A writer on the verge of forty witnesses a series of strange incidents that revive her scars from childhood and adolescence. In his new novel The Tarantula NebulaMélissa Verreault skillfully twists the reader into a web where past and present, as well as dream and reality, merge.
For a while now, the protagonist, given the rare first name of Mélisa, has noticed that her daily life is full of oddities. She first notices that the water in her swimming pool has evaporated overnight, then she discovers a rare insect in one of her boxes. Then comes the surprise reappearance in her life of a man she once ardently desired.
If these events seem at first glance to be separate, the Quebec novelist Mélissa Verreault succeeds in connecting them brilliantly. The one to whom we owe in particular The paths of disappearance (2016) creates a real family and love constellation. The characters she portrays are overwhelming in their beauty and their ugliness. You just need to give the story time to build.
In this book of almost 400 pages, the author also describes with great accuracy the wounds of life, such as the betrayals on the cusp of adolescence. “We are not taught to protect ourselves from friendship,” says the narrator.
Broken or unsuccessful relationships are at the heart of the story, formed by clever temporal jumps. Mélisa thus reconstructs her fragmentary youth, convinced that the past is trying to “tell her something”. “I try to listen, but we are taught so poorly to listen to what is whispering. »
Violence and lies
However, certain parts of his life struggle to resurface, because of the pain they cause. Others are filled with shame that the heroine should not have had to carry, such as the sexual advances made by an uncle during her childhood. “I find it unfair that we can endure something that we don’t understand,” she says.
However, she captures very well all the violence of social inequalities. Coming from a modest background, she faces this harsh reality by playing with wealthier children. “It’s impossible to have fun with someone who thanks you for the fabulous garden party when all you invited them to was a simple party. »
Despite the serious themes addressed in The Tarantul Nebulae, Mélissa Verreault infuses it with a good dose of humor. The author also seems to have fun with the reader by multiplying the similarities between her protagonist and herself.
The result is a captivating fable about deception, memory, language and parentage. “I will have to find reality somewhere between the truth that hurts and the lies that comfort,” says Mélisa.