• Available eBook version
Histoire du fils
Marie-Hélène Lafon

The son: André. The father: Absent. The mother: Gabrielle. But André was raised by Hélène, Gabrielle’s sister, and Hélène’s husband. He grew up with his cousins. Every summer, he spent time with his biological mother, who spent her summer vacation with her family.

From small towns across southern France – like Saint-Céré, Chanterelle and Aurillac – to Paris, Marie-Hélène Lafon once again transports us to the heart of a family. She deciphers both its simple pleasures and the weight of the most profound absence, the one that digs tunnels through lives and silences. André is endlessly begging for a father, trying to discern the outlines of his absence, waiting expectantly, standing lookout, letting time stretch out, bumping up against emergencies, composing a portrait based on tiny clues, and implicitly understanding who he really was: someone with a miserly heart, full of himself… a narrow-minded, stingy, arrogant and handsome ladies’ man.

With her latest text, this author confirms her unique place in the French literary landscape. As powerful as ever, her limpid writing flows beautifully.

André, the son, never knew his father. As ever, Marie-Hélène Lafon explores the heart and the depths of a family from a rural background, offering a powerful portrayal of the agony of absence.

Histoire du fils -
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  • Buchet/Chastel
  • Littérature française
  • Novel
  • Publication date : 20/08/2020
  • Size : 13 x 19 cm, 176 p., 15,00 EUR €
  • ISBN 978-2-283-03280-0
Backlist of the author
  • Nos vies -
    Available eBook version
  • Joseph -
  • Album -
  • Les Pays -
  • L’Annonce -
  • Les Derniers Indiens -
  • MO -
  • Le Soir du chien -
  • Les Sources -
  • Nos vies -
  • Histoires -
  • Joseph -
  • Mo -
  • Album -
  • Les Pays -
  • L’Annonce -
  • Les Derniers Indiens -
  • Mo -
  • Liturgie -
  • Le Soir du chien -
About the author

Translation Rights sold

English, UK/US, Mountain Leopard Press
The Netherlands, Dutch, Uitgeverij Vleugels
Germany, German, Rotpunktverlag
Sweden, Swedish, Elisabeth Grate Bokförlag
Spain, Spanish, Ediciones Minuscula
Poland, Polish, Wydawnictwo Literackie
Italy, Italian, Fazi Editore
Denmark, Danish, Forlaget Etcetera
Catalonia, Catalan, Angle Editorial
Turkey, Turkish, Zenon Publishing
Korean,South Korea, Marco Polo Press

Front covers of the foreign editions