ABSTRACT
The writing of Anne Serre (b. 1960) has impressed with its wit and precision ever since her lively first novels, Les Gouvernantes (The Governesses, 1992) and Eva Lone (1993), and a fine collection of stories, Un voyage en ballon (A Balloon Ride, 1993). Already varied in narrative structure from the onset of her career, her subsequent books have continued to move beyond classical storytelling to take on the form of monologues, suspenseful personal essays, or tales that shift like plays from tableau to tableau. A handful of themes recur and compel: lost love, the pursuit of genuine friendship, the inclination to solitude (or the desire to be with others), and the perception of certain events as “fate” as opposed to chance.
