I present to you today a very modern novel offered by Nicolas Laquerrière, a thirty-year-old co-screenwriter of the successful series “Validé” by Franck Gastambide. He lives in Choisy le Roi in the 94, where he grew up and it is here that he chose to place the plot of his story which is called “Nueve Cuatro”.
Already it must be recognized that if you do not know the Val de Marne, you are surprised by the description of Laquerrière. 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. And then there are the others. Kairas, bosses, gangsters, traffickers, fast foods and extraordinary stories that go with it.
In his book, we see crossing this whole gallery of characters. First of all Henri, a retired accountant, very grumpy sugar addict who has just lost a toe because of his diabetes. He spends every Wednesday with his neighbor the young Clara, the only one he really appreciates but one day she disappears without giving any news. He will try to trace him. We will also meet Soul, a bandit who dreamed of becoming a cop but because of a physical heart problem had to give up his hopes. He hunts down bad payers. And then there’s Brahim, the boss who starts having memory problems and knows his power is wavering and his time is running out. It is a pivotal moment for all who will find themselves around this disappearance.
They are all terribly human. It’s funny and desperate, an explosive cocktail. And then Laquerrière really succeeds in giving substance to those they imagine. One has the impression of knowing them, of recognizing them.
“Nueve Cuatro” is a vision of the suburbs that we hadn’t had until now. It’s fast, it’s modern, it’s smart. You won’t be bored for a minute in the Val de Marne, we promise.