"I have finally finished reading The French Encounter by Cécile Rischmann and I must say, despite this being my first fully romantic novel, I thoroughly enjoyed every word. The author, despite being a first time writer, delivers a professionally written book which is well structured, racy, mushy and sexy in all the right parts without going overboard with any aspect. The emotions and feelings come through very naturally and as a reader I was drawn into every scene and incidence as if I were a silent spectator to the goings-on between the various characters.
Katrina and JLC are passionate lovers and every time they meet, steam would appear on my iPad, as I was reading a digital copy of the book. It is a shame that the publishers have not realized the potential of the novel and placed hard copies in all the book stores. The French Encounter deserves to be read by a wider audience and this can happen only if the book is available both in the bookstores and online at a reasonable cover price.
After experiencing the tumultuous love affair of Kat and JLC, the ending was a surprise climax...in fact, an anti climax, if I may say so. I wish Cecile a wonderful career as a writer and hope she will follow this with another equally gripping story. "
September 2015
*
"For a first novel, author Cecile Rischmann has narrated a passionate love story of an Indian girl who falls in love with a Frenchman. The story is with all the attendant emotions of such an intercontinental love affair and the author writes with such command over the subject. I would recommend The French Encounter to not just those who love romance, but to many who would like to learn more about Indian culture.
I was totally satisfied with the structure of the story and its narrative style. Author Cecile writes like a professional and anyone who reads The French Encounter will not think that this is her debut novel. The story explores both Indian and French cultures, beliefs and traditions and, morals, of course. Romance plays a major part of the story and she has peppered it with the right doses of sex without making it uncomfortable to read. Surely aimed at the young adult, it does have enough content for all age groups. A book like The French Encounter would do well as a movie and I have recommended to the author to explore such a possibility with film production houses."
"The French Encounter" is a romantic comedy for those who want to remain young at heart. Cecile Rischmann, the author of the bestseller "The French Encounter" talks about her book, how the romantic story unfolded, and more. She reveals her inspiration, the French connection, the motivation to write and how to get a book published by a publishing house. Hosted by Madhav Das and produced by Suresh Menon, Sushma Multimedia.
A Goan, born and brought up in Chennai, fell head over heels in love with a Frenchman and now having been married for eleven years, considers herself in the category of ‘living happily after’. Somewhere during this romantic journey, Cécile Rischmann (nee Fernandes) wondered why such inter-racial marriages don’t happen more often and decided to meld her own life experiences with dollops of mushy love and write a book—The French Encounter.
“The idea of The French Encounter popped into my mind the first time I met my husband Jean-Paul who had come from France to India to construct a glass float. He was so startlingly different from me, his ideas so advanced, his lifestyle so diverse that I began to suddenly toy with the question: what would happen if an Indian woman fell in love with a Frenchman? Our courtship was very rocky as the hurdles were one too many for us, yet, when it finally came to realise, the relationship was highly successful. I began to wonder why more joint-ventures weren’t happening. I felt it was time someone wrote an East-meets-West love story and who better than me who has experienced such a relationship? But, I began this romantic comedy as a short story which slowly developed into a full-fledged novel,” says Cécile.
The story
It begins when Jean Leclerc (JLC), a young French billionaire, decides to construct a glass float in India. He is thinking of political and environmental hurdles when he has a surprise encounter with a ferocious Bengal Tiger. Enter Katrina Santiago, a young feisty Indian woman who is saving herself for the one she will eventually marry. She may work for the French administration, but she does not date Frenchmen. When she sees JLC in all his splendour, values and traditions fly out the window. She wants him bad; she wants her one chance at love. East meets west, romance blooms… and hilarity ensues as readers are treated to a passionate and powerful recount of a Frenchman and Indian woman’s blossoming love for each other, as well as the struggles they had to go through in order to stay together. Their very different perspectives on life seem to drive them apart and sometimes, it seems that The French Encounter Katrina pines for is doomed to disaster.
Rischmann treats readers to a battle of love, lust and longing between a sophisticated tycoon whose cynical facade of disillusionment conceals the emotional vulnerabilities of his heart and a naive virgin entranced by her unique lover while stubbornly holding on to her belief in a “happily ever after.” The author uses her know-how of Indian and French culture, and her own life experiences, to give readers a rollercoaster of a romantic comedy.
