Thursday 5 July 2012

Vénus Khoury-Ghata: LE FACTEUR DES ABRUZZES

 

March 2012, 160 pages


Laure is the wife of Luc, who died 10 years ago. As a geneticist, Luc was fascinated by Malaterra, an Abruzzi village populated by descendants of Albanese refugees who crossed the Adriatic to Italy a hundred years before. When Luc returned from his travels, he would let Laure type and edit his notes and the results of his research. But Luc never returned from his last journey to Malaterra, leaving Laure a widow. In order to mourn him properly, Laure decides to meet the people with whom Luc spent so much time away from her. But the village is inhospitable to her: being a foreigner, Laure is seen as an intruder. Luckily, she meets Yussuf, the postman, who offers her an insight into the life of the village and tells her the story of its inhabitants. Little by little, people begin to talk and Laure catches a glimpse of another Luc she thought she knew.
A novelist and a poet, Vénus Khoury-Ghata is the author of several novels, amongst which SEPT PIERRES POUR LA FEMME ADULTERE, LA FILLE QUI MARCHAIT DANS LE DESERT, QUELLE EST LA NUIT PARMI LES NUITS and OU VONT LES ARBRES? (Prix Goncourt de la Poésie 2011). Translated into more than fifteen languages, she has won many awards, notably the Grand Prix de la poésie de l'Académie française in 2009.
"C’est presque un long poème, ce récit qui raconte l’odyssée d’une femme dix ans après la mort de son mari." France 5