Like animalsthe first novel by Eve Lemieux, introduced us to a powerful, raw new literary voice from Quebec, exposing without taboo an exalted and disillusioned generation losing its bearings.
Posted at 3:00 p.m.
We therefore expected to receive a good right on the jaw with this new opus, aptly titled Mercury in the mouth, without being mistaken. This time, the author, who is also an actress, offers a dive behind the smooth appearances of the world of television and cinema, where cocaine, MDMA, alcohol and sex are consumed without half measures.
The story is told through the tormented figure of Marie Mercure, an actress that everyone loves but who really loves it. Intense, uncontrollable, angry, jealous, she is consumed to the point of madness by her amorous passion for Émile, her playmate in a children’s series. Between her tormented present, where she cannot accept the end of their toxic relationship, and the past, where she wallows in their story again and again, the actress crumbles little by little, sinks into darkness, without being able to stop its self-destructive course. A brutal novel that oozes distress and offers a grating look at stardom, which we read with beating hearts, both bewildered and fascinated by this character who burns the retina like a blazing sun, but where we seek this dark poetry outlet which was the strength of Like animals.
Mercury in the mouth
Eve Lemieux
X Y Z
256 pages