The Lost Estate, by Alain Henri-Fournier

Alain Henri-Fournier was tragically killed at the age of 27, as a soldier in the First World War. A tragedy for his family and friends, no doubt, but a tragedy for literature too. Who knows what else he may have written? (Fournier was working on a second novel, Colombe Blanchet, when he died.)

The Lost Estate (1913) translated from the French, has been given various English titles over time. In French its title is Le Grand Meaulnes, after the main character of the book, Augustin Meaulnes. The story is narrated by Augustin's younger schoolfriend, Francois Seurel, and chronicles Meaulnes quest for a lost time and place, Les Sablonnières, a magical estate, where he meets the love of his life, Yvonne de Galais.

The novel is moody and ethereal. It has the feeling of slipping through your fingers. The time frames jump - or rather jolt - back and forth, giving the book a patchwork feel. The characters and timelines don't feel that smoothly integrated. It's almost like a series of ideas for a novel, sewn together. 

That sounds rather critical, seeing I earlier noted that world literature lost something on the battlefields of north-eastern France when Fournier died. Indeed, there is much to enjoy in The Lost Estate, especially the descriptions of the mercurial world at Les Sablonnières and the evocation of pre-war rural France. 

But overall I struggled to get to the end. Other readers, especially lovers of early twentieth century Romantic fiction, may enjoy it more than me.