As my French experiment draws towards its natural conclusion it is time to consider the many characters that will feature in my forthcoming bestseller “A year in Pontrieux”.
Not knowing the real names of all the people I come across it is necessary to invent names as verbal shorthand. Here are the people of Pontrieux sorted into meaningful categories.
Proximity – The people next door, the people at the back with the dog, the man opposite, the people next door on the other side, the old lady from down the road.
Profession – The nurse, the Mayor, the horseman, the horseman’s daughter, the horseman’s wife, the pharmacist, the woman in the boulangerie, the artists, the photographer.
Similarity to other people – Roger Cook, Roger Cook’s son, Herbert.
Physical attribute – The black man, the black man’s wife, the Scottish lady, the ménage a trios, the prostitute, the prostitute’s husband, the prostitute’s son, the posh lady, the three witches, the man from Paris, the League of Gentleman girls.
Any offence caused by these descriptions is purely intentional.