Now live online, the latest incarnation of Fiction France: VERSO. Formerly a print publication of the Institut Français (IF) that highlighted the latest French literary releases with translated excerpts, it now continues its mission in virtual form. The Institut is an arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I translated four excerpts from the latest round of books:
Lola Lafon’s The Little Communist Who Never Smiled, a critical-biographical novel of Nadia Comăneci. Personally, this was the most fascinating title for me. It really tackles head-on, through the gymnast’s story, issues of celebrity and our culture’s exploitation of little girls.
Rising star Arthur Dreyfus takes on Foucault with his History of My Sexuality, an innovative gay novel.
In the magical romance Next Year in Granada, Gerard de Cortanze traces, from the Moorish conquest of Spain to the present day, the life of a single Jewish girl who becomes the living embodiment of her people’s memory.
Bruno d’Halluin pulls off a similar feat of research in The Lost Man of Lisbon, a historical adventure set in the Age of Exploration.
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