I must admit that if the press secretary of the publishing house had not offered to read it to me, I would have completely missed it, and that would have been a shame. It’s called “Les Petites”, it’s signed by Nathalie Bianco, and it’s published by Sixièmes éditions.
So the story takes us back to the early 80s, in Villeurbanne in a city called “popular”. A group of very young girls of around ten (inseparable) dream of being investigators. Their models? Les drôles de dames, the flagship series of those years and “Fantômette”, the heroine of their readings.
As a telephone, 2 pots of yoghurt linked by a string, the necessary instruments their imaginary investigations out of Pif Gadget, they are the “little ones” in the neighborhood. This is how they are nicknamed. Faouzia, Myriam and Kadi bring sunshine and laughter to their city.
Like always, life will take care of separating them, and each will have to face difficulties, misfortunes, and dramas. When she was 15, Kadi left the city and Villeurbanne to live in Paris. The links are cut, each will follow its path as best it can. At 50, the need to find oneself will be felt. Their adult life is not easy. It is marked by illness, domestic violence, alcoholism or even resilience and rebirth.
These “little ones” touch us, make us laugh, move us, they take us back to our own childhood and dreams, and what life decides to do with it. This novel is a look at society, its developments, its fears, and what we can keep from our childhood. A novel that smells of brotherhood.
We alternate between past and present. The writing is beautiful, full of sensitivity.
Note that this is the 3rd novel only by Nathalie Bianco. Originally a consultant and trainer, this mother of 3 teenagers lives in the Lyon region and now devotes more and more time to writing. To our greatest delight.