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“La Manif”, the intense political and intimate novel by Nelly Alard

Nelly Alard writes a story of rare power on state violence and captures with great subtlety the (polluted) air of the times. “La Manif” tells of an era, and what can happen.

Télévisions – Culture Editorial

Published on 11/01/2025 15:09

Reading time: 2min

Portrait of Nelly Alard, author of “La Manif”. (FRANCESCA MANTOVANI / GALLIMARD)

This is one of the nice surprises of this winter literary season. Sometimes, reason of state is simply unreasonable, especially when cameras are omnipresent in public spaces to deny the official versions. It is May 2016, some French people are protesting against the labor law known as the El Khomry law, which the government of Manuel Valls will eventually have adopted via the now very famous 49.3, holding his government accountable.

Nelly Alard returns in The Manif (Gallimard) on violence which will have significant repercussions on a family. Thursday 26 May 2016, as the demonstration diluted at the end of the afternoon, Romain was hit by a grenade. He finds himself in a coma, his life threatening. The authorities refuse to accept the blunder and take refuge in lies, despite the overwhelming evidence. For them, there is no police violence but “iron bars and pétanque balls flying at low altitude had unfortunately struck” Romain.

For her fourth book, Nelly Alard tackles a current subject with great sensitivity and subtlety. It is through the intimate that she questions state violence. Thanks to clear, simple writing, full of empathy, the author of The life you imagined (Gallimard) was inspired by real events to tell the story of the consequences of unjustified police violence on the victim’s family and loved ones. A tragedy that will leave its mark. Nelly Alard chooses to place herself on the victim’s side to tell her fight for the truth.

What is a broken destiny worth, a stolen life? How to deal with state overpower? By what means? How to maintain the cohesion of a family after such a tragedy? Nelly Alard is interested in everyone close to Romain. She speaks of the injustice of denying the obvious. And anger at amnesia. “2019 was the year of the Yellow Vests, of gouged out eyes, of torn off hands. With each gouged out eye, with each torn off hand, Sandro was indignant, not only, that Romain’s case was of no use, since despite tests and expertise, de-encirclement grenades continued to be used (…)”. The Manif, a great political novel that questions the present with sincerity and authenticity.

“The Manif”, Nelly Alard, Gallimard, 219 pages, 20 euros



Cover of the book “La Manif” by Nelly Alard. (EDITIONS GALLIMARD)

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