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3 copies of celebrated French bestseller “On The Line” – BRITTANY

25th July 2021

We have 3 copies of celebrated French bestseller On the Line by Joseph Ponthus, set in BRITTANY. Translated by Stephanie Smee

UK only.

3 copies of celebrated French bestseller "On The Line"

A celebrated French bestseller, this novel in verse that captures the mundane and the beautiful, the blood and sweat, of working on the factory floor in the processing plants and abattoirs of Brittany.

Unable to find work in his field, Joseph Ponthus enlists with a temp agency and starts to pick up casual shifts in the fish processing plants and abattoirs of Brittany. Day after day he records with infinite precision the nature of work on the production line: the noise, the weariness, the dreams stolen by the repetitive nature of exhausting rituals and physical suffering. But he finds solace in a life previously lived.

Shelling prawns, he dreams of Alexandre Dumas. Pushing cattle carcasses, he recalls Apollinaire. And, in the grace of the blank spaces created by his insistent return to a new line of text – mirroring his continued return to the production line – we discover the woman he loves, the happiness of a Sunday, Pok Pok the dog, the smell of the sea.

In this celebrated French bestseller, translated by Stephanie Smee, Ponthus captures the mundane, the beautiful and the strange, writing with an elegance and humour that sit in poignant contrast with the blood and sweat of the factory floor. On the Line is a poet’s ode to manual labour, and to the human spirit that makes it bearable.

How To Enter

You must be a member of TripFiction. To join, simply go to www.tripfiction.com and scroll down to the JOIN NOW tab. We do check…

Then tell us in the COMMENTS below which title set in France has appealed to you a lot. Do this by midnight, 7th August 2021 and the first three names chosen at random will be sent a copy of the novel. UK only.

With thanks to Avneet at Head of Zeus

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Comments

  1. User: Tina Hartas

    Posted on: 11/08/2021 at 6:03 pm

    The winners:

    Pageflicker
    Katherine McDonald
    hughese

    Comment

  2. User: Katherine McDonald

    Posted on: 07/08/2021 at 8:20 pm

    Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks – such a beautiful book.

    Comment

  3. User: TJ12

    Posted on: 07/08/2021 at 8:08 pm

    Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

    Comment

  4. User: Julia321

    Posted on: 07/08/2021 at 5:08 pm

    I read Birdsong by Sebastian Fawlkes several years ago and enjoyed it despite the wartime theme of the book.

    Comment

  5. User: Tess P

    Posted on: 07/08/2021 at 4:43 pm

    I took on Proust with some sense of mild terror but really enjoyed it, and it made me desperate to get back to France,

    Comment

  6. User: abgopinfinity

    Posted on: 07/08/2021 at 12:28 pm

    I haven’t read any novels set in France but I do want to win your competition though!

    Comment

  7. User: SKnightley

    Posted on: 07/08/2021 at 11:19 am

    Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks

    Comment

  8. User: Sheena Read

    Posted on: 07/08/2021 at 10:41 am

    I haven’t read any of these books but “On The Line” sounds good.

    Comment

  9. User: Jennie Stallard

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 9:22 pm

    Chocolat by Joanne Harris

    Comment

  10. User: Lucy Wright-Booth

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 8:13 pm

    Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

    Comment

  11. User: Meryl Thomas

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 6:34 pm

    Madame Bovary

    Comment

  12. User: Patricia Avery

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 5:55 pm

    A Week in Paris, my first but no means last book by Rachel Hore. Just couldn’t put it down!

    Comment

  13. User: Tigger

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 5:43 pm

    A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

    Comment

  14. User: Edite

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 11:35 am

    Knife Gun Poison Bomb, by Martin O’Brien

    Comment

  15. User: Candyfloss

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 10:11 am

    Anything set in Paris automatically appeals to me. I’m psyching myself up to read A Tale of Two Cities.

    Comment

  16. User: hughese

    Posted on: 06/08/2021 at 9:42 am

    I really like the sound of a thriller with a difference, so On the Line would be perfect. I enjoy books with a French vibe and I’m just finishing off Peter May’s Enzo series, so this would be a perfect follow up.

    Comment

  17. User: bopper

    Posted on: 05/08/2021 at 9:19 pm

    Smoking Kills

    Comment

  18. User: keithymon

    Posted on: 05/08/2021 at 3:58 pm

    Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

    Comment

  19. User: keithymon

    Posted on: 05/08/2021 at 3:56 pm

    Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks. A magnificent book.

    Comment

  20. User: keithymon

    Posted on: 05/08/2021 at 3:24 pm

    Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

    Comment

  21. User: keithymon

    Posted on: 05/08/2021 at 3:20 pm

    I like Sebastian Faulks’ French series but to choose one I’ll have to say Birdsong – it made a huge impression on me when I first read it years ago and I still find myself thinking about it even now. It’s troubling and thought-provoking and really well-written.

