Here we are now off to meet Suzanne Fougères. Or more precisely his ghost. And even those who, unlike Marie Desplechin, are not crazy about these stories, will let themselves be carried away by this well-executed story, nourished by humanity, sincerity and a timelessness which gives it a beautiful consistency. Because time may speed up, childhoods continue to look the same, like the All Saints' Day – or autumn – holidays with grandparents where the visit to the cemetery takes precedence over the candy harvest.
Very excited at the prospect of participating in the Halloween party, young Inès will soon become disillusioned. Her grandmother refuses to give in to commercial sirens and decides to make a homemade costume that looks great. A worn bed sheet and two round holes for the eyes will be enough to transform Inès into a fearsome ghost. The little girl doesn't see things the same way at all. Out of the question for her to go out with a DIY costume. She prefers to turn pale and give up the long-awaited party…
It is at this moment that another ghost enters his life, discreetly, at first, like a voice whispering in his ear, then more insistent, to the point of becoming almost harassing. Suzanne, who would be over 100 years old today, but whose life ended suddenly at the age of 12.
Young girls with strong character
Accomplice at all times
Then begins an increasingly intimate relationship between Inès and Suzanne, who becomes a constant accomplice, an imaginary friend, a remedy for loneliness. Together, the two girls will overcome several obstacles to find their roots. A quest that can sometimes become infinite and a story that grows throughout the pages.
That Marie Desplechin is interested in ghost stories is surprising. “The story took hold. The ghost is the past that we carry with us. Many children suffer from not being grounded. I have a family that has never left the north of France for generations. What I would like to tell children is that ghosts are not an abstract idea. We are woven from that. Going back through the history of your family and your country has an adventurous side. A name is already a story and when you tell this to children, they are fascinated. It gives them a place in life.” tells us the author for whom life is parasitized by the presence of the dead. “The space between life and death is imaginary. I always wished, when I lost friends, that they would come and haunt me. But it never worked.” regrets our interlocutor.
Cursed reading
Shivering, flirting with danger, going beyond their limits: all children like this, the time… for a story. We remember, among other things, the incredible success, in the 2000s, of the Goosebumps collection. Less frightening but deliciously strange, Cursed reading propose ten scary stories, as the cover announces, and leaves a discreet but effective place for supernatural phenomena. Whether it is the paintings customized by Charlie during the school visit to the museum, certain elements of which disappear without warning, a night in the tent which could end under the fangs of Bob the butcher, a wizard finally came to free the village from the horrible squire Bruce Mac Dougall or from the path of the dead that Malo does not dare to take by bike, this path by which the dead of Malendure and other surrounding towns were once transported to reach the cemetery of Pigerolle . Some say this path is haunted. In any case, Lina and Malo could indeed come across a ghost there.
In her short stories for children aged 7 and up, the author Céline Gourjault, with her limpid pen, skillfully mixes the extraordinary with the ordinary, with just the dose of suspense necessary to make you tremble a little…
⇒ The ghost of Suzanne Fougères | Novel | Marie Desplechin, The school of leisure, coll.neuf, 158 pp., €12. From 9 years old.
⇒ Cursed reading. Stories to thrill | Collection | Céline Gourjeault and Gemma Palacio | Amaterra, 180 pp., €16. From 7 years old.
EXTRACT
“Finally… I sleep most of the time! I wake up from time to time to take a walk in the village. I carry out my little investigation into births and deaths. It's funny to find the children grown up and the adults aged. I take stock and go back to sleep. I think it's the same for all ghosts, right?.
