Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Forget dog-eared Barbara Cartlands. A small London library has twinned with a counterpart in Paris to offer modern French-language classics from authors including Michel Houellebecq to appeal to the capital’s huge population from across the Channel.
The Church Street Library in Westminster hopes to attract French expats after it struck an entente cordiale with the Place des Fêtes library in Paris. The two libraries have already swapped 150 books.
The public library has received novels in French such as Houellebecq’s Les Particules Élémentaires – translated as Atomised in English – as well as works by JMG Le Clézio and Frédéric Beigbeder. It also has translations of works originally published in English, such as Harry Potter et Les Reliques De La Mort.
Julie Gadault, a librarian at Church Street who masterminded the partnership, said: “We now have a really good stock of modern novels, which will be extended to children’s books.” London is now France’s fifth largest city by population, with 400,000 French people.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments