Agathe's Summer
(Hardback)
Publishing Details
Agathe's Summer
By (Author) Didier Pourquery
Skyhorse Publishing
Skyhorse Publishing
23rd October 2018
United States
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Autobiography: writers
306.8742092
Physical Properties
Hardback
120
Width 152mm, Height 229mm
Description
One morning in August of 2007, Didier Pourquerys daughter, Agathe, only a few days away from her twenty-third birthday, stopped breathing. Seven years after her death, her father tells her story, based on his notes taken during the last three weeks of her life. He shares not only his sadness and loss, but also the joy that characterized his relationship with his daughter.
At her birth, Agathes doctors said the average life expectancy for a child born with cystic fibrosis was twenty-five years. Once he learned his daughter only had a few weeks left to live, Didier Pouquery began writing daily about her last weeks. The notes he took then became the source of this book: a homage that is full of hope and light, even as it boldly highlights deep human frailty and the pain of losing a child.
Pourquery alternates between an account of Agathes physical condition and a letter addressed to her after her death. We get to know herand her fatherthrough this lyrical and poignant portrait and ode. Who was this joyful and straight-talking girl How did she grow up in the shadow of this looming disease How was she able to help those around her, even as she faced a certain and early death Although Agathes Summer is one fathers testimony to the short life of a child grown into a young woman, it is also the story of the love, hope, fear, and joy that speaks to all parents.
Reviews
A declaration of love, like an eternal sun in the sky of memory. --Madame Figaro
Between laughter and tears, modesty and truth, this book is a little gem of humanity, a lesson in courage. --Dorthe Werner, Elle Magazine
In this shocking story, Didier Pourquery does justice to the vital power of his daughter. --The World of Books
Beyond the cry of love of a father to his daughter, a very beautiful story of life. --The Parisien Magazine
A declaration of love, like an eternal sun in the sky of memory. --Madame Figaro
Between laughter and tears, modesty and truth, this book is a little gem of humanity, a lesson in courage. --Dorthe Werner, Elle Magazine
In this shocking story, Didier Pourquery does justice to the vital power of his daughter. --The World of Books
Beyond the cry of love of a father to his daughter, a very beautiful story of life. --The Parisien Magazine
Author Bio
Didier Pourquery is the managing editor of the website The Conversation and the former editor-in-chief of Sciences & Vie Economie, La Tribune, InfoMatin, VSD, and LExpansion. He launched and headed the daily newspaper Metro in France before becoming executive director of Libration then deputy director for Le Monde from 2009 to 2014. He is the author of six books dealing with the world of business and media, as well as Mots de lpoque (2014). He currently lives in Paris, France.
