A gothic novel by the descendant of Stephen King, an Inventory of female dreams by the author of Americanah, the heartbreaking story of a mother and her daughter signed Peter Heller, a post-colonial tale in the heart of the Australian coast,... The literary favorites of the month of April, this is where it’s happening!
AN ODE TO LIFE AMONG WOMEN
The good book: La Pommeraie by Peter Heller
The pitch. “They are your family. Solid and fair people, except with themselves. Incapable of accepting the marvel of their own magic.” Frith grew up with her mother Hayley in a cabin at the foot of the Vermont mountains, where the two of them survive thanks to their orchard. From this childhood made of simple moments, rocked by poems, Frith retains only happy memories.
While she is pregnant with her first child, she questions her heritage and what she will pass on in turn. From her translator mother, she retains a love of words and a clear taste for poetry. From Rosie, their most faithful friend, she keeps the simple pleasures of life and the delicacy of tapestries. From the absence of a father, only distant memories remain, fruits of her imagination. Frith is at peace raising her child alone, like her mother before her. It will be a girl, she feels it...
Why will you love it? Peter Heller, "outdoor" writer, to whom we owe La constellation du chien and Peindre, pêcher et laisser mourir, has the art and the way to set a scene, an atmosphere. The cold lemonade drunk on the porch, the sudden silence that closes a long summer day, the dives into the quarry waterfall, and then the smell of itchy wool sweaters, Dr Pepper and buns just out of the oven. A moving story of natural life, femininity, friendship, mother-daughter transmission and of course poetry! In the end, this setting is so nice we don’t want to leave it.
THE STORY OF A HOTEL THAT KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT ITS RESIDENTS
The good book: L’hôtel by Daisy Johnson
The pitch. Place of myths and secrets, this place has a very special aura. Even before the hotel was built, when it was just an empty space, a strange atmosphere reigned. A woman believed to be a witch was drowned there, a neo-gothic hotel was built on her cursed land, many employees and other managers passed through, friends, lovers, family members were hosted, people laughed, cried, spoke loudly, whispered, but above all they were afraid.
“It is bigger inside than outside. Don’t go into room 63. Doors and windows sometimes change places.” These short stories tell of the hotel, its story of an old building become an iconic character for its visitors. We discover a gallery of unusual characters. The very ones who continue to haunt the place long after the tragedy... the mysterious fire that ravaged everything.
Why will you love it? Daisy Johnson is considered by many as the descendant of Stephen King. As a worthy heir to the master of the dark and the strange novel, she has a gift for handling words. Witness Sœurs and Tout ce qui nous submerge. At the borders of the fantastic, the imaginary and reality, with a simple, almost scathing writing, she tells fear, horror and dread. The writer is sparing with words and that’s a good thing, she thus has all the space to set up an atmosphere that permeates us and doesn’t let us go, even after closing the book. By inviting us to stay in this hotel, Daisy Johnson gives us a small masterpiece of gothic literature.
A PERSONAL STORY ABOUT WOMEN'S REALITY
The good book: L’inventaire des rêves by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The pitch. “I have always dreamed of being known, as I really am, by another human being.” So begins the story of Chia, traveling writer who enjoys taking stock of her conquests, one of the protagonists of our story. She shares the narrative with three other women, her cousin Omelogor, who made a career in finance, their mutual friend Zikora, lawyer, abandoned by her partner when she tells him she is pregnant, and Kadiatou, fine cook and expert braider, realizes her American dream by becoming a housekeeper in a luxury hotel.
Their common point? Coming from West Africa, they all immigrated to the United States and all have dreams they fully intend to fulfill: one refuses marriage to live from her pen, another wants a child whatever the cost, or wants to fight injustices done to women. When Kadiatou’s dreams collapse following an incident in the hotel itself, echoing the Strauss-Kahn affair, the destinies of the other women come together, stick together, to form a single voice that questions: are women’s dreams harder to achieve?
Why will you love it? “The purpose of art is to observe our world and be moved by it, then to engage in a series of attempts to see it clearly, interpret it and question it.” writes the author in her preface. With L’inventaire des rêves, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, to whom we owe Americanah and the text We Should All Be Feminists, proves once again her gift for telling women’s stories and the power of their solidarity. With a pen always fine and light but much more expansive and deep, the writer delivers a deeply personal narrative about women's desires. If her heroines enjoy dreaming of love, chatting, sharing tasty dishes and jokes, they are above all Black women who question the impact their skin color has on their journey, and on how others see them.
A STORY AT THE HEART OF AUSTRALIAN LEGENDS
The good book: Les Sirènes by Emilia Hart
The pitch. Australia, 2019. Following a most strange incident, Lucy suddenly leaves university to take refuge at her sister Jess’s. The latter recently moved to Comber Bay, a place of all legends since the 1801 shipwreck. But when Lucy arrives at her dilapidated house, perched atop a wind-battered cliff, she finds no one. Unable to rely on her sister, she sets off in search of her.
To better search Jess’s present, Lucy dives into the past of this town, the story of a tragic shipwreck, tales of men disappeared in mysterious circumstances and the fate of a baby found in a cave. The puzzle pieces fit together one after another, like a police investigation. But everything is upended when the voices of the women who washed ashore on this coast hundreds of years ago begin to mingle. They whisper to Lucy the story of two sisters, two centuries ago, in a world where men were masters.
Why will you love it? Emilia Hart is no stranger to this. Before Les Sirènes, there was La Maison aux Sortilèges, which told the intertwined destinies of extraordinary women separated by centuries. A fan of magical realism, the writer created a universe recognizable among all, blending myths and popular legends, referring to historical events, adding just enough strangeness and painting portraits of extraordinary women. This dual timeline tale, mixing folklore and legend, plunges us into the tragic history of some of Australia’s first settlers, women exiled and transported to New South Wales to be used as human property. From this dark and bewitching atmosphere, one does not emerge unscathed.
Also discover the shows to see this April and gourmet luxuries for under €40.
