The literary return to our French neighbors has a multitude of pearls in store, including these ten novels which testify to the change in a world chained to the injustices, inequalities and abuses of the past.
Watch us dance. The country of others, volume 2 by Leila Slimani. “A skin-deep trajectory, exciting and cruel, served by an undeniable narrative breath”, wrote Christian Desmeules in these pages, about the country of others (2020), first volume of a trilogy by Leïla Slimani. In this equally moving new opus, Amine, Mathilde and Selma must navigate an independent Morocco with a hazy identity, torn between the repressive archaisms and the hedonistic temptations of Western modernity. An ample and captivating fresco on the place of women in a society undergoing profound metamorphosis. (Gallimard, March)
An honorable exit by Eric Vuillard. After an abundant exploration of the Second World War, which earned him a Goncourt prize (The agenda, 2017), Éric Vuillard engages in the twists and turns of the Indochina war. In a series of memorable scenes borrowed from everyday life, the writer recounts the disturbing and destructive human comedy that underlies colonial capitalism. A masterful and gritty story about the fragility of the moment and the flaws of powerful people blinded by their interests. (Actes Sud, January 18)
If only at night, by Atiq and Alice Rahimi. Confined separately, father and daughter have started a correspondence to tell each other their daily life. However, the sobering news from Afghanistan quickly taints their exchanges with the torments of a family experience shaken by politics, exile and art. A moving and intimate dive into the heart of an uprooted heritage. (POL, March)
The big world by Pierre Lemaitre. After his memorable trilogy The children of disaster, Pierre Lemaitre pursues the construction of a literary work dedicated to the XXand century. With The big world (Calmann-Lévy, March 9), it offers a jubilant foray into the post-war boom, animated by a gallery of earthy and colorful characters. The novelist combines love, exoticism, passion and murderous madness to transform modest existences into extraordinary destinies.
Midnight blue by Dima Abdullah. After years of hermitage, a journalist finds himself on the street when he learns of the death of the love of his life. Around the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, he wanders, chased by his ghosts. In Midnight blue (Sabine Wespieser, February), Dima Abdallah offers a portrait both tortured and luminous of a man left to himself to confront and appease his demons.
Literary return by Eric Neuhoff. Pierre and Claire go out of their way to keep their small publishing house afloat. Around them, Paris changes, their generation ages, divorces, dies. Through the joys and vicissitudes of publishing, Literary return (Albin Michel, January) is above all a romance novel, carried by Éric Neuhoff’s elegant, ironic and delightfully precise dialogues.
The time of the hailstones by Olivier Mak-Bouchard. Let it be said: at this stage of the pandemic, any prospect of escape is welcome. With his second novel, The time of the hailstones (Le tripode, March 3), Olivier Mak-Bouchard offers a journey tinged with magical realism in the heart of the rough landscapes of Provence where cameras suddenly stop recording the presence of humans. In this acerbic fable, the author explores with a poetry tinged with bitterness the threats which weigh on a consumerist humanity.
the kid by Véronique Olmi. It is his reading of miracle of the rose, in which Jean Genet recounts his confinement in the penal colony of Mettray, which inspired the character of Joseph, eight years old, in Véronique Olmi. Thrown into a children’s prison, Joseph will see his innocence, his joy and his naivety shattered. From the injustices, inequalities and violence that crush the poorest, the kid (Albin Michel, February) outlines the dazzling and rebellious quest of a being to whom hope and courage will offer a form of rebirth.
Shilo’s Song by Sebastien Menestrier. A young girl eager for adventure disguises herself as a man to serve alongside Odysseus. On a stopover on the island of the Cyclops, she regains her independence and her ardor, meets the beautiful Shilo, her laws, her spirit of revenge and her love. Sébastien Ménestrier is inspired by an episode of The Odyssey to pay tribute to those who have been deprived of a voice by history. Shilo’s Song (Zoé, March 8) is a story of graceful accuracy, carried by a refined pen, surpassed by the brilliance of its heroines.