In a diplomatic world where we must bow to the great powers and remain silent in the face of abuses and violations of human rights, how far would we go to defend our moral convictions?
This is the fascinating question posed The diplomata poignant story with a tragicomic tone, the fruit of the precise and humorous pen of Lucy Fricke.
It follows Friederike Andermann, diplomat at the German Foreign Ministry, from her professional failure following the disappearance of a national in Uruguay to her fascinating mission for freedom of expression as consul in Istanbul, in Turkey.
Without ever letting us lose sight of the ironic subtext, the gripping intrigues follow one another throughout this 256-page novel.
We accompany Fred both through the vagaries of foreign affairs and in the daily life of a woman in her forties surrounded by men with oversized egos with whom working is not always easy. It is a rhythmic novel, which skillfully juggles between satire and realism and which makes you think about the place of the individual in this boring system.
Read to allow yourself a new look at politics, more comical – and by the same token, more critical – than what readings on this theme have accustomed us to.
Audrey-Anne Blais, The Press
The diplomat
The Quartier
256 pages