Eight-year-old Benjamin's parents, Pauline and Pierre, don't really have fun or even talk much any more; they can hardly see the point in staying together these days. But then, Benjamin's scores in his weekly dictation test take a sharp nosedive and it's all hands on deck to save their child's education and the family reputation. Pauline even ropes in an eminent and elderly member of the Académie Française to lend a glamorous hand to their efforts to help their son. And her plan crystallises around their traditional, end-of-term summer picnic in the famous Parisian park of Buttes-Chaumont. How better to celebrate the end of school and start of the summer than by having everyone do one last, great dictation? And what better dictation for all the picnickers to attempt than the legendarily difficult one composed by Prosper Mérimée for the Emperor Napoleon? In this soufflé-light tale of love and grammar lost and regained, Antoine Laurain is the surest guide to what really matters in life. Which is perfect spelling - of course...
Genre: Literary Fiction
Genre: Literary Fiction
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