Book Blog

Unedited excerpt of my memoir - ©2019 Sylvaine Francine    On the sidewalk, a busy shopkeeper sells plates of food. Bhel is my favorite crunchy spicy foodstuff: dry noodles on a bed of vegetables, topped by some flat crackers which can be used as silverware. It makes dinner easy and… tasty. I ask for some tea. The hot beverage will hopefully boil away any kind of bacteria or virus. A beggar … [Read more...] about India 1978 – The Beggar

Unedited excerpt of my memoir - ©2019 Sylvaine Francine “I spent the night in the company of the moon. She was looking at me. And all around, trees with exotic foliage whispered in the night, nocturnal birds flew and shouted. I slept on my bed made of wood and rope. No walls surround me, just the screen. It is very early, daylight. A rooster blasts its song in the stillness of the early … [Read more...] about India – In The Company Of The Moon

Unedited excerpt of my memoir - ©2019 Sylvaine Francine Morning comes early enough. We are tired from our late night at the Lions Club and still on jetlag. Feeling hot before we even set foot on the floor, I set the fan to a higher speed. “I’m starved. You want chai or something?” “Nope, I’m hot and I want a cold beer,” Yvette answers. We laugh. “Did you hear what Mokala said yesterday? … [Read more...] about India 1978 – Biri cooks

Unedited excerpt of my memoir - ©2019 Sylvaine Francine The car comes to a stop in a paved courtyard. Through the window I see a house— the bungalow, as Jagatjit has referred to it. The bungalow stands a few feet away, a large house, light peach color, in an upper middle-class neighborhood. Westerners would turn their noses up at this house. It looks run down, not fancy enough. The constant … [Read more...] about India 1978 – Arrival at Mokala’s

Unedited excerpt of my memoir - ©2019 Sylvaine Francine On the other hand, I had a good life in Paris: student with a part time job and a place I call home. When I left the Left-Bank neighborhood, I rented two rooms on the edge of the Marais district. I like my new arrangement; each room has a full-size window that opens on the courtyard. Recessed from the noisy boulevards, I like the … [Read more...] about Paris 1979