Description
French Book Club
Instructor:
Alice Ayel
Fridays, May 8-July 10, 2026
A 60-Minute Weekly Literary Voyage for the Serious Reader
1 person: $225
2 people (sharing a screen): $338
Enroll in two (or more) French classes and save 10% on each class. (Use code “twoclasses” at checkout.)
(Book not included in price of course.)
About the book: Set in 1950s Guadeloupe, this memoir follows the young Maryse growing up in a bourgeois family where social standing meant everything and speaking Creole was considered shameful. The young Maryse chooses the path of rebellion. Her heart, as the title tells us, is both ready to laugh and ready to weep — held open by humor and distance on one side, and wounds that run deeper than happy memories on the other.
Condé — awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize in Literature in 2018 — writes with clarity, wit, and unflinching tenderness. At just 135 pages, this book is accessible and deeply rewarding.
Each Friday, we gather not just to discuss plot, but to think deeply about memory, identity, the French Antilles, and the questions Condé’s prose raises about belonging and becoming.
We attend to her language, build fluency through regular reading, and discover a corner of the francophone world that deserves far more attention than it receives.
60 minutes weekly.
Your copy of the book + notebook needed.
All sessions recorded.
Open to advanced French learners ready for literary immersion.
Julie McCoy –
Once again, it’s time to leave a review for Alice Ayel’s classes. I will admit that reading the novel Un Sac de Billes was quite challenging for me, but my acceptance of that challenge has expanded my knowledge and boosted my confidence learning to speak and understand. Alice provided exactly enough of a framework for our study, offering several interesting questions to consider each week. The members of our group varied considerably in their French fluency, but, as always, Alice made it possible for everyone to feel comfortable participating. Her perceptiveness, her sense of humor, and her generosity make every class a wonderful hour of the week!
Karel Duinker –
J’ai personnellement vécu la participation au club de lecture comme très enrichissante pour ma connaissance de la langue française. Il faut y consacrer du temps, mais ça vaut le coup. Sous la direction experte et amicale d’Alice, chaque séance est un plaisir. Un autre club de lecture débutera en janvier. Rejoignez-nous, ça vaut le coup