My Mother's House and Sido [Paperback]

InMy Mother's HouseandSido, Colette plays fictional variations on the themes of childhood, family, and, above all, her mother. Vividly alive, fond of cities, music, theater, and books, Sido devoted herself to her village, Saint-Saveur; to her garden, with its inhabitants and its animals; and, especially, to her children, particularly her youngest, whom she called Minet-Ch?ri. UnlikeGigiandCh?ri, which focus largely on sexual love and its repercussions,My Mother's HouseandSidocenter on the compelling figure of a powerful, nurturing woman in late-nineteenth-century rural France, conveying the impact she had on her community and on her daughterwho grew up to be a great writer.

Born in 1873 in France,Colettewas the author of many acclaimed novels noted for their intimate style. She died in 1954.

Containing two separate memoirs, of two separate journeys made by Colette back into the flowering garden of her childhood world, this little volume is invested with the distillation of experience: gravity, tenderness, delight, a trace of longing, a trace of melancholy and devoted tranquil love. -The New York Times