She was bored on a train. So to pass the time, the author and popular Instagrammer decided to invite her loyal subscribers (more than 1 million) to send her their most “crispy” secrets. In a few minutes, the messages poured in, all more intimate, heavy and moving than each other. An investigation on the subject was essential.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
“They have always hidden the identity of my father from me, because I think he was a Nazi”, “I have had an affair for two years with my brother-in-law”, “I have hidden my pregnancy for nine months”, “I was raped at the age of 5 by my grandmother’s neighbor…” That gives you an idea of the tone. Serious. Disturbing at times.
This is how Morgane Ortin (to whom we owe lonely loves, the Instagram account, from which two fascinating homonymous novels resulted), after having archived the love text messages of its subscribers, dissects here their most intimate secrets. Half-sociological investigation (why are we hiding, from whom, when?) – although never voyeuristic, the author rather seeking here to pierce the mysteries of a word that is being kept silent –, half-autofiction, Morgane Ortin gets wet and dares to dig into his own (fictional?) family secrets. And they are just as overwhelming.
An interesting read, despite several repetitions here and there, skilfully constructed, whose conclusion we particularly appreciate. Emancipator. Basically: let’s finally free the floor. Because no, the secret does not have much good.
The secret
Morgane Ortin
Albin Michael
231 pages