Ju lit les Mots, blogger and contributor to the 20 Minutes Books reading group, recommends “Magali” by Caryl Férey, published on August 22, 2024 by Éditions Robert Laffont.
His favorite quote:
” We are naturally more affected by a drama that takes place close to home, or in a familiar place. I did not know Magali, but “I could have known her”, like the people of Monfort who had known her, perhaps she had lived the same childhood as me, peaceful and far from the sordid, discovering in adolescence the type of woman she would become, forging her temperament in contact with the locals before taking her wings, and falling on the black angel who would break them. Injustice again, this commonplace that has always disgusted me. »
Why this book?
- Because Magali offers the author the possibility to talk about a news item that took place in the village where he grew up and that, starting from this sordid story, he unravels his personal story, to understand how Magali’s life could have changed. This is an opportunity for him to bring Magali back to life, and to look into this femicide with its complex ramifications.
- Because the plot development is constructed as an investigation that is both judicial and journalistic and this gives the story a very interesting dynamic and makes it enjoyable to discover. A bit like the other side of the story, where even if we know the end, we want to know how we got to this drama.
- Because ultimately the author explains that Magali’s story is a sordid news item, much more complex than a simple murder, with several culprits, accomplices, he explains these ramifications, and the whole organization put in place to “get rid” of Magali. The information arrives bit by bit, interspersed with interviews and newspaper articles that he cross-references to allow him to have an overall view of the drama.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot. On February 11, 2021, Magali Blandin, a mother living in Monfort-sur-Meu, disappeared. A month later, following the confession of her husband, Jérôme Gaillard, with whom she was in the process of separating, Magali was found dead in the Boisgervilly woods (Ille-et-Vilaine)
The characters. It is difficult to talk about characters, because we are in a news story. It is more of a documentary following the unfolding of a family drama.
The places. Monfort-sur-Meu is a Breton village.
The era. February 2021 and following months.
The author. Born in 1967, Caryl Férey grew up in Brittany. Now living in Paris, he writes crime novels (Zulu, Mapuche, Condor, Paz, Lëd and Okavango), but also texts for young people, songs, screenplays for cinema and comics.
This book was read with interest, because femicides are far too often ignored or passed off as mere news items. Magali’s story must not be forgotten, nor those of all these women.
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