The second novel by Victoria Mas , a vibrant novel about segregation and inheritance, an intense story about the Bataclan attacks , the great return of Virginie Despentes ... The long-awaited literary season is full of beautiful surprises. The nuggets of the moment, it's here that it happens.

The Good Book: The Book of the Sisters by Amélie Nothomb

The pitch. Tristane was born without succeeding in attracting either the attention or the affection of her parents. She arrived unwanted within a couple whose love was so strong that it left no room for anyone. A prodigious but dull child, she will only know love at the birth of her little sister Laetitia, for whom she will devote an excessive and exclusive passion. Within this family imbalance , the little girls will have no choice but to create a world of their own and to go through trials as funny as they are tragic together. Family ties are probed with just the right gravity and absurdity.

For who ? All those in search of a poignant novel that tears the heart without even drawing a tear. Here is all the talent of the famous Amélie Nothomb who, each year, gives us a black tale of which she alone has the secret. After having looked into paternal love in Premier sang , in which she gave the floor to her late father, the novelist explores the world of childhood and in particular the sisterly bond. The sisters' book is a real ode to the power of words that can sublimate as well as destroy, but also a moving tribute to her older sister Juliette through whom the author reveals herself.

The good book: Dear Asshole by Virginie Despentes

The pitch. The story begins with an Instagram post , that of Oscar who turns out to be violent towards Rebecca. The story is then created around an exchange of letters when she decides to contact him to understand this wickedness. Both met in childhood and yet today everything separates them. Rebecca is a 50-year-old famous actress . Oscar, he was successful before being denounced on social networks by a young woman he had harassed, Zoé Katana, intervening in their exchanges. After the admonitions, a bond is created between them that will allow them to dig into and discuss issues related to the time of #MeToo .

For who ? All readers looking for a feminist novel that tackles more or less intimate subjects with aplomb: the redefinition of masculinity , violence in packs on social networks , the difficulty of aging, the intangible heritage passed on from generation to generation. … The story is an ode to sobriety and dialogue. Almost five years after #MeToo , Virginie Despentes draws up an inventory of our contemporary world. The author offers her look at the years that have just passed, offers her vision of patriarchy and, by going beyond taboos, considers the possibility of a male-female friendship.

The good book: V.13 by Emmanuel Carrère

The pitch. For nine long months, from September 2021 to June 2022, Emmanuel Carrère went every morning to the salle des pas perdus of the old Paris courthouse , in order to follow the V.13 trial there . V.13 is the code name of the trial of the terrorist attacks of November 13 which caused 130 deaths. 14 defendants, 1,800 civil parties and 350 lawyers: the journalist observed them all, met them, sometimes questioned them. He describes what was for him a real moving but fascinating crossing, and addresses with finesse the collateral victims, the forgotten, the damage that drags on.

For who ? Who better than him could have approached a tragedy with such honesty? With this fantastic ability to fade away with which he is endowed, Emmanuel Carrère listens, reports on the moving words of the survivors and acts as the discreet spokesperson for lives other than his own. If V.13 brings together all the chronicles published in L'Obs , the story has been revised and increased in order to be as fluid as possible. As a good journalist, the author attempts to report on and question this unfortunately so human “ mystery of evil ”.

The Good Book: Miss Josephine by Margaret Sexton

The pitch. The story follows several generations of black women , descended from a line of slaves who worked on the plantations . The story dives into Louisiana in 1855 in Josephine's childhood when she, ten years old, fled the plantation where she lived with her parents. Now in her 70s, she runs a thriving farm . But, between the arrival of her new white neighbors and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the region, Josephine will have to fight for her freedom. In 2017, Ava, a mixed-race descendant of Josephine, moves in with her wealthy white grandmother. Without knowing it, her destiny will converge with that of her ancestor and the difficulties encountered when you are a black woman and a single mother...

For who ? All readers crave the marvelous books of Toni Morrison ( Beloved ) , winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature . Margaret Sexton could well be in the 21st century what Alice Walker and The Color Purple were in the 1980s. She delivers a powerful story that travels between eras without getting lost and thus traces the journey of free and proud women who fought, away from men, for their freedom. This smell of injustice, which hangs over the story of these women like an inevitability, leaves readers, turning the last page, with a feeling of strength and extraordinary hope. This breathtaking novel is an intimate and delicate ode to sisterhood that unites, across ages and races.

The Good Book: A Miracle by Victoria Mas

The pitch. Brittany , sacred land of tales and legends . It is in the hollow of these landscapes governed by the elements that Victoria Mas sets her last story, that of Sister Anne, sent on a mission to Roscoff with the firm hope of seeing the Virgin appear there . So when she hears of this young orphan who is reportedly reporting apparitions, she travels to this island haunted by life-damaged souls who desperately want to believe. “ Nothing threatened man more than visits from heaven. “The population simply finds itself helpless in the face of this inexplicable event which seems to lead to an inevitable tragedy.

For who ? The followers of the Bal des Folles , story of the confinement at the Salpêtrière of a young woman seeing spirits in the 1930s . After years of waiting, Victoria Mas finally isolated herself for many months in order to deliver a poetic story plunging back into this singular and mystical universe of her own. This second novel should conquer the most skeptical bibliophiles. The author has, once again, had the audacity to tackle a perilous subject and does so with great accuracy. His writing is both luminous and sensitive, but above all bewitching and powerful.

Where are you admirable world? by Sally Rooney

After the worldwide success of Conversations With Friends and Normal People , Sally Rooney returns with a complex story that turns out to be the most accomplished account she has delivered so far. The Irish author recounts the romantic relationships of two longtime friends who, because of the distance, only communicate by email. One has a strange relationship with her childhood sweetheart and the other has moved into a big house in the countryside to breathe. With this introspection tinged with irony which constitutes her trademark, the novelist probes human relations with distance and benevolence.

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