User:Cameron64/L'Élève Gilles

L'Élève Gilles (Gilles, the Student) is a novel by André Lafon published in 1912 by Librairie académique Perrin. The author won the first Grand prix de littérature de l'Académie française in that year.

Summary
Jean Gilles is a preadolescent boy sent in the middle of a school year to live with a widowed great-aunt on her vineyard in the country. A city child, he is deeply affected by nature as he explores the wintry garden of his aunt's property in search of refuge and solitude. In the new year he is enrolled in a local boys' boarding school in a nearby village. There he is confronted by an athletic and competitive culture. Being introverted and sensitive, he struggles to make friends and navigate difficult social situations. His parents are traveling, and his moody father, a musician, suffers from an unexplained emotional illness. When his parents join him at his aunt's farm during the summer, Gilles attempts to regain his mother's attention and affection, and to connect with his troubled father.

Publishing History

 * L'Élève Gilles, Librairie académique Perrin, 1912
 * L'Élève Gilles, précédé par L'Élève André de Michel Suffran, illustrations by Jean-Charles de Munain, Blaye, Éditions Ausone, 1987
 * L'Élève Gilles, preface by Anne-Marie Cocula, introduction by Jacques Monférier, preceded par L'Élève André by Michel Suffran and La Veillée avec André Lafon by François Mauriac, illustrations by Jean-Charles de Munain, Blaye, Éditions Ausone, 1995
 * L'Élève Gilles, preface by François Mauriac, afterword by Jean-Marie Planes, Bordeaux, Le Festin, 2010
 * L'Élève Gilles, Paris, Libretto, coll.  "Littérature française ," 2020.