Unlike Christiane F., this German teenager caught in the spiral of addiction, Jessica M. is neither a drug addict nor a prostitute. The tragedy she faces is less overwhelming, but subtle and insidious. She is a mother. And she writes. At least she tries. Because every time she picks up the pen, she is interrupted by a coughing fit, a runny nose or an existential question. Faced with the impossibility of reconciling all her lives, Jessica M. gives in to a substitute for happiness to reconnect with fragile creativity. Janis Locas uses a bold and disconcerting construction, resorting to a process of mise en abyme which blurs the boundaries between the reality of the narrator and the story she composes. If the process harms the fluidity of reading, it is to better demonstrate the frustrating obstacles that hinder creation, the shambles that motherhood represents, as well as the loss of control linked to taking medication. Even if some jokes and observations fall flat, Janis Locas delivers a biting and clever, thought-provoking novel.
To watch on video