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“Published in 1954, when Francoise was barely eighteen, it caused quite a sensation. The title is derived from a poem by Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée," which begins with the lines "Adieu tristesse/ Bonjour tristesse..."
Seventeen-year-old Cécile spends her summer in a villa on the French Riviera with her father, a seductive, worldly man who has had many affairs. Among his women friends is Elsa Mackenbourg: she and Cécile get on well, seeing as she is the latest of many women whom Cécile has seen enter the life of her father and exit fairly quickly: young, superficial, and fashionable. Raymond excuses himself by using an Oscar Wilde quote about sin: "Sin is the only note of vivid colour that persists in the modern world," while Cecile accepts their lifestyle as typical, "I believed that I could base my life on it"
Cécile, at seventeen, is still somewhat naive and tries to disguise this by attempting to attract men of the same age as her father. Her love life is unsuccessful until she meets the young man Cyril.
The summer proves uneventful, until a friend of Cécile's late mother, Anne, arrives by way of an earlier invitation from Raymond. Very different from Raymond's other girlfriends, she is cultured, educated, principled, and intelligent. At first, Cécile admires Anne, but soon a struggle begins between Cécile and Anne for Raymond's attentions. The plot begins to focus on the relationship between the two women. When Anne announces that she and Raymond are planning to get married, Cécile devises a plan to prevent the marriage, in an attempt to make Anne recognize the life she and her father have shared. She attempts to manipulate her father and turn him against Anne by using Elsa and Cyril. Cécile misjudges Anne's sensitivity with tragic results.
Cécile and her father return to the empty, desultory life they were living before Anne interrupted their summer.
It may start as a cheesy novel but by the end you'll know better than to expect the happy end...you get a mortal finale, no fuss, no drama. take it or leave it... the purpose of the novel is to make you welcome sadness by the end of it. Nothing is really important. Short and cold sentences, impersonal writing, francoise tells a story about the parisian society. ”A mixture of trivial situations and existential truth”, as a critic calls it.
So ”hello sadness””
