Les Yeux Jaunes des Crocodiles

Having to work and study at the same time doesn't allow me to read as much as I'd like to. It's one of my favorite hobbies and I intend to do more book recommendations/reviews on the blog. So far I've only posted about meeting my favorite author: British writer Ken Follett.

Today I want to tell you about Les Yeux Jaunes des Crocodiles (The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles in English), a French best-seller by Katherine Pancol, and its movie adaptation. As I love languages -if I were rich I'd devote my life to studying languages...and reading, and photography, and traveling! ;) - I like to read books in their original version whenever I can. 

This is the story of two sisters, their families, and sometimes complicated lives. Here's the synopsis: 

When her chronically unemployed husband runs off to start a crocodile farm in Kenya with his mistress, Joséphine Cortès is left in an unhappy state of affairs. The mother of two—confident, beautiful teenage Hortense and shy, babyish Zoé—is forced to maintain a stable family life while making ends meet on her meager salary as a medieval history scholar. Meanwhile, Joséphine’s charismatic sister Iris seems to have it all—a wealthy husband, gorgeous looks, and a très chic Paris address—but she dreams of bringing meaning back into her life. When Iris charms a famous publisher into offering her a lucrative deal for a twelfth-century romance, she offers her sister a deal of her own: Joséphine will write the novel and pocket all the proceeds, but the book will be published under Iris’s name. All is well—that is, until the book becomes the literary sensation of the season.

This is an example of an absolutely delicious comedy-of-manners, I love the fact that Katherine Pancol allows her characters to make their own choices, good and bad, and the outcome is not always what the reader might expect. My favorite thing about the book is how engaging the characters are. The female characters are especially well developed. Even though the sisters are extremely different, Josephine is introvert and awkward whereas Iris is confident, sexy and extrovert you find a way to relate to both of them. On a different note, the novel also manages to transport you to Paris, a city I'd love to go back to soon.

The story moves along at a good pace with a number of twists and turns. It was hard to put it down.This is the first book of a trilogy so I'm looking forward to reading the other two. There is one detail I didn't particularly like: Josephine's neighbor and best friend Shirley hides a secret which felt a little hokey and very difficult to believe. I won't tell you what it is to avoid spoilers.

The movie, however, is highly disappointing. It only focuses on the main events of the plot, jumping from one to another. I feel that if you haven't read the book, the movie will be difficult to understand in the sense that you may feel lost at times. 

Here's the movie trailer:

I hope you are having a great start of the week,

Cristina xo