Review by Corinna Christopher on show 5th Nov.
This book is translated from the French and whilst reading it I defintely felt a French flavour to the text. It reminded me of many French films I had seen in my youth in which the meaning was sometimes obscure !
Renee is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building on the Left Bank and lives in a basic lodge on the ground floor. Up above her in various luxury surroundings live her privileged and wealthy neighbours. Most are professional people and treat Renee with a certain amount of disdain, considering her uneducated and uncouth, although at heart honest and reliable. She was always at their beck and call for many mundane errands. However, Renee has a secret, beneath her facade she is passionate and informed about culture and the arts.
Upstairs is Paloma Josse, a 12 year old with a distinctive outlook on life and with little in common with her family who she despises.
On her 13th birthday she plans to commit suicide in order to escape a predictable bourgeious future.
The story that unfolds is related by these two people.
One of the residents suudenly dies and the apartment is put up for sale. It is bought by Kakuro Ozo a very nice rich Japenese man. Almost immediately he susses out that Renee is not as she appears and asks her to dine with him in his flat. Renee is full of misgivings but with the help of her Portuguese friend Manuela she is transformed from a dowdy nobody into someone who looks attractive. This is done with a borrowed dress and a trip to the hairdresser. She and Kakuro become friends and spend much time discussing cullture, art and books. Paloma also spends a lot of time with Renee in her lodge in order to escape from her family. Ther is a dramatic and shocking conclusion to the story which comes suddenly out of the blue !
Initially I found this book difficult to read as there is a great deal of profound thinking and phsycology on the pages and the text is littered with names such as Flaubert, Balzac, Kant and Husserl. One word "Phenomenology" is mentioned a lot but I could not fathom out what this meant, even with the use of a dictionary! There are many literary references and even Renee's cat is named Leo after reading Tolstoy.
About half way through the book I discovered what the title meant. Renee is like a prickly hedgehog which hides it's attributes in the centre of it's little body so that no one can access them, and really is a very elegant creature.
An unusual and thought-provoking read, well worth having a go. It is clever, informative and moving. It has been serialised on radio 4 and has been very popular in France.
Review by corinna Christopher.
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