“Archipels”, the investigation novel by Hélène Gaudy, takes us to the shores of Isle de Jean-Charles in Louisiana. The largely autobiographical story continues as the island disappears, bringing back the childhood and memory of the narrator’s father, also called Jean-Charles.
In “Archipels”, Hélène Gaudy paints the portrait of her father, from childhood to today. Through words, she reveals a silent and fanciful man, both a painter and a poet-writer, who always told her that he had no memory of his childhood.
For this writing project, this father generously entrusted him with the keys to his artist’s studio, the diaries he wrote between the ages of 16 and 22, as well as the correspondence he maintained with his future wife. Equipped with this intimate and precious material, Hélène Gaudy launches into a fictionalized inventory of her father.
“Archipels” is in the final selection for the Goncourt Prize, alongside novels by Sandrine Collette, Kamel Daoud and Gaël Faye. “It’s a great joy,” confided the author to the QWERTZ podcast on October 30. “I’ve been writing books for twenty years, it’s really a joy to see that this one is read and noticed, and nothing but that, without thinking about what comes next, is very pleasant.” The winner of the famous Prix Goncourt will be revealed on Monday November 4.
The Isle of Jean-Charles
At the very beginning, the subject of “Archipels” was to be a focus on the Isle of Jean-Charles. Because Hélène Gaudy is completely captivated by the history and geographical configuration of this locality.
She discovers that it is undoubtedly the first island in America that will disappear due to global warming. Since it is populated by French-speaking Indians, whose culture and customs particularly interest him. She then realizes that there already exists a book on the island of Jean-Charles, written by the writer and poet Frank Smith. “So that led me to rethink my project and to realize that ultimately, this geographical coincidence with my father’s first name brought me very directly back to a form of urgency to know him differently. Now, as long as it’s still possible, as long as he is there to accompany me,” she confides.
The narrator’s father acquired his workshop, in the heart of Paris, in 1988. Today, it is a veritable gold mine for unearthing its secrets. For more than twenty years, this place was a second home for him. Behind the scenes, the hinterland of words that he does not express.
By accumulating hundreds of objects found in the street, such as halogen lamps, trinkets, boxes, statuettes bought while traveling and books, he became a great collector. “This desire to keep things, without throwing anything away, is a way of not saying them,” says the author.
He was moving undercover. And I, who have not seen him age, who have not seen him change, who have never seen him, no doubt, as he was, here I discover him, so late, in the form of a place.
The Muzainville house
During her writing process, Hélène Gaudy got her hands on two extremely rich archival sources: “The Black Box” and “The Suitcase of the Resistance” both belonging to her paternal grandfather. She discovers a man, leader of the Resistance network, who during the Second World War allowed forty-two political prisoners and communist activists to escape from a detention camp during the night of May 5, 1944. This spectacular event also inspired the film “The Great Escape” directed by John Sturges and released in 1963.
This war haunts the family heritage. While Hélène Gaudy’s father was still a child, his parents forced him to learn Morse code in preparation for the next conflict.
For fear of being arrested, the narrator’s grandparents invent a village name, an imaginary locality, which does not appear on any geographical map: “Muzainville”. And when Jean-Charles, as a child, is questioned about his home, he gives the name of this invented village.
Her voice drags, it stumbles, escapes into the high notes at the end of sentences, then returns to its bed, river, obstacle, rock.
The voice of Hélène Gaudy’s father, sinuous, multiple and silent, bears witness to this childhood lived in hiding, as a manifestation of the persistence of secrecy.
Layla Shlonsky/sf
Hélène Gaudy, “Archipels”, Editions de l’Olivier, August 2024.
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