Out of Sorts by Aurélie Valognes (2014) French edition: Mémé dans les orties

Ferdinand Brown, 83 years old, lonely, grumpy, irritable - some would say: alone, bitter, nasty - is bored to death. His sole pastime? Avoiding a horde of female neighbours with their hair dyed peach, apricot or lavender. His greatest pleasure? Baiting the concierge of his building, Mrs. Suarez, who rules roost. But, when his dog suddenly disappears, Ferdinand loses his taste for living definitively...until the day a bright 10-year-old schoolgirl and her 93-year-old geek granny literally force the door to his flat and his heart.

Author: Aurélie Valognes is 34 years old. She graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce NEOMA Business School (ESC Reims) in 2007. She specialised in communication and marketing and has worked in various companies, such as Procter & Gamble, and in various countries (Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands). “Out of Sorts” is her first novel. It was translated into English and was a great success abroad, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

My thoughts: I read this book in just a few days in early May. I found it refreshing, funny, touching and, also, a great lesson in life. I found it a relaxing read. I enjoyed the fine, nice and sparkling descriptions of the characters.

I loved the story of Ferdinand, the disagreeable and quarrelsome octogenarian, never satisfied with anything in life. But a major event, the disappearance of his beloved dog, forces him to open up to the world thanks to the friendship of a nonagenarian, Mrs Claudel, and a 10-year-old girl, Juliette.

The story takes place in a calm residential building, inhabited mostly by elderly people. All its occupants are oppressed by the harsh authority of Mrs Suarez, the diabolical and pretentious concierge. But Mrs Suarez finds an adversary to her rule in Ferdinand, simply because the two of them are of the same malicious species. Their Cold War develops into open warfare, with no holds barred.