The Soldier’s Hat

In 1943, despite her own physical disabilities and the stress of living in a Paris under Nazi occupation, Colette, aged 70, published this delightful quartet of tales. In 'The Soldier's Hat', a middle-aged woman blossoms when an unlikely love affair embellishes her hard-working existence - until she makes a fateful mistake. 'The Tender Shoot' sees a fifty-year-old roue trounced when his roving eye falls on a fifteen-year-old country girl. In 'The Green Sealing Wax', the success of a widow's attempt to forge her late husband's will depends on the colour of the sealing wax she uses. 'Armande' is a tale of two bashful lovers. Maxime is unable to declare his passion for Armande, nor can she express her feelings for him, until one day she shakes a door handle too violently? A 'lost' story, 'A Wedding', from the first edition of Colette's final work of fiction, 'Gigi', completes this late flowering of Colette's exceptional talent. AUTHOR: Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born in rural Burgundy in 1873. At twenty, she married Henry Gauthier-Villars, known as ?Willy?, a critic, journalist and self-promoting man of letters, fourteen years older than herself. Soon immersed in his Parisian literary world, she wrote for him the sensational and highly successful Claudine series of novels. But the pair separated in 1906 and were divorced in 1910. She subsequently married twice more. Her writing career continued in spite of much turmoil, including spells as a dancer, mime artist and actor. Among her most renowned works are La vagabonde (1910), Cheri (1920), Le ble en herbe (1923), La naissance du jour (1928) and Gigi (1944).