A review by foggy_rosamund
Claudine at School by Colette

3.0

Set in a rural village in early 20th France, the novel is narrated by Claudine, who is in her last year at the village school. Claudine is fiercely intelligent, easily bored, and desperate for love. She lives alone with her father, who has little time for her, and finds her fellow school-mates don't have her intellect or emotional intelligence. She becomes infatuated by a young school mistress, and is distraught when this woman spurns Claudine in favour of the school's head-mistress. The lesbianism in this novel is surprisingly overt for the time period, and refreshingly accepted as part of life. Claudine develops crushes on many of her school-friends, both male and female. The novel itself doesn't have a particularly interesting plot or structure, but it is held together by Claudine's vivid narration and charisma. I would read more in this series.