Love letters from KamakuraIto Ogawa
In a decade, Japanese author Ito Ogawa has carved out a special place for herself in the hearts of a vast readership eager for a change of scenery. As was the case for Tsubaki stationery et The Republic of Happinessthis new novel takes place in the small bookstore of Kamakura, south of Tokyo, a coastal town famous for its multiple temples and camellias in bloom. Hatoko, the owner, the one who welcomes each customer with a cup of hojicha tea, returns here to her role as public writer. Carefully choosing ink, paper, brush and calligraphy, she responds to the requests of those who seek her services by writing letters of farewell, desire or hope.
Picquier, February 10
BiotopeOrly Castel-Bloom
Almost ten years since the Israeli writer Orly Castel-Bloom, born in 1960 into a family of Egyptian origin, gave us a new novel. As in Dolly Cityher first book, here she casts her gaze, both overflowing with imagination and terribly realistic, humorous and fundamentally critical, on Tel Aviv, a city which has nothing of a biotope, that is to say ” a biological environment offering homogeneous living conditions. The hero, Joseph Shimel, would evoke Kafka’s Joseph K.. Dismissed from the French department of the university, he would be the witness and the victim of the desolate situation of the metropolis, an ecosystem where social inequalities abound.
Actes Sud, February 13
The song of the prophetPaul Lynch
In his fifth novel, awarded the Booker Prize in 2023, Irish author Paul Lynch, born in 1977, depicts the terrible slide of a society towards totalitarianism. The situation, frankly dystopian, evoking the Syrian civil war and the resulting migrant crisis, is observed through the eyes of a Dubliner, Eilish Stack, a scientist, mother of four children, caregiver of her father suffering from dementia , confronted with the mysterious disappearance of her husband, a teacher and trade unionist. Many Anglo-Saxon critics praised the narration without paragraphs, the breath of the writing, the richness of the characters and the socio-political relevance of the plot.
Albin Michel, February 17
EchoesKristín Eiríksdóttir
Three years later The Matter of Chaosa highly enigmatic novel, loaded with prizes, translated into nine languages, the Icelandic author Kristín Eiríksdóttir, born in 1981, is back with a related literary object. While participating in a discussion after the screening of her film, a documentary dedicated to Dimitri, a whale hunter whom she knows better than she lets on, Villa is bombarded with disturbing questions. Why be interested in a highly controversial activity, which is also practiced by an individual considered by many to be disreputable? We speak of a captivating novel which “reflects different facets of reality like a prism”.
Black on white, February 19
ContrechampEdith Bruck
Holocaust survivor, Italian writer of Hungarian origin Edith Bruck is now 93 years old. In recent years, René de Ceccatty has, so to speak, become the official translator of the author of I let you sleep a you French toast. In Contrechampa novel first published in 1978, Linda was hired as a historical consultant to the director of a feature-length fiction film about the Holocaust. Inspired by Bruck’s experience on the set of Copea 1960 film by Gillo Pontecorvo and starring Emmanuelle Riva and Susan Strasberg, the book is a reflection on the limits of art when it comes to representing the unthinkable.
Threshold, February 22
OotlinJenni Fagan
Carried from home to foster family since her birth in 1977 – at the age of 7, she had already been in 14 homes – the Scottish Jenni Fagan drew on her painful childhood to write her first novel, The wild onepublished in French in 2013. Praised by British and American critics, his visceral style has been compared to that of Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange) et d’Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting). In Ootlinher fourth opus, the author reconnects with her traumas to better reclaim them. We promise a moving, captivating, mature book without miserabilism, where it is about delinquency and drugs, but also the saving power of art.
Métailié, February 22
The GluttonA.K. Blakemore
Born in London in 1991, AK Blakemore set her second book, described as “an eminently romantic political fable”, in the revolutionary France of the 18th century.e century. The story is inspired by a true story, that of Tarare, the Glutton of Lyon, a street artist and soldier renowned for his devouring appetite. It is claimed that it swallowed objects of all kinds and numerous creatures, dead or alive. Sister Perpétue, who watches over this “dangerous beast” who was carefully tied to her bed, collects the disturbing confessions of a complex individual, lacking love and freedom, whose fate illustrates human beings’ talent for exploitation and cruelty.
Globe, February 26
Woman for halfPerumal Murugan
A major figure in Indian letters, speaking Tamil, Perumal Murugan was born in 1966. He is the author of a dozen novels, but only one had so far been translated into French, The stake (Stéphane Marsan Éditeur, 2020). In the years following its publication, in 2010, the book Woman for half sparked a great controversy. This is because it addresses the taboo of infertility in rural India of the colonial era, and the unorthodox means that some couples were willing to take to give birth. Taking place in sublime landscapes, the story of Ponna and Kali is made of stigma and humiliation, love and solidarity, folklore and superstition.
Gallimard, February 26
black heartSilvia Avallone
The premier opus of Silvia Avallone, Steelwas widely acclaimed by the public and critics. Fifteen years after this poignant story of unconditional friendship between two young girls, which was adapted for the cinema by Stefano Mordini, the Italian author gives us a sixth novel. The action of black heart takes place in the mountains, in the small town of Tuscany where Emilia has taken refuge to break with her past, to offer herself a sort of rebirth. In the house opposite there is a schoolmaster whom the heroine quickly seduces, taking care not to reveal anything about herself. The Italian media saw this as an impressive “quest for love, friendship and forgiveness”.
Liana Levi, 19 mars
The Messenger of the NorthUlf Peter Hallberg
Born in Sweden, Ulf Peter Hallberg has lived in Berlin since 1983. Author and translator, he is one of the specialists of the Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849-1912). The first of his novels to be published in French, a combination of historical facts and plausible fantasies, The Messenger of the North takes us to 1888, when the great Nordic Exhibition in Copenhagen is about to open. Strindberg is there to escape scandals and debts, but also his wife, the actress Siri von Essen, with whom he has a conflictual relationship, to say the least. It is in this turbulent end of the century, in a few weeks, that the man will write his masterpiece, Mademoiselle Julie.
Gallimard, March 26
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