire, Frances most prestigious prize for crime fiction Meet Patience Portefeux, a fifty-three-year-old, underpaid Franco-Arab interpreter for the Ministry of Justice who specializes in phone tapping. Widowed after the sudden death of her husband, Patience is now wedged between university fees for her grown-up daughters and nursing home costs for her aging mother. Happening upon an especially revealing set of police wiretaps ahead of all other authorities, Patience makes a life-altering decision that sees her intervening in and infiltrating the machinations of a massive drug deal. She thus embarks on an entirely new career path: Patience becomes The Godmother. This is not the French idyll of postcards and stock photos. With a gallery of traffickers, dealers, police officers, and politicians, The Godmother casts its sharp and amusing gaze on everyday survival in contemporary France. With an unforgettable woman at its center, Hannelore Cayres bestselling novel reveals a European criminal underground that has rarely been seen.
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tpixie
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Now, onto this quirky read! And she‘s not a fairy godmother…. She‘s the other kind!
#Paris #France 🇫🇷

36 likes1 stack add
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Lindy
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Pickpick

A struggling single mother in her 50s is caught between the university expenses for her daughters & the care home costs for her mother in this darkly tongue-in-cheek tale of criminals in contemporary France. #Translation by Stephanie Smee.

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Lindy
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She had asked to be cremated with her ashes scattered in a department store. The girls & I carried out her final wishes, selecting the Galeries Lafayette. I chose to scatter my share through the boutiques of her favourite designers. If you happened to find a bit of grey dust or some strange little bits of matter at the bottom of your Dior, Nina Ricci or Balenciaga suit pockets from the Spring-Summer 2017 collection—that was my mother.

Catherine_Willoughby I think the ex brought me to the wrong lafayette shopping centre while in Paris 😂🤦‍♀️ - this not what I saw when there back in 2008! Knew he was lost! I left went off to the Rodin Museum by myself by the metro . I can read a map 😎

3y
Lindy @Catherine_Willoughby The flagship location on boulevard Haussmann is spectacular inside, with a giant glass dome ceiling... next time you visit Paris. 😉 3y
tpixie @Lindy I‘m heading there in 2 weeks for the first time- I better take a peek! 🌺🇫🇷🌺 2y
See All 10 Comments
Lindy @tpixie Indeed! Happy travels ✈️ 2y
tpixie @Lindy thanks! I‘ve been excited for it but now I‘m becoming a little anxious because there‘s just so much to think about and to try to coordinate museums throughout the days but not overbooking yourself! 2y
Lindy @tpixie I know. I like to be super prepared: which museums are open on which days, what gardens, cemeteries or other attractions I want to see that are near the museums, plus knowing some interesting streets to stroll, riverside or canal side walks, seine boat departure locations. All of that. Then I think about my top priorities. I tell myself to relax & focus on those priorities. Anything else (easier thanks to prep) is a bonus. 2y
tpixie @Lindy thanks! I need to remind myself that most of my prep is just for ‘ in case‘! It sounds like we planned very similarly. I have a spreadsheet made of the sites and what days they are open late, & which days are they closed. I made notes for each of the 20 Arrondissements. Lol my son printed my notes for me and it turned into 115 page book! 👇 2y
tpixie I had to re-print it into three different books so they might be more manageable if I carry them with me. I need to plan on two or three things a day and just have all the other things be nice surprises if we have time or come upon them. 2y
Lindy @tpixie 😂 your trip will be fabulous! 2y
tpixie @Lindy thanks! I‘m sure it will! I just have to take a deep breath! And enjoy what we do get to do! 2y
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Lindy
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And while I had plenty of faults, he had one big one: he believed in God. Philippe, this man who was integrity personified, intelligent, cultured and witty… believed in God! It just seems so unlikely that anybody could give any credibility to such a load of rubbish. He could have confided in me a belief that our fate as humans was predetermined by a dish of celestial noodles and I wouldn‘t have found it less ridiculous.

