Jean-Michel Thibaux (1949–2015)

[La Colère Du Mistral] - Jean-Michel Thibaux
Jean-Michel Thibaux (18/4/49 - 16/3/2015) published his first novel in 1983 and since that date published 1/2 books a year until his death in 2015. He was recognised as a regional author in that many of his novels were set in the region of Provence and the city of Marseilles where he lived. La Colère du Mistral is set in Provence in 1930 and part one takes place in the countryside some distance from Marseilles

Colin and André Bastille are two show more bothers living with their mother (Georgette) in the village scratching their living as farm workers. Georgette is estranged from her husband Gregoire who lives in the big manor house outside of the village with Mathilde his Jewish partner that he met in the North of France. The book opens with the village en fête and Colin and André are fuelling their hatred of their father with plenty of alcohol. They stumble out towards the manor house intent on causing trouble. Gregoire meets them shotgun in hand; their is an altercation and Gregoire has a heart attack. Gregoire's will is due to be read the next week, but a beautiful well dressed woman (Anne) arrives from Marseilles claiming to be Gregoire's daughter. Typically the will leaves the large house to the family, Georgette gets the Manor house and the brothers get much of the best farming land. Mathilde and the family servant Adèle are given a run down cottage and an olive grove. Anne helps her mother and Adèle to fix up the cottage. Not content with her inheritance Georgette stirs up hatred for the "jews" enjoying her new found wealth and position in the towns hierarchy. The second part of the book takes place mainly in Marseilles. Anne is a journalist and needs to secure her position at the newspaper and with her elder lover who is editor of the paper. André has fallen in love with his half sister and moves to Marseilles, meanwhile Anne has met a Corsican young man who works in a soap factory and is involved with gangsters.

The book has many strands which are in the background to the story. There is the hatred of the jews stirred up in the village, the fear of the Germans after the first world war as the villagers hear of the news of the rise of Hitler. There is the easily believed stories of occultism and sorcery amongst the village people and the struggles of bringing an olive grove back into production. In the city there is the economic downturn, the ghettos where the Corsicans live and the underworld of the gangsters who have a foothold in bourgeois society. None of these are developed to any extent as the love story takes precedence. The mistral: the cold wind that blows in the bouche de Rhone for weeks at a time adds to the underlying malevolence in the countryside and Marseilles. 3 stars. show less

El misterio del Priorato de Sion
Jean-Michel Thibaux
Publicado: 2005 | 413 páginas
Novela Histórico

Una pequeña abadía guarda las claves para resolver uno de losmayores enigmas de la cristiandad. Corre el año 1885 cuando el abad BerenguerSaunière asume su cargo en una parroquia pobre del Alto Languedoc, zona del surde Francia plagada de leyendas y huellas de antiguas herejías. Tras sunombramiento se oculta el misterioso Priorato de Sión, que planea encomendarleuna difícil y peligrosa show more tarea: encontrar el secreto oculto durante siglos, delos reyes visigodos. Poco después de llegar, Saunière encuentra un arca quecontiene unos misteriosos y terribles documentos que lo obligan a tomardecisiones irreversibles. A partir de entonces, los miembros del Prioratoandarán tras sus pasos sin descanso. show less

Después de ser vendida a los turcos por su padre y el dux de Venecia con el fin de rivalizar con la todopoderosa Hürrem, favorita de Solimán el Magnífico, Cecilia Venier Baffo ingresa en el harén de Topkapi y adopta el nombre de Nurbanu, Princesa de la Luz. En el interior del misterioso palacio de las mujeres, Cecilia pronto aprende a mantenerse alerta ante la amenaza constante de puñales y venenos. Sin embargo, un acontecimiento inesperado viene a cambiar su situación cuando Hürrem, show more buscando utilizar a Cecilia como instrumento para alcanzar el poder supremo, traba amistad con ella y la destina al servicio de su hijo predilecto, Selim. show less

Yekaterinoslav, Rusia, 1831. Helena Petrovna von Hahn nace marcada por el estigma de sus poderes sobrenaturales, que la convierten en alguien repudiado por una sociedad que le dará el mágico sobrenombre de Sedmitchka. Es capaz de contactar con el más allá, con el mundo de los espíritus y de lo invisible: todos la temen y la veneran, y la contemplan mientras se debaten entre el miedo y la admiración. Pronto, Helena se dará cuenta de que el paisaje de su Rusia natal se le queda pequeño show more y, tras un desgraciado matrimonio, huye para iniciar una peregrinación por todo el mundo en busca de la realización personal. Viajará por Europa, por América, por Egipto, por la India, hasta llegar al Tíbet, siempre en busca de una respuesta para el sentido del mundo y de la vida, búsqueda que la llevará finalmente a fundar uno de los primeros movimientos teosóficos. show less