Aimez-vous Brahms...

date: 1963

Forty years old. The age of fulfilment? Françoise Sagan wonders, through the character of Paule. Paule is an interior decorator, divorced, and lives alone. She is attractive, and yet her face has lost its freshness. There is something resigned about it. She has loved Roger for six years and patiently endures his infidelities. She is his anchor, she knows it. But waiting and solitude weigh on her a little more each day. She meets a young man, Simon, the son of a client, who falls passionately in love with her.

The author evokes this triangular relationship from the point of view of each character. But at bottom, it is above all about Paule, her doubts, her renunciations, her desires. Françoise Sagan tenderly observes the reactions of this woman who lets herself be loved to distraction, as if it were the last time.

The psychological analysis is subtle. But the tone is resolutely light. Reading this novel invites a smile; a sense of derision constantly underlies the writing and offers a kindly look at existence.