After My Husbanda work which had earned her great success with more than 300,000 copies sold, Maud Ventura returns with a second novel again published by L’Iconoclaste for the literary season. In her first book, the author already explored the theme of obsession, adopting the point of view of a woman with an inordinate passion for her husband.
A character you love to hate or hate to love
We find this excessive character in the main character of Famous : Cléo Louvent has been convinced that fame has been her destiny since childhood. “Fame is my life. The one I knew I would have, the one I made sure to have. »
This obsession quickly led her to make this dream come true: she became a world singing star. The novel opens with his solitary stay on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean: “the kind of fantasy that fame can buy. »
In this book told in the first person, Maud Ventura immerses us in the mind of a vain and cynical character, as amusing as she is detestable. Over the course of 500 pages, we follow his rise from his childhood to the pinnacle of his career.
Famous… but at what cost?
The author highlights the complex and sometimes unhealthy workings of celebrity, a world where the thirst for recognition can push one to exceed all limits. Cléo embodies this figure of a modern icon devoured by her ambition and her incessant need to shine. Maud Ventura manages to finely dissect the obsession with notoriety through a captivating and disturbing character.
The book also invites us to reflect on celebrity in the age of social networks: the line between private and public life is blurring, and everyone can become a star in their own way. The work thus raises the question of authenticity in a world saturated with false pretenses: “With fame, it is not me who changes: it is the way others see me. I haven’t changed my behavior one bit yet, but I’m no longer addressed in the same way.”
Despite some lengths, Maud Ventura confirms the singularity of her writing in this second novel which is worth the detour. His punchy style and sharp look at celebrity make this book a read full of dark humor and lucidity on the excesses of the star system. Cléo is a character both odious and fascinating: her megalomania and her cynicism offer a tasty mix that makes reading addictive. Plus, the ending has a few surprises…
Claire Cursoux, web editor in Toulouse
Famous • Éditions de l’Iconoclaste
Literature
