The first of the Claudine novels, narrated in the lively voice of a fifteen-year-old girl in a village school in Burgundy. Claudine is clever, headstrong and fond of mischief, and she describes her classmates, teachers and rivalries with great frankness. Beneath the comedy are early stirrings of feeling and some sharp glimpses of how adults behave. The book drew on Colette's own childhood countryside and was a popular success on publication. It remains a fresh, funny portrait of a spirited girl.