Book Review: Ripening Seed (Le Ble en Herbe) by Colette
There is a dream like quality in this short but perfectly formed novel about two teenagers coming to terms with their sexuality and relationship. Set on the Brittany coast in the 1920s the story relates the fluctuating relationship of the duo as Philippe has a brief nocturnal affair with Mme Dalleray further down the coastal path who he meets fleeting. Later the lonely 32 year old invites him in at night. Vinca and Philippe are childhood friends who spend the summers together crab fishing and exploring the coast in all its moods. They seem distined to be together forever until Mme Dalleray intervenes and both of their personalities are disturbed by the intrusion of adulthood and all of its betrayals and inconsitencies.
Apart from the two protagonists, the other woman and various family members there is another character in the story: the coast itself along with the closing days of summer. “These Late August mornings selt of autumn from day break till the hour when the sun-baked earth allowed the cool sea breezes to drive back the then less heavy aroma of threshed wheat, open furrow, and recking manure.”
The story reaches a climax when Vinca having worked out what was going on between Philippe and Mme Dalleray confronts him. It’s a brilliant piece of writing as their extended conversation is filled with denials, accusations, bitter digs and half truths as their emotions flow out as they try to put into words what they think and what they think the other one is thinking. What happens then is perhaps predictable but nevertheless is a satisfying and probably accurate end to the novel which sees sex used as one way to conclude a dispute between teenagers.
Harry Mottram
Rapscallion Magazine is an online publication edited by Harry Mottram
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