''Fermina Márquez'' is a short novel in twenty chapters written by French writer
Valery Larbaud
Valery Larbaud (29 August 1881 – 2 February 1957) was a French writer and poet.
Life
He was born in Vichy, the only child of a pharmacist. His father died when he was 8, and he was brought up by his mother and aunt. His father had been owner ...
. It was considered for the
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...
in 1911 but did not win. Nonetheless, it is still considered to be a minor classic of
French literature and one of Larbaud's best known works along with his ''Diary of A.O. Barnabooth''.
The story concerns the arrival of a young girl from
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
at Saint Augustine's, a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
school for boys located near
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and her effect on the young men there, particularly on a bookish and solitary student, Joanny Léniot. The eponymous Fermina Márquez arrives at the school with her aunt, sister and younger brother, "little Márquez", who was just enrolled there as a student. His family makes an arrangement with the school authorities in which they are allowed to visit him at Saint Augustine's for a time until he becomes adjusted to life at his new school. The students are entranced by Fermina's beauty and proximity, and each begins to fantasise about her and to look for opportunities to seduce her.
1911 French novels
Novels set in Paris
Novels set in schools
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