A novel of lesbian identity and motherhood, and the societal pressures that place them in opposition.
The daughter of an illustrious French family whose members include a former Prime Minister, a model, and a journalist, Constance Debré abandoned her marriage and legal career in 2015 to write full-time and begin a relationship with a woman. Her transformation from affluent career woman to broke single lesbian was chronicled in her 2018 novel Play boy, praised by Virginie Despentes for its writing that is at once “flippant and consumed by anxiety.”
In Love Me Tender, Debré goes on to further describe the consequences of that life-changing decision. Her husband, Laurent, seeks to permanently separate her from their eight-year old child. Vilified in divorce court by her ex, she loses custody of her son and is allowed to see him only once every two weeks for a supervised hour. Deprived of her child, Debré gives up her two-bedroom apartment and bounces between borrowed apartments, hotel rooms, and a studio the size of a cell. She involves herself in brief affairs with numerous women who vary in age, body type, language, and lifestyle. But the closer she gets to them, the more distant she feels. Apart from cigarettes and sex, her life is completely ascetic: a regime of intense reading and writing, interrupted only by sleep and athletic swimming. She shuns any place where she might observe children, avoiding playgrounds and parks “as if they were cluster bombs ready to explode, riddling her body with pieces of shrapnel.”
Writing graphically about sex, rupture, longing, and despair in the first person, Debré's work is often compared with the punk-era writings of Guillaume Dustan and Herve Guibert, whose work she has championed. As she says of Guibert: “I love him because he says I and he's a pornographer. That seems to be essential when you write. Otherwise you don't say anything.” But in Love Me Tender, Debré speaks courageously of love in its many forms, reframing what it means to be a mother beyond conventional expectations.
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9781635901740/love-me-tender/
Endorsements
Love Me Tender is a book unlike any other. It's a page-turner that tumbles forth like a horror story, albeit one punctuated by sex, swimming, injustice, and love. Committed to truth-telling, no matter how rough, but also intriguingly suspended in a cloud of unknowing and pain, Love Me Tender is a wry, original, agonizing book destined to become a classic of its kind.
Maggie Nelson, author of On Freedom
This is exhilarating.
Eileen Myles, author of Afterglow
What remains when a person shears away—like sacrificing her gorgeous locks—the family, the "good breeding," the "brilliant career," and every pleasing role she was meant to play? In the case of Constance Debré, what remains is a deadpan, tensile thread of a voice: calm, Camusian, comic, stark, relentless, and totally hypnotic.
Rachel Kushner, author of The Hard Crowd
Constance Debré's writing is entirely without ornament—direct, propulsive, and surpassingly honest. Her chronicle of day-to-day existence during a period of familial upheaval and sexual exploration is one in which every detail is rendered interesting, every episode surprising, by the author's uncanny ability to make understatement sparkle. Love Me Tender is just plain wonderful.
Gary Indiana, author of Fire Season
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Decades Challenge 1301-1310
My founding family was, the Faremanne family.
Family Tree - Likely contains spoilers if you're not caught up.
Gerard Helewyse, "adopted" the Faremanne orphans when their parents died, they were still very young. When Gerard discovered he was dying, he paid for the wedding of his only living daughter, Peronell, to the oldest of the Faremanne children. With no male heir, he needed her to married to guarantee she could remain on the family property and would be taken care of. Peronell and Arthurius Faremanne had been close since they were toddlers, and childhood sweetheart, so naturally getting married was just a next step. They were married in 1298.
[Shown above back to front, left to right; Arthurius & Peronell Faremanne, Humpherus Faremanne & Tille Faremanne]
Starting in 1301, Arthurius Faremanne and Peronell Helewyse were about 17 years old. Carring for his younger siblings, was a challenge, but Arthurius had always been a talented woodworker and it kept him busy and the funds from being depleted. Peronell tended to the siblings needs and her garden the best she could. Although, they were not completely destitute, they mainly survived on gruel. Arthurius was loyal to Peronell, especially as he was often to distracted with his woodworking to even leave home. Their marriage provided them with 4 pairs of twins, eight children in all:
(Twins) Henfrey Arthurius & Helena Peronell,
(Twins) Mirabelle Ellice & Myles Wyon,
(Twins) Roland Perote & Roesia Adelin,
(Twins) Wenefreda Jossy & and Warnerus Barnaby.
