"Arthur, his angel" and his irrepressible demons

Arthur, his angel -

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• Today, “Arthur, son ange” by Laure Beaudonnet, published on June 1, 2020 by L'Echappée belle editions.

Christian Dorsan, writer, blogger and early contributor to the

Books

reading group

, recommends

 by Laure Beaudonnet, published on June 1, 2020 by L'Echappée belle editions.

Her favorite quote:

Since he is in his class, Arthur is like magnetized, his gaze is captivated by this grainy beauty.

She does not leave anyone indifferent but, unlike Arthur, she embodies the ideal victim.

Why this book?

• Because it is a first novel and it is always interesting

  to read what allowed a young author, an author in this case, to close the door of his own childhood.

• Because Laure Beaudonnet puts a distance between Arthur

  , her “hero”, and the reader, passive spectator of a drama to come.

  And this passivity creates unease over the pages.

  The reader knows that there is something to be searched to save Arthur, to save him from what we can think of him, but nothing helps, we are prevented by too great a distance.

• Because the main scene is reminiscent of that of Gus Van Sant's film

  ,

  Elephant.

  The novelist offers us a story by character and not chronological.

  And if each goes from his point of view, the reader waits for the whole scene to be told to understand the totality of the terrifying stakes of what is to happen.

• Because in small touches, with flashbacks,

  she tries to explain to us the genesis of Arthur's acts, but is the blackness of a child as of a man really rational?

  
  

The essentials in 2 minutes

The plot.

 Journey of a teenager, living with a distant mother.

Feeling rejected, he invents a world then, where he feels invulnerable, letting his morbid imagination take over, until the day he comes into contact with reality.

Characters.

 Arthur the lost and transparent teenager, Diane the suffering pain of high school, Véronique the insensitive mother, the high school gang: Emilie, Charlotte, Thibaut, Nicolas.

Places.

 Paris.

The time.

 Current era.

The author.

 Laure Beaudonnet is a journalist at 

 is his first novel.

This book has been read with 

relish: a first novel is tasted with its clumsiness and its hopes.

There is a novelist there in the making, I am sure!

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