Passionate about Japan, Geneva author Florence Marville has written a first novel inspired by her experiences. “Seismic Loves” describes the many challenges faced by a Franco-Japanese couple in the 1990s. Love, family, traditions and clash of cultures on the menu.
Emeline, a young French girl, goes to study Japanese in Tokyo. There, she falls in love with Seiji, the eldest of her siblings and successor to a family confectionery. They get married and, as is Japanese tradition, move in with his parents. This is without taking into account the hostility of the mother-in-law, who does not view this mixed union favorably.
Many points in common
Like her narrator, Florence Marville also lived for several years in Japan. She studied there, before becoming a translator for the Organizing Committee of the Nagano Olympic Games between 1995 and 1998. The author also dated a Japanese man but, contrary to what happens in her novel, she did not not married.
“I have met many women who were married to Japanese. Their common point is this difficulty, even this impossibility, of being accepted by their in-laws,” explains Florence Marville in the 12:30 p.m. of January 15. Simply because they are not Japanese.
>> Listen to the interview with Florence Marville in the 12:30 p.m.
Fall and get up
Cultural differences weaken the union between Emeline and Seiji. And the arrival of a little girl will make the situation even worse, since the in-laws will try to steal her from her mother.
-Despite the difficulties, Emeline, helped by a friend, will fight to find her place and try to get her daughter back. With “Seismic Loves”, Florence Marville signs an ode to sorority and resilience in a country not always easy to tame.
Comments collected by Pauline Rappaz
Web adaptation: Sarah Clément
Florence Marville, “Seismic Loves”, Favre editions, January 2025.
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