Background
“I hail from a family of artistes. My late mother was a singer, my late father a chef, my brothers are professional violinists and my sister is a music/class teacher. I love song, dance, reading, storytelling and writing. My hobbies are teaching and counseling. I developed a flair for languages and studied Tamil, French, Business English, Italian and Spanish, but French was my first love. I studied French at Alliance Francaise for five years and at Madras University for two years and then worked for several French organisations including the Honorary Consulate of France and incidentally that was how I met my husband Jean-Paul. After our marriage we’ve been globe-trotting as he’s into several projects. Presently we shuttle between France and India,” says Cécile.
What makes Cécile’s and Jean-Paul’s marriage unique? “I don’t know about ‘unique’, but we go the extra mile for each other. Although we are virtually from different planets, we do not try to impose our views on the other. We allow each other to grow,” says Cécile who loves to dance and picks up different forms of dancing during her numerous visits to other countries. With music and dance in her blood, Cécile sure knows how to be a die-hard romantic and keep her marriage alive with her creative pursuits.
The French Encounter By Cécile Rischmann
Published by Partridge, a Penguin Random House Company; 294 pages
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Cecile Rischmann - The French Encounter
By Meghna Hegade
January 12, 2016
'Words of love, are works of love' as Willian Alger the American writer said, seems to fit perfectly to the love and work of Cecile Rischmann (nee Fernandes). Her debut novel The French Encounter is a sensual telling of a deep abiding love that is the essence of true soul mates. The story takes inspiration from the reality of the authors own life.
Cecile was working at the Honorary Consulate of France in Chennai when she was invited to a party being held by a team of expatriates from Saint Gobain who had arrived in the country to build a glass float. Amongst the team of five from France was Jean Paul Rischmann who too attended the party and met Cecile there. The story that began at that party in the May of 1999 was solemnised at a wedding on the 13th of March, 2004 between Jean Paul Rischmann and Cecile.
Upon the completion of the glass float and one other project in India, the couple have since lived in Mexico for two years, Columbia for six months and Egypt for a year before relocating to Delhi for three years. Having returned to Chennai after that the couple shuttle between France and India. Cecile comes often to Chennai to spend time with her siblings.
Cecile wrote most of her book while travelling wherever her husband's work took her. Having always been passionate about writing, the retelling of her story was a very natural outcome of her way of escaping into the world of her imagination. For Cecile the attraction of reading Mills and Boon or of losing herself to her own imagination was the perfection that lay there. It was a world where everything was just right and exactly as she would like it to be, glaringly unlike reality itself.
Her love for writing manifested itself into short stories that she would write when in college and circulate to her friends. In 2014, her short story 'Jilted' was chosen in a nationwide contest and published in 'An Atlas of Love' - an anthology. Given that her first book speaks volumes on the little details of French lifestyle, she worked at the Honorary Consulate of France in Chennai and she is married to a Frenchman, Cecile as a student in school, was not very fond of French. Terrified of her professor, she often bunked her French classes in order to avoid being put in the spot. At one time, her teacher asked her to answer a question in front of the whole class and when, a very nervous Cecilia (as she was known back then) did not answer, her professor said, “Cecilia, you are going to miss the boat in French.”
A Goan by origin, Cecile hails from a family of artistes. Her late mother was a singer, father a chef, brothers are professional violinists, and her sister, a music teacher. She loves to sing, dance, read, and ofcourse, write. Having completed her schooling, she went on to complete five years of studying the language until her Diploma Superior and a Stage Pedagogiue at the Alliance Francaise. She also pursued her MA in French at the Madras University. Apart from French, Cecile has studied, Italian, Spanish and Business English Higher as well. She completed her Creative Writing Course at the British Council, Delhi and finally Masters in Human Resource Management at the Annamalai University.
When Cecile decided to write 'The French Encounter' she says the magic of the story enthralled her so much that she enjoyed working on it all the way through completion. She had the synopsis clearly mapped out in her head and she knew the direction the narration was to take. Cecile feels that writing a novel demands a lot of hard work, belief in the story the writer wishes to tell and most importantly in perseverance.
Cecile met her own Frenchman at the age of 29 and at a time when personally she was quite serious about getting married. The perspective fairly petrified Jean Paul Rischmann for he wasn't looking for a wife. The central concept of the story 'The French Encounter took root at that juncture in her life, although she only began to put the story onto paper in Mexico a good five or so years later when she was in Mexico.
Contextually the French Encounter is based in Chennai and her family was entirely unaware that she liked to write at all or that she was actually penning a novel. Having completed her novel, Cecile was hesitant to approach a publishing house as she wasn't sure if they would want to publish a novel as bold as hers. She was also quite keen to be part of every step of the publishing process and that narrowed her options down to independent publishers only. When Cecile did not get any good deals from the publishers that she approached, her husband invested in her book and she took up the diamond package offered by Partridge India.
