Many know her for her poignant, sensitive and deeply humanist novel, Change the flower water (Albin Michel). In this literary season, Valérie Perrin offers us a new work in the same vein as her previous works, where humans, emotions and interpersonal relationships occupy a central place.
“Stir”
Tatait is the story of Agnès, a successful director in distress, who has been drowning since her husband left her for a “young girl”. She still floats thanks to her daughter, Anna, but the rest is falling apart. Until the day this incredible news arrives: Colette, her beloved aunt, is dead. Again. A second death, as if the first had not been enough to mark hearts. This word, “to die again”, does not exist, but it imposes itself on Agnès, giving her the impression of reliving the unthinkable.
What might seem like a tragic farce turns out to be the prelude to a much larger story. Behind the death of Tata, this discreet figure, lies a dive into intertwined destinies. Colette’s childhood, solitary and mysterious, joins that of Jean, her brother and father of Agnès, a piano virtuoso.
The echoes of their youth in Gueugnon, a steel worker town, resonate with the story of Blanche, Colette’s lifelong friend, and that of Lyèce, Agnès’ childhood friend, broken by life. Beneath this second death, buried secrets, childhood wounds and forgotten transmissions are revealed, themes dear to Valérie Perrin.
A success upon its release
Valérie Perrin’s 600 pages of intertwined stories have already won the hearts of readers. In less than two weeks after its release on September 18, Tata was at the top of sales in France, with no less than 25,000 copies sold. This success crowns an already rich literary season for Albin Michel, who can also count on bestsellers like Stand up by Mélissa Da Costa and The impossible return by Amélie Nothomb, also among the best-selling titles.
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With TataValérie Perrin continues her rise in white French literature, confirming her talent for telling human and sensitive stories. The author will meet her readers throughout France until this winter, with events in Amiens on October 31 and Brice from November 8 to 10, before continuing in 2025 with meetings at the Printemps du Livre de Cassis, in Toulon-sur-Arroux, and at the Albin Michel bookstore in Orléans. Readers will be able to follow the news of his meetings and signing sessions on his Facebook page.
