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French Author Visits White Plains To Sign New Book On Nadia Comăneci

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The author of a book about Nadia Comăneci is coming to l'Alliance Française de Westchester in White Plains on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Lola Lafon, the author of a book about Olympic gymnast  Nadia Comăneci is coming to l'Alliance Française de Westchester on Nov. 1.

Lola Lafon, the author of a book about Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci is coming to l'Alliance Française de Westchester on Nov. 1.

Photo Credit: L'Alliance Francaise

Lola Lafon's “La petite communiste qui ne souriait jamais, " The Little Communist Who Never Smiled" in English (translation by Nick Caistor) is about the 14-year-old Romanian gymnast.

It is a "thought-provoking, surprisingly touching story about a little girl who shook up the world," said a review in bigissue.com.

The French author's book is a fact-based reimagining of the life of Comăneci, who earned the first perfect score of 10 at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, becoming a star "instantly."

Click here to see the perfect 10 performance on YouTube.

She was loved by the media and teenage girls around the world. But the "unsmiling gymnast" was at the same time "a distant, enigmatic figure."

Lafon's novel takes a look at "the hijacking of a teenage superstar by a totalitarian regime; the excruciating pains, sprains and drug dependencies brought on by years of pushing an adolescent body; Nadia’s personal struggles with communist rigidity, family turmoil and celebrity, before her 1989 defection to the U.S.," the review said.

Alliance Française de Westchester is at 31 Mamaroneck Ave., sixth floor, White Plains. The book signing is at 7 p.m.

Entry is free for members; $10 for nonmembers.

The talk will be in French, with possible English translation, and there will be a Q&A in French and English.

For more information, visit the website here.

Click here for the bigissue.com review

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