The Children's Room

This volume contains a novella and three short stories by the much admired French prose stylist and novelist, Louis-René des Forêts, who has been compared to Proust, although in feeling he is much closer to his contemporaries of the 'nouveau roman'.

In 'The Bavard', the narrator relates the incidents of his life, but it is his personality that he conveys, from which the reader - pulled on by the constant stream of words - can discern the reasons for his obsessions as he gradually relapses into silence.

Three stories follow from his prize-winning collection 'The Children's Room' (Prix des Critiques). In the title story, we get great insight into the world of childhood, observed by an adult. Childhood also emerges in one of the other stories, but it is our personality quirks, our egos, that the author examines and projects in his fiction, and in a prose that is a joy to read.