The Library of Unrequited Love – Sophie Divry (2010, trans. Sian Reynolds 2013) 92 pages
The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry is a monologue delivered by a librarian to a reader who she discovers has been locked in the library overnight, when she opens up in the morning. The librarian is middle-aged and frustrated about a plethora of things, including her job:
“Being a librarian isn’t an especially high-level job I can tell you. Pretty close to being in a factory. I’m a cultural assembly line worker.”
She is committed to librarianship however, and throughout the novella her love of books emerges, as does her appreciation of the Dewey decimal system:
“they didn’t just classify by author, they sometimes put books on the shelf by size, or date of acquisition. Now I think of it, the confusion it must have caused. Glad I didn’t live then, I couldn’t have put up with that kind of anarchy.”
The reader remains a silent interlocutor as the librarian spills out all her feelings. Although she claims she has given up on love, you get the sense this isn’t quite true:
“One of my favourite authors, you’ve already gathered that, is Guy de Maupassant. Now there’s a man for you. Just imagine, he wrote two hundred and ninety short stories and seven novels in ten years. And then on Sundays, he went rowing on the Seine. A real force of nature, eh? He must have had terrific biceps and been fantastically intelligent.”
There are also her unrequited feelings for a regular library reader:
“With that lovely neck of his. It would disappoint me if a man as clever as Martin were to be in love. But you have to be prepared for anything.”
The librarian is a funny and acerbic narrator:
“That’s another reason I don’t go travelling. Napoleon’s always been there first. I can’t stand it.”
She is slightly self-deceiving but she is also wise, sad, honest and above all, entertaining. I enjoyed my short time in her company, mostly because The Library of Unrequited Love is actually about a love that is always fulfilled, over and over: the love of books.
“Book and reader, if they meet up at the right moment in a person’s life, it can make sparks fly, set you alight, change your life.”
I recall seeing quite a few positive reviews of this book when it came out but then it must have dropped off my radar for some reason. Thanks for the reminder – it does sound good.
As an aside, have you come across The Incident Report by Martha Baillie? It’s a novella framed around a set of library incident reports which come together to give an insight into the protagonist’s personal life alongside her role as a librarian. I couldn’t help but be reminded of it as I was reading your post.
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It’s a lovely, quick read Jacqui, I hope you enjoy it!
I haven’t heard of the Baillie, it sounds really interesting. I’ll hunt down a copy – thank you for the recommendation 🙂
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You’re very welcome – I wrote about it here, if it’s of interest.
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/the-incident-report-by-martha-baillie/
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Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Madame Librarian has such a sharp tongue but as you say she still has yearnings!
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Yes, she’s a real character!
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wow, you really are turning up some treasures, and here’s another one – thank you! 🙂
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You’re very welcome Liz – I hope you enjoy it!
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I liked this one very much when I read – lovely!
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It really is lovely!
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I love your novella series – I’ve read Sophie Divry in French – she was one of my ‘local’ writers, from Lyon, so just an hour away from where I lived. She is very funny and yet quite acerbic about life in present-day France. She also has a lot to say about poverty and bureaucracy in When the Devil Left the Bathroom and Madame Bovary of the Provinces.
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Funny yet acerbic is absolutely right! This is the first of hers I’ve read, so I’ll definitely see if the 2 titles you mention are available in English translation. Thank you for pointing me towards her other work 🙂
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This title is new to me. Your lovely review has persuaded me to add to my TBR list. Incidentally, I’m very much enjoying your Novella a Day in May series. Excellent! ☺️
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I hope you enjoy it Paula! Thanks for letting me know you’re enjoying the series, I’m really pleased 🙂
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Of course the title of this one is what particularly caught my eye. I love the sound of the narrator however and that over arching theme – the love of books.
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Same here – anything with library in the title is bound to appeal! The narrator is wonderful, truly idiosyncratic and such a distinct voice 🙂
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Sounds like fun – I’d never really considered de Maupassant’s biceps before! I shall add it to the shortlist… 😀
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Me neither – it’s opened my eyes 😀
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Ah, to be locked in a library overnight… (With food and without internet!)
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It’s the dream!
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I have read this and forgotten all about it. I laughed again at the Napoleon quote, I love it when people have eccentric reasons for not doing things, logic be damned!
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Logic is so dull – eccentricity is definitely the way to go!
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