– Jocelyne MAS is happy. With the publication of her third book “From the Turquoise Coast to the Côte d’Azur,” this woman from the French Riviera has authored a significant book. Indeed, it has been awarded: Bronze Medal at the Grand International Arts and Letters Competition, the Thirty-year Prize at the Repatriated Writers’ Fair, and its author named among the 100 Women of the Year.
Some of her short stories are set in Provence, in those small villages redolent with the scent of thyme and lavender (Courmes, Grasse, Plascassier, Peymeinade, Magagnosc, Barcelonnette…) and others in those lush oases where oleanders and jasmines perfume the air; where the sand wind, the terrible chergui, is to be feared; on the other side of the Mediterranean where her soul remains. In her memories, the Turquoise Coast fades and is superimposed on the legendary Côte d’Azur. You will feel the warm breath of this wind laden with salt and tears.
You will discover how Mamie Rosalie’s life is turned upside down when the postman brings her a certain letter; how Malika will escape her captors to whom her father had sold her; how a family departing from their native Brittany will undertake the great journey to this arid and enchanting land that will become their homeland; how on a spring day, on the terrace of a brasserie, young people will die.
You will discover, by reading “The Railwayman and His Dog,” the unwavering loyalty of our four-legged friends.
And Mr. Schloss, endearing and moving Mr. Schloss, is also swept away by the winds of History. You will meet Ali-André, a little Kabyle boy with a Christian name, by reading the sublime story of “Talisman.”
You will read stories imbued with a poetry that exudes optimism and freshness; a poetry in which endearing characters take refuge in dreams to better live reality.
An excerpt from the preface by Mr. Jean-Claude BRIALY:
“Jocelyne MAS takes us through her short stories on an emotional journey around the Mediterranean.
You will be captivated by her clear and simple style, evocative, imbued at times with nostalgia, sadness, but always with sincerity and love.
She expresses with talent her unwavering tenderness for her native country, a land where her roots and childhood memories remain in the light, the sun, and the sea.”
