In "The voice is book" by Nicolas Carreau, two booksellers deliver their literary favorites every weekend. This week Anna Schulmann, from the bookstore "Writing" in Vaucresson, in the Hauts-de-Seine and Jeremie Banel from the bookstore "Lamartine" in Paris, present two novels, between reconstruction story and romance novel and 'spying.
"The gap" of Amy Liptrot, at Pocket
"The book is a story of a reconstruction, a renewal, Camille is 30 years old and lives in London, she left the place where she was born, the Orkney Archipelago, ten years ago. inhabited, in the north of Scotland, between Iceland and Norway, on the same latitude as St. Petersburg.His parents had a farm where they raised animals.Thus the name of the book, The gap : the name of the largest park where the animals are grazed, the most isolated of the family farm too.
When one is young one can feel locked up, blocked despite the infinite horizon. The islands are very small, there are not many prospects for the future. So at age 20, Camille leaves to study in London and begins 'his real life'. She is disillusioned quickly, does not find work and goes around in circles. She goes out a lot, and as a result of a difficult break, dark in alcoholism. She decides to heal and to complete her detox, returns to her island.
READ ALSO - Yann Queffélec: "Literature is not dirty clothes that we wash publicly"
It is a novel of ' nature writting' (mixing observation of nature and autobiographical consideration ed) . We follow Camille's daily work at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. She travels the island at night to hear the scream of the rattles of the broom, an endangered bird. The heroine of the novel observes clouds, participates in swimming sessions with others. The book is a story of return and reconstruction, with that of the fall in parallel. It's beautiful, deeply honest and bright. We also evoke the place, which depending on age, can lock us up or expand our horizons. "(Anna Schulmann)
"Berta isla", by Javier Marias, at Gallimard's
"It's a real clash of style and writing, it's really rare to find such well-written things, and the exploration of the mentality and psyche of the characters is really striking. which are beautiful, deep and still, it's a little cliché to say that, but it's typically the kind of book you want to re-read almost after you finish it. it's a love affair with espionage or a spying story based on a love story, everyone will judge by reading.
The novel traces the story of a couple: she is Spanish, Berta Isla, and tells her story. Her husband, Tomás Nevinson, Hispano-British, has the distinction of being a secret agent. They both have a pact: he can not tell him anything, it's not worth asking him questions, he can leave at any time and not know when he will come back.
More broadly, the novel reflects on our century: the story continues from the fifties until today. We discuss the themes of the couple, the absence, the time that passes and the days lost. We live especially torments, when she worries, that she imagines a thousand assumptions to each event of the news. "(Jérémie Banel)