14.10 - Extraordinary Women and untold stories
Two featured articles today. Both about unique women. One may not be known to you and the other is an untold story, so you'll have not heard of her, almost for sure. Books, Videos, and, well... women!
March Madness: I’m offering you a gift of a 22% reduction on annual subscriptions during March ‘24 - you could even pay it forward & gift a friend.
I’ve been working crazy hard on MyFrenchLife Magazine and le Bulletin newsletter for some time now… and francophiles around me have been responding positively. You’ve all been kind and generous with support in words and subscriptions. Some are even telling me that:
le Bulletin is getting better and better”
Watch out for new contributors as they come on board, videos, book club, Instagram fun, and much more…
Here’s what that “crazy hard work” looks like:
for 42 consecutive weeks, I’ve been writing two le Bulletin editions, each, and every week.
And Substack tells me:
You've published 42 weeks in a row. That's longer than 94% of writers.” Putting me in the top 6% of substack writers for consistency.
So, I thought that it was time for me to create a special offer - a ‘reduction gift’ for those of you who enjoy reading this le Bulletin & would love to access the PAID content where I speak privately to PAID supporters.
The newsletters for paid subscribers have the letter ‘a’ following the numbers - eg: the edition 14.08.a is written with paid supporters in mind.
Consider whether you’d like to join this special group of Francophiles. I’d be grateful if you would - merci mille fois
This is your FREE le Bulletin, the weekly newsletter of MyFrenchLife Magazine
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Merci. Judy - 16.3.24
1. This Week’s Featured Contributor is Kathryn Gauci who has just joined MyFrenchLife Magazine.
Please join me in welcoming Kathryn as she introduces herself:
I am a textile designer and author of historical fiction living in Melbourne, Australia. I am also a Francophile and visit France frequently for pleasure and research. My interests range from history to the arts, food, & of course, the French way of life.”
2. WWII Female Agents Behind Enemy Lines - Part 1 by Kathryn Gauci ←
“In this series of three articles, I’ll talk about a few of the female agents who were sent to France by F Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during WWII. F Section (French Section) was part of SOE, set up as a clandestine organization “to set Europe ablaze”, as Winston Churchill once said.”
WWII: The SOE and MI6
“SOE and the other main organisation working overseas, MI6, had a deep mistrust of each other, and operated independently, although there were times when they needed each other. SOE was based in Baker Street, London, and F Section was run by Maurice Buckmaster and his assistant, Romanian-born, Vera Atkinson, an extremely efficient woman who had quite a secret past herself.”
You can read the first in this mini-series on our Magazine. It’s a fascinating story about extraordinary women! And all part of our ongoing celebration of women following International Women’s Day 2024 on 8 March. Read more here.
Please help me welcome Kathryn and let her know how much you’ve appreciated her article by leaving a comment.
3. New articles on MyFrenchLife™️ Magazine
Stay in touch by reading the new articles & don’t forget there are >3000 fascinating articles in our archive - this sounds like an amazing immersion opportunity to me - a rainy day and a chance to get lost in France.
Denyse de Bravura: French artist - an untold story by Mark Jespersen ←
“This is the untold story of Denyse de Bravura, an aspiring French artist and illustrator during les années folles and the thirty years following World War I. We were introduced to Denyse by our French teacher, Véronique Degas. One day, after class, we mentioned our book project on the French journalist, Claude Blanchard. Véronique told us she had a similar story that needed telling. Would we be interested?
“Mais oui,” said my wife, Kim, little knowing what lay ahead…” Read more.
It is with great pleasure that I publish and share this previously untold story with you. Mark is a wonderful storyteller, and it is not only me who holds that opinion, but those who have discovered this and trust him with their untold family history accompanied by original photographs, designs, and drawings from the Véronique Degas Collection.
Thank you Mark for choosing to share this untold story with MyFrenchLife Magazine and these enthralled and loyal readers.
You can read this fabulous story here.
Please let Mark know how much you’ve appreciated this story by leaving a comment.
4. MyFrenchLife™ French Book Club #bookclub
ANNOUNCEMENT: ARE YOU INTERESTED IN READING WITH US NEXT MYFRENCHLIFE™ FRENCH BOOK CLUB PICK?
'The Postcard' by Anne Berest is our new Spring read. It's been recently translated by Tina Kover and was first published under the French title 'La Carte Postale' in 2021.
We started reading yesterday 15 March and will continue until late April.
#europaeditions #anneberest #frenchliterature #bookclub
If you’d like to read with us - please find all the information you require by clicking the button below - it’s not too late!
What to expect in our Book Club:
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You’ll follow our Instagram account to see more of these @MaVieFrancaise and you can also subscribe to our YouTube account @MaVieFrancaise and click the bell to be notified when new videos are published - the choice is yours.
Short Snippets of <1 minute - Book Club Members chatting
Meet Shira is speaking with us from California -
Meet Miche from Los Angeles
It’s also all happening over on our Instagram
And… even if you’re not interested in our Book Club, it’s time to check in on our Instagram account @MaVieFrançaise and follow us - did it look like this last time you were there? I’m proud to say that we continue to celebrate women - look at all these women! - See you there soon. Women talking about women and Men talking about women… more to come - why don’t you pop over here now?
5. Merci mille fois
Thank you for finding us, subscribing, and reading le Bulletin, the luscious immersive newsletter of MyFrenchLife Magazine. I’m glad that you found us - you’re very welcome here! And thank you all for providing subscriber support.
There are three buttons at the bottom of every post: “like,” “share,” and “comment.” Your involvement attracts subscribers! And I love your comments.
I deeply appreciate everything your engagement has given me.
Merci
Judy
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Good article! I have been immersing myself in WWII resistance stories for several years now through nonfiction and historical fiction.