It's a novel that grips the guts and opens our eyes to the fate of children in care, whether at home or in a country at war like Ukraine. With “The Courage of the Innocents”, Niçoise Véronique Olmi takes us in the footsteps of Ben, her main character. A committed man, whom we follow first in France in homes where he gets closer to his half-brother, then in Ukraine where he confronts the cruelty of war. At the heart of the Var Book Festival, the author tells us more about her novel.
Children are at the heart of this book…
It is a book that is written a bit like a tragedy. I start from a base which, for us French, is known with homes and social assistance for children. I start from this postulate in a rich country and I push to discuss the situation of children from homes in a country at war. To convey this tragedy, I created the character Ben, a sort of Christ-like figure.
How would you define this character?
I asked myself the question of whether in this world that we know, on the verge of collapse, someone with as much ideal and charisma as Jesus Christ – no matter the role given to him, I do not I don't worry about that – if this being came back today what could he do? This character is non-violent, he is attracted to all people who are excluded. Children are the pinnacle of innocence, they are our humanity, so what could this man do for them?
What was the trigger for writing this book? Is this the situation in Ukraine?
My previous novel, “The Kid”, was about a little boy on public assistance in 1930 in France. While presenting this book, I received many testimonies from people who had people from the audience in their family and they were always speeches full of secrets and suffering. So, I became interested in the current situation. I went to children's courts, to a judge's office… I listened to testimonies for months, then the war in Ukraine broke out. It gave a terrifying echo and I wanted to see it through to the end.
The book is very realistic, how did you document it?
As everyone can do, with reports on France TV or Arte, in newspapers, but also on TikTok or Telegram. Then, I met residents of Kherson, war reporters… Then, I have to translate this into fiction because I am not a journalist. I create characters that we can identify with to get to the end of the story.
The scenes where the Russian army arrives in homes to kidnap the children are chilling because they are so realistic…
All this can be seen on the Internet, because it is claimed by the Russians. Everything is filmed, the arrest as well as the reception of these children who arrive in Russia by plane or train. We see these children who have just been kidnapped from summer camps, from hospital homes or orphanages, arriving with new families. This is all part of Russian propaganda.
There are many similarities with Nazism…
Yes, there are similarities with Polish children during the Second World War, but also with Franco's Spain, Argentina, or even what Canadians and Australians did with indigenous peoples, it's that is to say, take the living force, that which is malleable. But this causes irreparable trauma to these children whose lives are ruined.
In the first part, you talk about the situation in France and in particular adults who leave homes and find themselves left to their own devices…
One in four homeless people comes from a shelter. At 18, there are dry outings. On your birthday the door is opened for you and if you have nowhere to go, that's your problem. There are contracts for young adults to support them until the age of 21, but under certain conditions… Laws exist against outings or placements in hotels, to control host families or associations but they are never applied . How can we hope that our society will get better if day after day we create desperate people who have nowhere to go?
Var Book Festival, Place d’Armes in Toulon. Rens. www.fetedulivreduvar.fr
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