@bilingualbooks/@bilingualbooksie
Welcome Bienvenu Bienvenido Fáilte
Anne Murphy
Welcome to bilingualbooks.ie
My inspiration is my love of languages and always seeking to improve. What could be easier? With book in hand just look from left to right or right to left and back again.
My motivation comes from my experiences in France as a home guest in my attic bedroom with a family of 10 children in Rueil Malmaison, a suburb of Paris. There was a lot of baking of cakes and ‘parlant français.’ That’s when I bought my first bikini at a time when ‘Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini’ was hitting the charts.’ I was thirteen. In France it was all about Françoise Hardy and to this day I can recall all the words.’Tous les garçons et les filles de mon âge’
The trip involved reinventing myself as a French girl guide, travelling south to the Pyrenees by train and a day trip into Spain. Washing my hair in the river, getting the badge of honour for being the best éclaireuse of the day and making friends with a French girl with the name Murphy were highlights enough for me!
‘Éclaireuse’ reminds me of the delicious éclairs de chocolat that melted in my mouth in Paris – miam! I still cherish the item I bought on that daytrip for my mother and first day ever in Spain.
At Seventeen
If that wasn’t enough to whet my bon appétit for all things French, I then had another unusual experience at 17 when Janice Ian was hitting the charts with her song of the same title. I thought as I was driven up the long avenue to Château de Belle Époque that I would be minding children. Instead I lived with a charming couple in their seventies, Monsieur et Madame Renoir. By morning I was out mixing cement to keep the sea at bay at the bottom of the garden and trimming branches. By afternoon I was being taught how to row the boat. By evening I was being wined and dined with the most delicious varieties of shellfish and wine with artichots from the garden. The only time the ‘old man’ spoke English was the day ‘ze engine was drownded.’ Suffice to say we survived as did the beautiful ‘éventail’ mentioned in Story 5 Farewell of Strange Fruit, my collection of short stories.
Then and Now
Walking in the park with friends Xavier and Louie yesterday I overheard them talking about ‘les gens qui’ and wondered who they were talking about when suddenly the inspiration hit me – we were surrounded by the beautiful ‘jonquilles’. I am told by my translators that the ‘double sens’ in my stories are my ‘forte’. I take that as a compliment.