After several dark novels, Neuchâtel author Thomas Sandoz wanted to explore other avenues. Incredibly incredible, “My sister launches into song” combines explosive investigation and love story. Martin, a novice lawyer and main narrator, must juggle an unbearable sister.
Soline wants to shine on stage at all costs. To realize her dream of becoming a singer, the young woman is ready to do anything. Faced with his egocentrism and his blind determination, his brother Martin has little choice. The novice lawyer will quickly find himself faced with several impossible missions: unraveling an explosive investigation, taking care of his gifted nephew and starting a love story, all while responding to the not very Catholic requests of his superior.
“My Sister Starts Singing” mixes misunderstandings and twists of all kinds. This comedy, written by Thomas Sandoz, talks about songs, of course, but also about love, contemporary art, manipulation and easy rhymes.
Eccentric characters
Broken arms, artists with no future, lecherous hockey players, Thomas Sandoz likes to have fun with his characters. The Neuchâtel author likes to point out people’s little faults. “Soline tries to write his own texts, but his poetry is flat,” he explains in the Vertigo show on June 25. “It’s not enough to open the rhyming dictionary to make a pretty song.”
Soline persists, heads into the wall, makes the wrong choices and surrounds herself with the wrong people. Conversely, her brother Martin tries to stay the course, trying to remain loyal. In this teeming book with multiple layers and complex characters, Thomas Sandoz develops a real empathy for them, even if they have detestable sides.
Several publishing houses to his credit
Six years after “La balade des perdus” (Grasset), Thomas Sandoz admits that he wanted to explore new avenues: “Until now, I have mainly written in dense and dramatic style, in dark novels, without dialogue. With ‘Ma soeur se lance dans la chanson’, I wanted to write something different, very humorous, with a maximum of disasters on each page,” he says, laughing.
To maintain a certain freedom in this new adventure, Thomas Sandoz approached a new publishing house: “My identity at Grasset is linked to something more serious. For this project, I wanted to ‘to have a publisher who does not ask me questions about my approach, but only about my text, hence my choice to turn to Éditions de l’Hèbe.’
As for whether this change in tone – more fun – pleases readers, Thomas Sandoz confides: “Those who read me regularly are not that surprised. In fact, I have the impression that my path towards a brighter writing style happened quite naturally.”
Comments collected by Pierre Philippe Cadert
Web adaptation: Sarah Clément
Thomas Sandoz, “My sister is starting to sing”, éditions de l’Hèbe, February 2024.
