INTERVIEW
At each school year, her novel by Amélie Nothomb. And the year 2019 is no exception to the rule. But this time, the writer assures that it is a very special novel. A project she has been thinking about for many years, as she says in L'Equipée sauvage sur Europe 1.
"I never understood why he had agreed to be crucified"
"Since I was a writer, I've always wanted to tell this story: it's the book of my life," summarizes Amélie Nothomb on Europe 1. In Soif , the author slips into the body of Jesus to live his last moments and crucifixion. "I never understood why he had accepted to be crucified, I always thought it was an atrocious aberration," commented the writer.
A novel in the first person, at least half of which is on the cross. "While I was writing, I had to get closer to Jesus, if not at least in his situation ... (...) I had to put my camera inside him to know what he had felt during the crucifixion", she says.
"Jesus is my absolute hero"
Since childhood, Amélie Nothomb says she has a special relationship with Jesus. "He is my absolute hero, (...), he was my friend during my adolescence," says the writer, pointing out that he is "a terribly endearing man". "This book is 'personnal Jesus', I have the impression to know him since the time that I think of him", concedes Amélie Nothomb.
Finally in April 2018, after years of hesitation, she finally made the move. "The years passed and I always rejected the project. (...) There I passed the age of 50 years, I told myself 'so much do it right now'", says the Belgian writer. Released last August 21, Soif should, like his previous novels, quickly prancing at the top of the sales.