Souvenirs of France

by Rudyard Kipling

Overview

'Sixty pages... of memory, praise, nostalgia and gratitude' Julian Barnes

Rudyard Kipling's love affair with India is well-documented but his affection for France and its people is less well-known. It started at the age of twelve when he would regularly accompany his father to the Paris Exhibition of 1878, where the elder Kipling was in charge of the Indian Section of Arts and Manufactures. Young Rudyard would be sent off in the morning with two francs in his pocket and instructions to stay out of trouble. He would spend his money on 'satisfying déjeuners' and 'celestial gingerbreads' as well as frequent trips up inside the head of the Statue of Liberty, then part of the Exhibition prior to being shipped to Ellis Island.

He returned to France a decade later, as a young man, and then regularly in the years that followed, sometimes for pleasure, sometimes on business – such as when working for the British Imperial War Graves Commission. He was a frequent visitor for the rest of his life.

Souvenirs of France was originally published in 1933, and was one of the last of Kipling's books to appear during his lifetime. It is a very personal and fascinating portrait of a great writer and of a country that had a special place in his heart.

Part of the Very Short Classics series, a collection of short books from around the world and across the centuries, many of which are being made available as ebooks for the very first time.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940161313268
Publisher:	Very Short Classics
Publication date:	01/18/2019
Series:	Very Short Classics , #4
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	727 KB

About the Author

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, in 1865.

He was sent to boarding school in England but returned to India as a young man, working as a journalist and writing poetry in fiction in his spare time. His first novel, Plain Tales from the Hills, was published to some acclaim in 1888.

After marrying the American, Caroline Baluster, in 1892, Kipling moved to Vermont and he and his wife had two daughters. It was here that he wrote The Jungle Book. However, following arguments with his wife’s family, the Kiplings left America and settled in Sussex where a third child, a son, John, was born in 1897.
In 1902, the family moved into Bateman’s, a 17th century house in East Sussex, where Kipling was to live for the rest of his life. His career as a writer went from strength to strength during this period and he became one of the most popular authors in the English language. He generally shunned honours, though, turning down both a knighthood and the position of Poet Laureate. He did, however, accept the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, becoming the first English author to receive the award.

Kipling’s life was not without its hardship and tragedy. His daughter, for whom he had written the Just So Stories, died of pneumonia aged six, and his son, John, was killed in active service at the Battle of Loos during World War One.

Rudyard Kipling died in 1936 at the age of 70. He is buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.