The real estate crisis sometimes takes on very specific characteristics. Thus, the latter would be the reason for the success of a reality TV program, which has been a hit since 2020 on TMC and Netflix: The Agency. Or the daily life of the Kretz family, which works successfully in the field of high-end real estate. Certainly far from the world of the Dardenne brothers, the mixture of discovery of luxurious goods, behind the scenes of potential transactions, colorful characters and intimate stories was able to seduce the public – which did not escape the editing. Which held, moreover, a perfect literary alibi with the Kretz home: a private mansion in Boulogne-Billancourt – the Jean-Léon Courrèges villa –, dating from the 1920s, where a certain André Malraux lived for almost twenty years.
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The residence also speaks directly, in a chapter of Welcome to the Agency. Which reveals the whole story of these descendants of the founders of the Chantelle brand, who chose another path. “How does a father [Olivier] does he decide, one day, at the age of 45, to start from scratch? […] How does a mother [Sandrine]a teacher, who lacks self-confidence, decides to follow her husband in this change of life […] ? How four sons [Martin, Valentin, Louis et Raphaël] are they embarking on an adventure that is both professional and family? […] How to manage stress during sales of goods totaling several tens of millions? »
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A book for fans of “The Agency”
Here are some of the questions that the work answers, interweaving the voices of the protagonists with, along the way, synthetic portraits of some seen by the others and a photo notebook. Here we have a well-made object, dedicated to fans of the show who, of course, will have the pleasure of finding the real star of The Agency : the charismatic grandmother Majo. Some will perhaps be offended by this display of opulence – but wouldn’t that also be the Source of interest for others? Should we not see in Welcome to the Agency a social revealer paradoxically stronger than many so-called novels “committed” ?
Welcome to the AgencyFamille Kretz (with Delphine Apiou), 320 p., Fayard, €24.50
This article was originally published in Read Magazine in April 2024. Find the full issue on the store Read Magazine .