Cecile looks forward to writing a book on her travels to various countries as well as on completing her other project - Visa to Paradise. The French Encounter is available in paperback, hardback as well as Kindle editions. Partridge India has released a video trailer of her book on YouTube as well.
Cecile Rischmann’s novel The French Encounter takes the underlying idea from her own life
If Oscar Wilde could opine, in his 1889 essay, The Decay of Lying, that ‘Life imitates art more than art imitates life’, in the case of writer Cecile Rischmann (Cecilia is her real name), it was a bit of ‘both ways’ that inspired her to write her debut romantic novel The French Encounter. Married to Jean-Paul Rischmann, Cecile lives in France but visits Chennai very often to be with her siblings. In 2014, Cecile Rischmann’s short story Jilted was chosen in a nationwide contest and published in an anthology, An Atlas of Love. She talks about her aversion to French and about how her book came into being.
When did you meet Jean-Paul Rischmann?
I was working at the Honorary Consulate of France at the time when Saint Gobain France decided to build a glass float in Chennai. Jean-Paul and five other expatriates were sent for the project. His best friend came over to the Consulate to announce their arrival and invite me to their party. I met Jean-Paul there in May 1999. We got married on March 13, 2004.
Tell us about your life in Chennai.
I studied in Christ Church Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School up to the tenth grade and then switched to St Ursula’s Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School where I did vocational training. I joined Stella Maris College and graduated in Sociology. But during the first two years of college, I developed an aversion to French as I was terrified of my professor. It was so bad that I used to bunk classes to avoid being put on the spot. And then one day the professor brought me up to the board just as I feared and asked me a question. I struggled, looking around hopelessly, wishing that the floor would open and swallow me. I still remember the look in her eye and that contemptuous tone: “Cecilia, you are going to miss the boat in French.” After that, I completed five years of French until my Diploma Superior and a Stage Pédagogique at the Alliance Française and simultaneously pursued my M.A in French at the Madras University.
Then I went on to study other languages: Italian at the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce, Spanish in Mexico, Business English Higher at Cambridge University, through the British Council, Chennai, Creative Writing at British Council, Delhi, and finally MHRM at Annamalai University, through correspondence).
When did you leave Chennai?
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We left in 2006 after Jean-Paul completed a second project in Chennai and we headed to Mexico (two years), Colombia (six months), Egypt (one year) and Delhi (three years). Finally we returned to Chennai and we now shuttle between France and India.
When did the idea for the book emerge and how long did you take to complete it?
Although Jean-Paul wanted to date me, he told me that marriage was not on his agenda. And when he came to know it was on mine, he was petrified. The idea began from there. “What would happen if an Indian woman fell in love with Frenchman?” and The French Encounter emerged.
I didn’t have a timeframe and worked at my own pace. In between, I met Bollywood producer-director-Editor Subhash Sehgal and I got interested in scriptwriting. I worked on Youth and Visa to Paradise. Both started as short stories.
But nothing really took off until I began The French Encounter. There was some kind of magic in the story and I had the time of my life writing it.
What’s next?
I’m working 24/7 promoting The French Encounter so that it reaches its audience and they feel its impact. My next novel, Visa to Paradise is taking shape.
East meets west in Cécile Rischmann’s new novel, sizzling love story based on real life events
A romantic at heart, Cécile Rischmann has a penchant for seeing romance in the simplest of things, in a smile, a quirk of the eyebrow, or a look, and writing hot love stories. Fact and fiction would blend together when she met her future husband, a Frenchman who would change her life, as the resulting real-life romance became the basis of her a sizzling love story: “The French Encounter”.
“The French Encounter”
By Cécile Rischmann
Published by Partridge India
Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 294 pages | ISBN 9781482846263
Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 294 pages | ISBN 9781482846256
E-Book | 294 pages | ISBN 9781482846249
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Cécile Rischmann is Indian, a linguist by profession who is married to a French man for the last 10 years.
When Jean Leclerc, the young French billionaire decides to construct a glass float in India, he is thinking political and environmental hurdles. So imagine his surprise when he comes face-to-face with a ferocious Bengal Tiger.
Katrina Santiago, a young feisty Indian woman, is saving herself for the one she’ll eventually marry. She may work for the French administration, but she does not date Frenchmen.
And then she sees JLC in all his splendor. Values and traditions are flying out of the window. She wants him. She wants her one chance at love.
