Every year, when I’m in France, I try to read as much French as possible. That involves reading the weekly edition of the ‘Le Figaro’ newspaper with its various informative supplements. I also try to buy and read at least one book in French, and for that purpose, I go to the large Carrefour supermarket in the nearby town of Gueret which sports an extensive section with books of many different kinds. Not being very conversant with the French literary scene, this is something of a hit and miss excursion on my part, guided mainly by the front and back covers as well as the title of each book.

The one I chose last year looked promising, and its title, meaning ‘The School of the Fine Days’ sounded interesting. Now that I have read it, I can congratulate myself on having made another good choice (following ‘Le Barman du Ritz’ of the previous year). I enjoyed reading this novel describing the events surrounding the narrator’s time teaching at a village school somewhere in a mountainous region of France.

The tale he tells is one that is characteristic of what is happening throughout France today. The rural population is declining, attracted by the easier way of life and better economic prospects in towns and unwilling to have to contend with the hardships of life in remote villages. The young man who is the narrator is obliged to leave his post as a teacher in a school in town because he is being penalised for having raised his hand against one of his pupils. He is ‘sentenced’ to being a teacher in a remote mountain village, where the school is able to survive solely if it has fifteen pupils.

The young man meets the mayor of the village, Rose, an energetic woman who is determined to keep ‘her’ school going at all costs. The local population comprises an assortment of smallholders, farmers and forest-workers as well as a few younger folk, whose children constitute the pupils who are put in his charge. The young man is provided with accommodation in a small apartment above the school building and begins his first year with a mixture of hopeful anticipation and apprehension at what lies ahead.

Together with the narrator, we learn about the children of varying ages and abilities who are now in his charge and to whom he does his best to impart the subjects he is required to teach as well as to share his growing love for the nearby forest and the mountainous countryside. His live-in girlfriend Justine is not so enamoured of the region and tends to make mocking references to the ‘Neanderthal’ aspect of his character that the rigours of the region and its climate tend to evoke in him.

The narrator is confronted by a variety of crises. One of the pupils gets lost in the forest on one of their outings, another one climbs a tree and falls on her head. In addition, the teacher has to deal with an autistic child, another one who is suffering from violence in the home, and another who is undergoing treatment for cancer and is absent from school for many weeks.

The reader learns, together with the narrator, to overcome the various issues, as well as to experience the pain of the rupture with Justine, who dislikes the rural life and returns to town. The threat to close the school leads to a ‘sit-in’ strike by the mayor and some of the inhabitants, but eventually the various dilemmas are resolved, although not without sadness and regret. Despite all the efforts the mayor has made, the number of pupils declines and ‘officialdom’ decides to close the school. In a kind of ‘happy ending’ the relationship with Justine is re-established, the narrator returns to a job teaching in town and the time of the ‘school of fine days’ comes to its inevitable end.

Throughout most of the book the text reads smoothly, though I had to look up words from time to time (thank you Google Translate on my phone). I was pleased to find the print clear, well-spaced and of a good size, which may perhaps have helped me in my decision to buy this particular book. Nevertheless, I can certainly recommend it as providing a lively and original insight into an important aspect of life in contemporary France.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)