The latest addition to my website is Philippe Sollers‘ Femmes (Women). In this novel, Sollers moved away from his short experimental novel to a long everything novel. It is narrated by an American journalist, Will, who is partially based on Sollers, not least because he is writing a novel called Femmes (Women). Will is happily … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Laura Alcoba‘s Par la forêt (Through the Forest). Laura Alcoba was born in Argentina but lives in France and writes in French. This novel tells the story of Griselda who has to flee Argentina with her(married) lover, Claudio, and they go to France. Initially he stays with his … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Isabella Hammad‘s The Parisian. Midhat Kamal lost his mother when he was two. When his father remarries, Midhat is sent off to a French school in Constantinople and then to study medicine in Montpellier. Things do not go well there, partially because he falls in love with his … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Tatiana Țîbuleac:‘s Vara în care mama a avut ochii verzi [The Summer When Mum Had Green Eyes]. The story starts with an outpouring of hate and contempt that the narrator, Aleksy, has for his mother, who is picking him up after his final day at school. His feelings … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Thuận‘s Chinatown : tiẻ̂u thuyé̂t (Chinatown). Our unnamed heroine spends the entire book on a Paris metro train which is held up by the investigation of a suspicious duffle bag, with her twelve-year old son asleep on her shoulder. She spends the time ruminating on her life. She … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Sami Tchak‘s Place des Fêtes. The title refers to a stop on the Paris metro where a key scene in the novel takes place. Our unnamed narrator was born in France to parents from over there, i.e Togo, though it is never named. He argues with his father … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Jean-Baptiste Andrea‘s Veiller sur elle [Watch Over Her]/. This novel won the Prix Goncourt in 2023. It tells the story iof Mimo (real name Michelangelo), son of sculptor, who is apprenticed to a family friend and soon proves better than his master, to the latter’s annoyance. They settle … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Patrick Modiano‘s La Danseuse [The Dancer]. Modiano’s latest follows the basic plot line of many of his earlier novels. A young man, presumably Modiano’s alter ego, has arrived in Paris and is struggling to make a living. He associates with a group of people, some of whom have … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Guillaume Lecasble‘s Lobster (Lobster). We follow the story of a lobster who, along with his parents, is caught and placed in an aquarium in a restaurant. His parents are cooked but just as he is placed in the pot, there is a huge bang and the pot is … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Michael Ferrier‘s François, portrait d’un absent (François, Portrait Of An Absent Friend). The eponymous absent friend is François Christophe, very much a real person, a film-maker and producer of radio drama, though there is very little about him on the web. He and his daughter had been washed … Read more