    Comment

  22. User: Pageflicker

    Posted on: 05/08/2021 at 9:41 am

    A year in Provence (loved the tv series too!)

    Comment

  23. User: eshaah1

    Posted on: 04/08/2021 at 10:01 pm

    Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

    Comment

  24. User: Cat27C

    Posted on: 04/08/2021 at 8:26 pm

    I adored All Human Wisdom by Pierre Lemaitre. It was incredible! It kept me guessing the whole way through.

    Comment

  25. User: JoHeinrich

    Posted on: 03/08/2021 at 8:09 pm

    Animalia by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo (translated by Frank Wynne) was an amazing read that I can’t get out of my head

    Comment

  26. User: Kay Gerken

    Posted on: 03/08/2021 at 1:40 pm

    I like thrillers so for me it would have to be The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

    Comment

  27. User: JuanKerr

    Posted on: 02/08/2021 at 10:11 am

    The day of the Jackal – Frederick Forsyth

    Comment

  28. User: YOLANDA DAVIS

    Posted on: 01/08/2021 at 2:30 pm

    Chocolat

    Comment

  29. User: Sarah Parker

    Posted on: 01/08/2021 at 11:49 am

    The Paris Library

    Comment

  30. User: Laura Pritchard

    Posted on: 01/08/2021 at 10:46 am

    I loved Chocolat! by Joanne Harris.

    Comment

  31. User: Rich Tyler

    Posted on: 31/07/2021 at 9:54 pm

    Chocolat – Joanne Harris

    Comment

  32. User: Rozws

    Posted on: 31/07/2021 at 7:59 pm

    The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

    Comment

  33. User: Jan22

    Posted on: 31/07/2021 at 4:49 pm

    Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas

    Comment

  34. User: Plumbobmummy

    Posted on: 31/07/2021 at 2:34 pm

    The Paris Library

    Comment

  35. User: aspella

    Posted on: 30/07/2021 at 12:31 pm

    A Week in Paris by Rachel Hore

    Comment

  36. User: Jane Orford

    Posted on: 29/07/2021 at 10:00 am

    Chocolat

    Comment

  37. User: Lisa D

    Posted on: 29/07/2021 at 6:49 am

    Summer of Reckoning by Marion Brunet.

    Comment

  38. User: Ljroach

    Posted on: 28/07/2021 at 3:23 pm

    One day, I will actually pick up Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell from my bookcase and read it!

    Comment

  39. User: Lisa McFall

    Posted on: 28/07/2021 at 2:51 pm

    Perfume by Patrick Suskind

    Comment

  40. User: becksta75

    Posted on: 28/07/2021 at 11:31 am

    Has to be A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle – loved the TV series too.

    Comment

  41. User: Heather N

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 8:36 pm

    Labyrinth by Kate Mosse – really gripping and atmospheric with great characters

    Comment

  42. User: Riddler

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 8:20 pm

    Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan, which I read on a beach in the south of France

    Comment

  43. User: I like reading

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 7:42 pm

    Hello, I really enjoyed ‘Piglettes’ by Clémentine Beauvais. It is about three French teenagers, who after being bullied, decide to bike ride across France.

    Comment

  44. User: MrsJ2000

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 6:31 pm

    Labyrinth by Kate Mosse – set in the past and the present in Carcassonne

    Comment

  45. User: Aesop58

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 5:35 pm

    Perfume by Patrick Süskind

    Comment

  46. User: Amy

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 4:08 pm

    Perfume by Patrick Suskind not normally the sort of book id read but was good

    Comment

  47. User: Katrina Adams

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 8:40 am

    Lessons from Madame Chic: The Top 20 Things I Learned From Living In Paris. It’s a great read.

    Comment

  48. User: Lowslung

    Posted on: 27/07/2021 at 6:57 am

    Perfume – Patrick Suskind
    I wasn’t sure about the book at first, but really enjoyed it – so different!

    Comment

  49. User: redfox5

    Posted on: 26/07/2021 at 9:11 pm

    Chocolat by Joanne Harris. I saw the film version many years ago and have always meant to read the book!

    Comment

  50. User: philatel

    Posted on: 25/07/2021 at 10:53 pm

    The Second Worst Restaurant in France – Alexander McCall Smith

    Comment

  51. User: Rachel Hall

    Posted on: 25/07/2021 at 5:57 pm

    Three Days and a Life by Pierre Lemaitre. A brilliant book but my sister had been to the town where it is set (Beauval) the year before and had sent photographs so I could envisage the setting.

    Comment