Out of Place is an irregular series about movement and place, and the novels that take us elsewhere, by regular contributor Anna Evans. It is true that departures sadden and exhilarate me, and whatever I pass through β new countries, skies pure or cloudy, seas under rain the colour of a grey pearl β something of myself catches on it and clings so passionately that I feel as though I were leaving behind me a thousand little phantoms in my image, rocked on the waves, cradled in the leaves, scattered among the clouds.
She can feel the floor vibrate from the chorus and the dancers, listening to the creaking iron staircase and waiting to go on stage as the minutes crawl slowly by. A restless crowd has gathered in the dark and dusty, smoky auditorium.
This story of life in the music halls of Paris in the early twentieth century was drawn from her personal experience, travelling around France performing as a dancer and mime. Have patience: this is merely my model.
Written in a personal style, The Vagabond is a novel that breaks new ground suggesting that Colette was already beginning to explore the possibilities of a shifting style of writing, moving between fiction and memoir. In her work she mixes genres and different modes of writing in a way that feels distinctive and radical. From the start, we are in the company of a voice that feels fresh and immediate. The Vagabond is written in a first person, present tense that makes it feel ageless and undated.
The tone is full of energy and sparkle. She is playful and inventive, witty and disparaging, yet also compassionate and sincere. Willy wrote popular novels, or more accurately employed a production line of young writers to produce the work which was unpublished under his own name.
