Looking for new novels to read? Here are our recommendations of the week.
“Scenes from my life” by Marthe Keller (Les Presses de la Cité)
The actress has always cultivated discretion, but if she decided to write her memories in a wonderful book, it is for her granddaughters, she admits, and also in order to tell the younger generation of never give up on your dreams. Nothing personal, even if she modestly evokes her Swiss childhood in Basel, dancing, then the discovery of theater, her meetings, her loves (Philippe de Broca, Al Pacino), her friends, including Dustin Hoffman, her filming, and his passion for the stage and Chekhov, never denied even today. Marthe Keller was lucky for the first time without speaking either French or English.
From his cinema debut in the Devil by the tail (by Philippe de Broca), for which his lines were translated, to a play in Paris, with Jean Rochefort, until the success of the serial the Maid of Avignon and when he left for the United States – another happy coincidence! – For Marathon Man, where she discovers another way of working sixteen hours a day… she is an artist with an iron will, but not devoid of humor and very endearing, which emerges throughout the pages. “ I discovered that you could have fun while working seriously “, she says. This incredible woman never stopped challenging herself by taking on difficult works, in order to prove to herself that she could do it and continue. To our delight.
Also discover : 10 favorite books to read during the summer, recommended by members of the Académie Goncourt
“Bourgeois obsessions” by Madeleine Meteyer (JC Lattès)
Because a vase of inestimable value disappeared on her birthday, Céleste goes to the police station accompanied by Servane, a friend. If, years earlier, at high school, this young woman from a very wealthy background allowed Servane to discover the codes of the upper bourgeoisie, she now cannot help but suspect her of wanting to possess what she never had… The author anchors thwarted teenage friendships in a context of social inequalities at the origin of deep jealousies. Well done, this often funny novel takes a fair look at a golden youth.
“Remember the bees” by Zineb Mekouar (Gallimard)
On the palette of the novelist of Moroccan origin, earth colors to paint a village in the High Atlas where Aïcha, known as “the possessed”, live, Anir, her 10-year-old son, and the grandfather, protector of the child since the father left to work in Agadir. On the side of the mountain there remains an old collective apiary which fascinates and comforts Aïcha, whose mood disorders come from a heavy family secret. Zineb Mekouar keeps us on the edge, sowing clues that reveal a tragedy, the damage of drought or an earthquake. A tender and captivating tale, an ode to bees and nature in peril.
“The Fillmore Sisters”by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (South Acts)
After Miss Josephine, which evoked sorority over several generations, it is in the racist San Francisco of the 1950s that the American writer places this story which salutes the courage of women. Vivian, a nurse, finds comfort in the love of Esther, Chloe and Ruth, her beloved daughters. United by music and dance, the three sisters found a certain success in the jazz clubs of the black district of the city. But their dreams are hit head-on by an urban renewal project which involves the expropriation of many African-Americans. A thrilling and moving family fresco.