Of their eight children, 5 survived the 1300's and lived into 1311. [Shown above, from left to right; Roesia A., Henfrey A., Peronell (Holding Wenefreda J.), Mirabelle E. & Helena P. Faremanne.] Arthurius died in 1306 before the birth of his youngest twins.
[Shown above back to front, left to right; Willard, Emelyne, Ioette, Madeline, and Peytr.]
Arthurius's best friend, Willarde Lambard was married at the very beginning of 1300 to Emelyne Stroude. She was very young when they married, but it was to save her family property, as she and her twin sister were the only children of her father's line to survive. Willarde and Emelyne didn't woohoo until a few years later, after which she fell pregnant quickly. She gave birth to triplets, but unfortunately died from blood loss. (Triplets) Bartelemi Willarde, Britius Ernoul, Besseta Emelyne Lambard. Of her triplets only two survived birth, Bartelemi, & Besseta.
Arthurius's brother, Humpherus, married Emelyne's sister, Madeline Stroude shortly after his 16th birthday and the following year they had a daughter, Linet Madeline Faremanne. Unfortunately his wife didn't survive the birth. Immediately, he brought on a nanny, Ioette, to care for his infant daughter. She seduced him and fell pregnant within the year. To keep his family name clear from scandal, he married her right away. When Humpherus lived with Arthurius and Peronell, he found little interested him and mostly he overslept while contributing little to nothing to their household. Shortly before he moved away he found a job in manual labor which he really enjoyed.
Ioette constantly accused Humpherus of cheating on her and despite having raised, Linet, it became clear that Ioette was jealous of the attention and affection Humpherus gave Linet. The shear mention of his deceased wife would send Ioette into a rage. Completely unwarranted behavior asside, Humpherus was faithful and loved Ioette, until the day she died. They had two children together, Theobald Humpherus & Ilbert Dain Faremanne.
[Shown below left to right; Ginger, Tillie (Holding Rex P.), Ilbert D. Faremanne, Peytr (Holding Linet M. Faremanne), Theobald H. Faremanne.]
Arthurius's sister, Tille, lived with Peronell until she married Willarde's brother, Peytr Lambard. Their relationship had some ups and downs before it even really got started, but overall they seem happy and just welcomed their first child, Rex Peytr Lambard. Hempherus died just after their son was born, which added to the challenge of raising his children along with their newborn. When Tillie lived with Arthurius and Peronell, she became a proficient painter and knitting was one of her other favorite things to do. She was very helpful with the housework during Peronell's pregnancies. After Arthurius's death, Peronell adopted a puppy named Ginger for Tillie to help her process her grief. It also helped Henfrey, Helena & Mirabelle children before Tillie moved out.
Peronell re-married two years after Arthurius's death. She married his, best friend, Willarde. She needed support for the kids and he had a significantly larger property to raise the children on. Willarde still wanted a male heir, since both of the boys from his triplets had died leaving him with only his daughter, . Peronell fell pregnant in the end of 1310, and the pair are waiting with anticipation for a new arrival.
[Shown above left to right; Helena P., Willarde Lambard (Holding Besseta E. Lambard), Mirabelle E., Peronell (Holding Wenefreda J.), Henfrey A., & Roesia A..]
Henfrey A. Faremanne made his way through toddlerhood and his parents had a good enough influence on him to help him earn the good trait.
Helena P. Faremanne wasn't quite as happy with her toddlerhood. Having so many babies in the family made the house crowded and loud which drove her a little crazy and earned her the trait, evil. Despite their different personalities, Henfrey and Helena are managing to stay friends for the moment. However, Roesia is onlt a toddler and she already despises Helena.
Mirabelle E. Faremanne had her 6th birthday in 1310, and really has an obsession with cats, which is why she had the cat lover trait. Unfortunately, with the number of sims in their household, her mother doesn't think having a cat is responsible as tomorrow they might not be able to feed themselves.
Faremanne Lineage
Founder: Arthurius Faremanne 1284-1306
Heir apparent: Henfrey A. Faremanne 1306-
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Calvin Harris and Kygo Team Up for 2023 Palm Tree Music Festival
Loud Luxury, Sam Feldt, and Chantel Jeffries will join for additional performances
After a career-spanning set in Coachella Valley, Calvin Harris is switching coasts and linking up with Kygo for the third annual Palm Tree Music Festival in Westhampton, New York, on June 24.
The one-day festival will be curated by fellow electronic star Kygo and his manager Myles Shear and organized by Palm Tree…
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