The List of My Desires

The List of my Desires by Grégoire Delacourt

This is our book for February's Book club so I'm feeling a bit self righteous I have finished it so early. Usually I slide into my seat at the last minute having only finished it ten minutes before.

What does one do when one is happy with their lot in life and feels they don't need another thing? But maybe a new bag, a bath mat or a new car? But upon winning $18,000,000 dollars doesn't quite know whether to cash it in or not.  That is what happened to Jocelyne when having been talked into buying a ticket she wins.

She owns a haberdashery shop that she goes to each day. She is happily married to Jocelyn (her husband has the same name as her) and she has raised her children successfully. Yes, she is a bit overweight but her haberdashery blog is taking off and she loves the fact she is still attracted to her husband.

So she hides the cheque in her shoe and leaves it there, taking it out only to look at it from time to time.

One day, unbeknownst to her the husband finds it and while pretending to go away for a week due to work he disappears altogether taking the cheque with him.

I think the reason the author gives him the same name is so he can rub out the e and cash the cheque.

To tell anymore of this story would be to ruin it but I did enjoy it.  It was a bit of fluff and though I didn't find it very deep I must say it gives some food for thought.

Does one ever need more than one has to be happy?  Does the things one has wanted their whole life in terms of material wealth make a person happy?  More importantly did it make Jocelyn and Joscelyne happy?  Or would they have been okay going along as they had.

Read this French translation of such a book and see what happens to these two. It doesn't end like one would think. Or does it?