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Lindy
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My father, good colonial that he was, had taught me at the same age he himself had learned, that‘s to say, at the age of 10. I still remembered the recoil ripping into my shoulder as he made me shoot, over & over, until I could absorb the shock with my body. So when my parents went out to a restaurant, they could leave me alone between the motorway & the forest with the revolver on the bedside table & not waste a moment worrying about ⬇️

Lindy whether I might be scared—after all, what babysitter could be as good as a .357 Magnum? 3y
tpixie Oh my! this is going to be a bizarre book! 2y
Lindy @tpixie It‘s dark and whimsical at the same time. 2y
34 likes3 comments
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Lindy
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She was neither crazy nor completely blasé, and since she expected absolutely nothing from life, none of her hopes had ever been dashed. As a young woman, her one hope had been that she wouldn‘t be killed.

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Lindy
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I adore old things: they‘ve witnessed the lives of so many people and you never get tired of looking at them, the way you do with new things.
It‘s remembering details like this which makes me realize that even in the depths of my grief, I‘ve always been open to positive ideas. I‘ve never felt desperate enough to contemplate suicide; for that you need a spiritual strength I‘ve just never had.

Cathythoughts A beautiful table setting 3y
Lindy @Cathythoughts 😊I took this photo in a heritage house in Banff (pre-covid). 3y
37 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Kazzie
Mehso-so

Interesting story - not very familiar with French literature. Some aspects regarding race and ethnicity however seemed problematic in my view

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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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Pickpick

Well worth the long library holds queue for this tale of a French/Arabic translator who goes quite a bit further than just translating when she works out the location of a major drugs shipment before the police... and decides she‘s overdue for a pension/retirement savings...

julesG Sold! 4y
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Tonton
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Pickpick

This got me out of the year end doldrums! Hilariously matter of fact tale of a mid-fifties Parisian police wiretap translator/transcriber who lifts herself out of dire financial straits by brilliantly conning drug dealers to become the Godmother. Deserves every prize awarded; great affirmation of taking charge of your life.

Reggie This sounds great! Stacked. 4y
Tonton @Reggie Enjoy!😎 4y
37 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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Twocougs
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Pickpick

A French Godmother, what‘s not to like? Add in a retired drug dog and some “bad guys” and you got an award winning French crime novel.

charl08 Waiting for this one from the library! 4y
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Mitch
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Pickpick

This was fun! It had everything a crime novel usually excludes - an hilariously resourceful middle aged woman as the protagonist and life in the suburbs. Both of which are used brilliantly to share an understanding of the criminal underworld linked to immigrant and drug smuggling. It was fresh, intelligent and I was rooting for her to succeed!

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GirlWellRead
Mehso-so

What struck me was the subtly—it was clever without being trite or predictable. What Cayre makes up for with ingenuity, she alienates with the slightly formal tone and quirkiness. The story was well executed, however, at times was rather dark and twisty. Readers are taken to the underbelly of Paris—forget the glamour of the City of Lights, this is the drug infested underground. It took several attempts to get into it, but once I did, I enjoyed it.

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Mitch
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Another train ride and another new book to read! An impulse purchase yesterday from Mr Bs Book Emporium. It was a staff pick so fingers crossed!

britt_brooke Cool cover! 4y
Leftcoastzen I love stores with a “staff picks”section! My local does . 4y
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overtheedge
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Pickpick

OMG....this was such a good crime story. It definitely deserved the awards its won. Told through the eyes of the protagonist, The Godmother with the sarcasm, wit and candor of a woman in her mid 50s pulling off the biggest heist ever, and never being caught......this is an independent Canadian publisher, I want more!!
#teamslaughter #scarathon @Clwojick #24B4Monday

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overtheedge
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Next up on my #24B4Monday
This French Crime novel looks good....art traffickers, dealers, police officers, politicians and crime...this won the European Crime Fiction Prize and the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere......
#teamslaughter #scarathon @Clwojick

32 likes2 stack adds