Thank you, again, everyone, for your interest in my writing and novel, A Thousand Kisses. This week, I wanted to talk about a significant part of Hélène’s childhood, and include an excerpt from the book.
Hélène’s early childhood was happy, with a mother and father she adored, and a younger sister she could baby. When she was 6, however, her parents divorced and her father moved to another town. She didn’t see him very often after that, and an important early male bond was shattered. For Hélène’s maman, Charlotte, the situation produced a financial difficulty that would have been dire at the time: it was difficult for a woman with young children to work, and, often, the only option (aside from prostitution) was to find another husband to support her and her children. Hélène’s mother dedicated herself to this task, soon found a Captain in the military, and they quickly married. Captain Gilles Collard was, of course, the man who later molested Hélène, and so the unfortunate situation of a dependent mother, abusive step-father, and vulnerable daughter, was established.
The excerpt is from when Captain Gilles Collard first moved into the household as Hélène’s step-father:
‘In her own mind, Hélène thought of M. Collard as M. le Capitaine, with his droll, over-sized handlebar moustache, paunchy stomach that revealed his love of food and wine, and heels that clicked on the wooden floors as he moved about the apartment. Since his role in the military was as Chef de Musique she thought him as vaguely silly, not exactly the dashing, brave soldier prepared to die to defend France from potential invaders, like the ones she read about in her history books at school. She could picture him leading his musicians to the front, rousing the army with a stirring rendition of the march ‘La Victoire est à Nous’, then quickly running to safety behind the fighting men. Or, perhaps trying to fend off the enemy with a piccolo or big bass drum! “Here, take that, and that!” as the musicians jabbed and parried with their instruments, M. le Capitaine energetically conducting.
Her maman, however, seemed completely smitten with him and his uniform, military hat, and brightly-polished shoes, and the more he strutted about the apartment like a peacock, the more impressed she seemed to be. Hélène was aware that the family’s financial situation had improved substantially since her maman had married M. Collard, and for that, she supposed, she should be grateful.’
The photo is of M. Collard in his military uniform.