Catherine Colomb | An enchanting flood of words and images

Time in Britain

The author’s real name was Marie-Louise Reymond. Born on 18 August 1892 in Saint-Prex, she was the wife of a Lausanne lawyer and the mother of two children. Catherine Colomb was her maiden name. After finishing her university studies in Lausanne in 1916, she went to Britain to do a doctorate. It was there that she caught the whiff of blue blood, discovered Virginia Woolf and, in 1921, secretly started to write books – after marrying her husband and dropping out of her doctoral studies.

Her third book, published in 1953, now under the Catherine Colomb pseudonym, lamented a long-lost childhood from the perspective of death, employing vivid imagery and almost no linear narrative. For the first time, the publisher (Éditions Rencontre) retained the author’s original book name, “Les Esprits de la terre” (English translation by John Taylor: “The Spirits of the Earth”, 2016).

Time of the angels

Another nine years passed before Catherine Colomb finally achieved literary renown, when “Le Temps des anges” (Time of the angels) was published by Gallimard in Paris, three years before the author died on 13 November 1965 at the age of 73. “Joseph woke to the steady whoosh of angels flapping their mighty wings” is how the novel opens. And the similar sound of waves lapping on to the shores of Lake Geneva persists throughout the book, lending a gentle, muffled rhythm to a horrific narrative of hate, deception, and murderous intent.

As in Catherine Colomb’s other books, the story is a fascinating journey down memory lane –and surprisingly reminiscent of the works of such authors as Gerhard Meier and Gertrud Leutenegger. “Le Temps des anges” conjures up a flood of words and images that shine through its dark, bitter subject matter and lack of linearity.

CHARLES LINSMAYER IS A LITERARY SCHOLAR AND JOURNALIST BASED IN ZURICH

Bibliography: “The Spirits of the Earth” is available from Seagull Books. Catherine Colomb’s complete works are available in French from Édition Zoé, under the title “Tout Catherine Colomb”.