Firstly, if you’re hungry, proceed with caution reading The Margot Affair by Sanaë Lemoine. It’s not a book about food – it’s actually about a teenager named Margot, the product of a long affair – but I was quite distracted by whatever Margot et al were eating (from mussels in white wine and gratin dauphinois to cheeses, asparagus soup and pear clafoutis).

It’s difficult to say much about this story without spoilers but essentially, Margot is the child of Anouk, a stage actress who is successful in Paris; and Bertrand, a senior politician, who has ambitions to be president.

Margot has always known that time with her father is limited, as Bertrand has another life and family, aside from her and Anouk. When he does spend time with Margot, it is in the confines of their small apartment on the Left Bank. Margot never expected more until her and her mother pass Bertrand’s wife on the street. It is the catalyst for Margot to question her family life.

We were, I realized, on the wrong side of Father’s double life.

The family arrangement creates an interesting triangulated dynamic. It is clear that Anouk is quite satisfied with being the ‘other family’, leaving her free to pursue her acting. While Margot may have enjoyed more freedom than her peers (Anouk is not one for rules), the realisation that there is selfishness to her parents’ secret, triggers a decision that has a number of repercussions.

I lived in a strange space, caught between the guilt of being his weakness and the desire to be everything.

I was struck by some of the extreme references to weight and body image in this story. One minute I was reading about roast duck, the next about a mother who forced her child to swallow cotton balls soaked in warm water to quell hunger pangs (to avoid becoming fat). I haven’t read Why French Women Don’t Get Fat, so perhaps the references are not far-fetched but normal practice. Either way, they were incorporated so frequently that I wondered about the author’s own relationship with food.

I thought about Mathilde, who was a cautious woman, who told me women should not salt and pepper their food in public beyond the age of fifty to avoid showing their flabby arms.

Although there are some challenging themes in this story, it is an easy read. There’s enough to keep the story moving – the Paris detail will be reason alone for some readers – but I can’t say I was overly invested (except in what they were eating!).

3/5

For dinner Mathilde made a tomato tart with fennel salad.