Two contemporary French novels – De Vigan and Mehdi – for #WITMonth #20booksofsummer24

From my pile of unread novels by French women authors from Europa Editions for both WIT Month and 20 Books of Summer – two reviews for you. Both contemporary stories with dark themes (you have been warned) – I found both of this pair to be provocative, thought-provoking, intense and moving.

Kids Run the Show by Delphine De Vigan

Translated by Alison Anderson

Published in French in 2021 as Les enfants sont rois, and in English translation two years later, this novel is a cautionary tale for the YouTube generation.

We’re thrust straight into the central story right from the headings of the first page – a Crime Squad document relating to a Missing Child case. The document is a transcript of the latest Insta story posted by Mélanie Diore – the mother of Kimmy, the missing little girl. In it, Mélanie is asking her ‘sweeties’ to help choose a new pair of sneakers for Kimmy.

In the few chapters that follow, De Vigan takes us back through Mélanie’s childhood and early career, from becoming obsessed with reality TV shows to appearing in one and getting humiliated. Then she met Bruno Diore and had two children, Sammy then Kimmy, and had the brainwave to create her social media channel Happy Recess starring the kids – every aspect of their lives – earning millions of views, bringing in the cash, sponsorship and freebies. Mélanie is not universally liked – by other similar channels who think she copies them, but would they go so far as to kidnap little Kimmy?

We also meet Clara Roussel, the very much loved child of radical parents, who studied law and then joined the police force. She knew what she wanted to do, and they supported her despite their politics. She takes on the job of ‘Evidence Custodian’ which is crucial to every case in her team; collating, collecting, reviewing all the papers, reports, and physical evidence. Clara is really good at her job, expert at spotting links and seeing things in the evidence missed by others, and she is determined to help solve the case of Kimmy’s abduction.

De Vigan alternates between the two women’s points of view. As days go on, the stress on Mélanie is telling. I won’t tell you how it all pans out, but you can imagine the damage done to Sammy and Kimmy, as well as their parents. It raises so many questions about this particular type of social media exposure and reality TV. It does go on a bit, but a telling epilogue gives a kind of resolution. A thought-provoking and compelling read indeed, if not an enjoyable one. As always, Alison Anderson’s translation is pitch-perfect.

Nothing is Lost by Cloé Mehdi

Translated by Howard Curtis

If Kids Run the Show was dark, then Mehdi’s novel, published in 2016 as Rien ne se perd, and then in translation last year, is pitch-black! It tackles so many serious issues in its pages, and I found it difficult reading (you have been strongly warned!)

Set in the Paris suburbs, the story is told through the eyes of Mattia who is eleven. As the novel starts, he sees a new graffito, Justice for Saïd, which recalls the tragic case of a teenager beaten and killed by the police 15 years before. He and his guardian Zé are on their way to visit Zé’s girlfriend Gabrielle in the hospital, Charcot, (named for the famous Parisian neurologist who practised at La Salpêtrière in the 1880s, and taught Freud); Gabrielle had slit her wrists. We soon learn that Zé became friends with Mattia’s father when they were both hospitalised at Charcot too. Mattia’s father, who worked with the disadvantaged youth of their suburb, had been driven into illness through his standing up for the dead boy even when the policeman who killed him was pronounced not guilty, and he committed suicide in Charcot. Mattia’s mother felt unable to look after him after Mattia tried to slit his own wrists, aged seven, and with the help of Zé’s parents (both legal professionals), he was made Zé’s ward.

Zé is not an ideal father, but is more suited to the role of surrogate parent than Mattia’s older sister Gina, a serial bolter who comes and goes, and even older half-brother Stefano, who is completely disinterested in the rest of his family. Mattia also hates school, and skips it as much as he can and even when he goes, Zé often forgets to come pick him up. Zé works as a night watchman, so it’s mostly Mattia and Gabrielle in the apartment – with Mattia’s night terrors and having to watch Gabrielle constantly. It’s a tough life for all of them, constantly on the brink.

Mattia’s complicated family set-up and all the questions it raises over mental health and its treatment runs alongside the social & racial justice noir involving the resurfacing of the dismissed case of Saïd’s murder through the new graffiti. There are also people out looking for Amélie, Mattia’s mother who has gone missing. Is this linked? If Zé knows anything, he’s not telling Mattia, he’ll quote poetry instead to distract. There’s a lot in this novel, but all these strands do work together, symptoms of the malaise brought by being forced into this lifestyle and its accompanying politics and radicalisation.

Mattia is a classic child narrator with a wise head on young shoulders; in that he’s not unlike Muriel Barbery’s Paloma in The Elegance of the Hedgehog. An observant boy, he begins to piece things together. Things get very dark indeed before there’s any kind of resolution to the novel. I found it extremely intense, and burst into tears while reading the last few pages over one particular sentence which was hard to bear. While Mattia can sometimes seem to be talking older than his years, although he has had years of ongoing therapy. I was touched by the relationship between him and Zé, and how he took on the task of quietly watching out for Gabrielle. All three are great characters and make a great patchwork family. Reading this novel was an experience. Given the subject matter I can’t say I loved it, but I appreciated it hugely, and Curtis’s translation. I expect it to feature in my year end best of list.