My Mother's Castle
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| My Mother's Castle | |
| Author | Marcel Pagnol |
|---|---|
| Original title | Le Château de ma mère |
| Translator | Rita Barisse |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Series | Souvenirs d'Enfance |
| Genre(s) | Autobiographical novel |
| Publication date | 1957 |
My Mother's Castle (French: Le Château de ma mère) is a 1957 autobiographical novel by Marcel Pagnol, the second in the series Souvenirs d'Enfance. It was the subject of a film made by Yves Robert in 1990 which is faithful to the original plot but which includes episodes from the third book in the series, Le Temps des Secrets.
[edit] Plot summary of the film
Following the summer holiday which features in La gloire de mon père, the family returns to Marseilles but Marcel still yearns for the hills. His wish is granted when they return for the Christmas holiday. Although only a few kilometers outside Marseilles the journey to the holiday home is time consuming as public transport takes them a short portion of the way and the rest is a walk along a long, winding road.
One day, when travelling to their house, the family encounters one of Marcel's father's former pupils, who now works in maintaining a canal which runs from the hills into Marseilles. The canal runs across private estates and so he is issued with a key which allows him to pass through several locked doors along the towpath. The employee points out to the family that this is a shortcut which will allow them to reach their house in a fraction of the journey time and offers them his spare key. Marcel's father, being honest and upright realises that this would amount to trespassing. He nevertheless accepts the key after much persuasion from his family for use in an emergency.
Despite his reservations, the family use the key more and more and the reduced journey time allows them to visit the holiday home every weekend. They still have an apprehension each time they unlock a door fearing they will be caught. As time passes, however, they encounter the owner of one property and the groundsman of another, who are friendly and quite happy that they cross their land.
At the beginning of the summer holidays they make the journey again and Marcel's mother feels a great fear and trepidation of meeting the owner. When they reach the final door they discover it has been padlocked. They are confronted by the caretaker of the final property who has been watching them for some time and who decides to make an official report.
Marcel's father is devastated, believing a complaint could damage his career prospects and he could possibly lose his job as a school teacher. The employees of the canal however, confront the caretaker threatening him with prosecution for having unlawfully padlocked one of the company's doors. The caretaker withdraws his complaint against Marcel's family and the matter is concluded.
The novel ends with an incident many years later. Marcel Pagnol is now a successful film director and his company has purchased a large old house in the Marseilles area to turn into a film studio. When walking through the grounds he sees a familiar door and realises that this is the last property on his childhood journey to his holiday home. In a burst of rage he picks up a rock and smashes the door and thus ends a bad spell.
