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  • Today, "In the beginning we were four" by PE Cayral was published on August 26, 2022 by Éditions Anne Carrière

Christian Dorsan, author, blogger and contributor to the 20 Minutes Books reading group, recommends

In the beginning we were four

by PE Cayral, published on August 26, 2022 by Éditions Anne Carrière.

His favorite quote:

For the people of the region, we were splendid triplets, laughing and above all very united: an exceptional family.

In the surrounding imagination, could it be otherwise?

Our three identical bodies were like a mirage, burning or evil, depending on whether our parents attracted envy or dread.

Why this book?

  • Because this book tells of different destinies,

    paths that emerge, intersect and separate.

    It's a family story, without being a saga, written in the form of choral confidences.

    These three brothers, triplets, are not necessarily identical and each will have his life.

  • Because the most emblematic character is PS, the first out,

    the one who commands the admiration of others, becomes a soldier, who will seduce his brother's companion, but who has a more fragile personality than the others.

    If Gil stays on the farm, Gus goes to town to pursue a professional career that will lead him into a deep depression.

    What can weld this sibling?

    Perhaps a uterine memory of a fourth stillborn.

  • Because there are passages of great sensuality when PE Cayral

    makes bodies and desires speak: the desire of mother Léa, a teenager who discovers pleasure under the voyeuristic eyes of her future husband Léo.

    There is Jéromine, and Flore, the women who will live in the middle of this fraternal camera, often they are the ones who decide on their love and not the other way around.

    And then there is PS and his hands on the bodies of his comrades in arms, his intimate and strong relationship with Cheyenne, the neighbor of the family farm.

The essentials in 2 minutes

The plot.

They are triplets born in Brittany, three perfectly identical beings but with different characters and destinies.

But someone seems to be missing because initially there were four of them to be born.

Characters.

Luc and Léa the parents, the triplets: PS (first out), Gus and Gil, Flore ex-girlfriend of Gil renamed Fuego by PS, Jéromine the girlfriend of Gus, Marc and Cheyenne the friends of PS, Gabriel "Point G" the fourth.

Places.

Brittany, Africa, Paris.

The time.

Current era.

The author.

We don't know much about PE Cayral except that he is a traveler and that A

u depart, we were four

, is his first novel.

This book was read with

attention: a first book is always a challenge, sometimes uneven on chapters, we guess a sensual and personal writing which makes you want to discover other stories.

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