It’s the literary phenomenon everyone is talking about and that arty-girls carry in their beach bags from L.A to Miami ! Chick Lit? Absolutely not!
When Jill Alexander Essbaum, the great American poet decides to write a first novel on the theme of « Desperate Housewives », you perfectly imagine that it’s dreamlike, moving, spiritual and fascinating opus with a touch of trash. A really thrilling read for Parisiennes.
The spirit? A modern-day Emma Bovary, in the lines of author Douglas Kennedy. It’s a little like Bree Van de Kamp meeting Charlotte Gainsbourg de Lars Von Trier. A real UFO!
The pitch? Anna, a thirty-year-old American, moves to Zurich with her Swiss husband. Three kids later, she is wallowing in boredom, barely speaks a few words in German and is seriously depressed while under the severe supervision of her perfect mother-in-law. Following the advice of her shrink and her husband, Anna enrolls in a school program to learn German and rediscovers a taste for life... by having multiple love affairs. How is she going to survive? That is the big question!
Femme au Foyer, Jill Alexander Essbau published by Ed Albin Michel. 22€. Sold 7/01 on bookshop.
© Megan Sembera Peters
By Elodie Rouge @elorouge
