Our selection of 4 novels to read before going back to school

A couple reinvents itself

To stand up, by Melissa Da Costa, Ed. Albin Michel, 608 p. ; €22.90.

This original novel is based solely on monologues and dialogues between François, a handsome, dark-haired man, a well-known actor at the height of his career, very well-surrounded, and Éléonore, eighteen years younger, an usherette and art student, drawn to creation. Their meeting leads to a tortuous passion based mainly on desire. But then they face a terrible accident and the pain of disability. The couple, defeated, decides to survive despite everything, to “stand up” (the title of the book) thanks also to family and friends. For her seventh work, Mélissa Da Costa dissects the complexity of love in simple language. This overwhelming plot keeps us in suspense through unpredictable twists and turns. The darkness of the story gradually clears up, while confidence and strength of life grow. While she began by self-publishing, the writer is now the most widely read in France with 1.3 million copies sold last year. And her first success, Tout le bleu du ciel (2019), will be adapted into a television series. Ania Biszewska.

Our opinion: PPP