Literary rentrée 2024. Our selection of 6 books on family stories
So that’s good
by Clementine Mélois
Ed. Gallimard, 208 p.; €19.50.
Tuesday, June 27, 2023, the sculptor Bernard Mélois passed away. Immediately, his daughter Clémentine, a visual artist, bought some blue paint: “It’s for my father’s coffin, he died yesterday and we’re going to give him a pharaoh’s burial.”
With her mother and sisters, she fulfills the last wishes of the artist who, consumed by cancer, orchestrated his funeral: a customized chest decorated with a blowtorch, an enameled cross, a monumental ceremony…
As the preparations progress, the author recalls the daily fantasy of this ogre of life, creator of statues from scraps, baker at Christmas, maker of water rockets to amuse children… A touching sum of little nothings to climb the last step.
Faustine Prevot
Our opinion: PP
