“A radiant future” by Pierre Lemaitre and “Belt” by Céline Robert

Cécile Ribault-Caillol suggests Céline Robert’s first novel and the continuation of a saga feverishly awaited by Pierre Lamaitre fans.

Article written by

franceinfo – Cécile Ribault Caillol

Radio

Published on 26/01/2025 10:00

Reading time: 2min

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The first novel by Céline Robert and the third part of La Sage by Pierre Lemaitre. (CALMANN-LEVY)
The first novel by Céline Robert and the third part of La Sage by Pierre Lemaitre. (CALMANN-LEVY)

Beltet A bright futuretwo novels published in this January literary “back to school” by Calmann-Lévy editions.

It’s worth saying so! Belt is the story of Laureen who cheats on her husband with Maxime, whose wife Nadia falls in love with the babysitter, who herself has a crush on a mature man, her college teacher… To put it simply, all the characters are linked between them like the notches of a belt.

The belt is here like the desire that binds the couple, the one that stretches, the one that we remove, even that we misplace. The author invites us into the intimacy of each of the protagonists who speak in turn about the couple, desire, seduction, sex, guilt, maturity or not. The connections between the characters are discovered throughout this novel which reads like a short story. Between the twists and turns, the little cruelties and the humor posed on our contemporary existences, this makes this short story a bittersweet romantic comedy of which it would be a shame to deprive ourselves.

This is not his first novel. The final volume of Pierre Lemaître’s saga on the Trente Glorieuses period, which began in 2022, arrived in bookstores on January 21.

We continue to follow the Pelletier family with the very endearing Colette and her odious mother Folcoche. The poor little girl is not spared, nor is her younger brother, but an unexpected breakthrough comes with the coming together of these two mistreated children. On the men’s side, the family is shaken by the serious health problems of the father and it is also eventful on the sons’ side: Jean, known as Bouboule, is acting up, and once again he will not be really in the lace … While François, the journalist, plays spies in Prague, which in these times of the Cold War is very risky! A bright future keeps its promises and more: it’s even darker, more intriguing, more gripping and still incredibly enjoyable.

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