Dispatches from France

Jodi Takes on Imaginales

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update from France, where Jodi is currently being kept extremely busy signing books, giving interviews and generally being adored by an astonishing number of French readers.

It’s all going wonderfully well, although I should mention that it is also incredibly hot.

Our journey began on the Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris. From there we were whisked by taxi from Gare du Nord to Gare de l’Est in order to catch the TGV to Nancy. It was during this part of the trip that I discovered something quite remarkable – Jodi had never been to Paris before. Given her love of history, I couldn’t quite believe it. Unfortunately, we had no time for sightseeing and were soon hurtling across the French countryside at impressive speed.

Nancy was our first stop and we checked into the wonderful Hôtel Littéraire Stendhal. Every room celebrates a different French author and the entire hotel is dedicated to books and literature. Needless to say, it was exactly our sort of place.

That evening Jodi appeared at the magnificent Hall du Livre bookshop. It’s huge by British standards and the event was packed with enthusiastic readers. It was also the moment we began to realise quite how popular Jodi has become in France. Her publishers, HC Editions, have done a tremendous job building her readership and the affection French readers have for St Mary’s is genuinely heartwarming to see.

The following morning we travelled on to Épinal for the Imaginales Festival.

Now, if you’ve never been to Imaginales, imagine everything you love about a literary festival and then multiply it several times over. More than 120 authors are attending, alongside publishers, booksellers, artists and vendors, all gathered beneath a collection of tents spread throughout the town’s park. Entry is completely free and the festival enjoys tremendous support from both the local community and the publishing industry.

Most importantly, there is an infectious excitement about books everywhere you go. People are talking about stories, meeting authors, buying books and celebrating reading. The atmosphere is simply wonderful.

Yesterday Jodi was interviewed by the French newspaper Libération and today she has a special “Meet Jodi Taylor” event. Throughout the festival there has been an almost continuous queue of readers waiting to meet her. Young readers, older readers, men, women – all united by their love of St Mary’s.

One of the greatest pleasures of travelling with Jodi is watching these encounters. Readers tell her about their favourite characters, favourite jumps and favourite disasters. They bring dog-eared books to be signed and share stories of how the series has accompanied them through difficult times. It is impossible not to be moved by their enthusiasm.

And then, of course, there is the food. We are in the Lorraine region so we had to try the local speciality Quiche Lorraine - this was sublime and nothing like the omelette in a pastry vase we call quiche in the UK.

France is not disappointing us in that department. We are eating exceptionally well and the wine has been equally impressive. It would be rude not to sample the local produce and we are doing our best to fulfil our cultural obligations.

We’re only halfway through the festival, so there is plenty more still to come. I’ll report back again soon with further adventures from France.

Until then,

Hazel

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