The Madeleine Project: Uncovering A Parisian a Life

(Paperback)

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Description

A young woman moves into a Paris apartment and discovers a storage room filled with the belongings of the previous owner, a certain Madeleine who died in her late nineties, and whose treasured possessions nobody seems to want. In an audacious act of journalism driven by personal curiosity and humane tenderness, Clara Beaudoux embarks on The Madeleine Project, documenting what she finds on Twitter with text and photographs, introducing the world to an unsung 20th century figure.

Reviews

"In a time when platforms like Twitter seem more dangerous than hopeful, Clara Beaudoux's magnificent The Madeleine Project offers respite ... a sweet, respectful ode to an ordinary life. It stands as an antidote to pessimism around the social media age-which does not, as it turns out, prevent us from forming bonds, but in fact may enable us to build them across time and space."-Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)"This magical book tells history in a brilliant, original way for the 21st century and is a deeply moving reconstruction of an ordinary life whereby Madeleine becomes an unforgettable heroine. I loved this book and shall read it again and again."-Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation"I opened the book out of curiosity and could not stop reading until the end. The Madeleine Project is a wonderfully original and, for the author, a clearly obsessive project which resuscitates an ordinary life in an extraordinary way. It's as if Clara met Madeleine's ghost in the cellar and embarked on a long and illuminating conversation with her."-Alan Riding, former correspondent for The New York Times and author of And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris"Having stumbled upon a time capsule in a Paris storage room, Clara Beaudoux tweeted the contents to the world. Her texts and intriguing photos of artifacts were then melded to create a unique and engaging biography."-Charles Kaiser, author of The Cost of Courage and 1968 in America"This book first delights the brain, then takes over the heart. Tweets turn into literature right before our eyes. As the posts and meticulous photos unfold, the writer deepens her own identity, even as the dead Madeleine emerges in all her eccentric humanity."-Elizabeth Kendall, author of Autobiography of a Wardrobe and American Daughter"Brings the past into the present in a wildly creative and imaginative way. This story is truly special and will stay with you long after you put the book down."-Samantha Verant, author of Seven Letters from Paris and How to Make A French Family"Simply magical ... Words and images, magnified in this book, are woven together in small strokes to create two moving portraits of women."-Lire"A beautiful book that bears witness. An original compilation of traces, thoughts and photos that form the strata of our collective memory."-Telerama"A strange but staggering experience."-Le Figaro litteraire "A hymn to recovered memory."-Elle

Author Bio

Clara Beaudoux is a Paris-based journalist for the France Info news network. Her documentation of The Madeleine Project gained thousands of followers on Twitter when she initiated it in November 2015.Alison Anderson is a novelist and a translator whose previous translations include The 6:41 to Paris and The Elegance of the Hedgehog. She lives in Buchillon, Switzerland.