Hello loves! We are back with another post of our book club. I hope you all enjoyed some days off this summer, taking some time to do the things that make you feel good. I find reading in summer quite a pleasure. During the year, reading feels more chaotic, interrupted by our daily tasks, while in summer I really find the time to dive into a book and enjoy it, maybe surrounded by the sound of the waves and the laughter of the children playing on a beach.
In my first week of holidays, I had the pleasure to read “Le petite conformist” by Ingrid Seyman. This short story with an ironic and irreverent tone is the story of little Esther Dahan, a young girl with conservative ideals who grows up in an extravagant family in Marseilles in the seventies.
I enjoyed the biting irony of the book, which didn’t save me from a few laughs that caught the attention of those around me. I don’t want to give away too much of the book’s plot because it’s rather short and intense but I’d like to spark a desire in you to read it!
The narrative device Ingrid Seyman uses is to present events through the eyes of Esther. You’ll see problematic Franco-Algerian families, the desire to integrate into bourgeois and wealthy environments, the rebellion and rejection for one’s parents, and the desire for rules and normality. In fact, Esther is trying to find her place between an obsessive-compulsive father, who torments her with lists and repeating always the same stories, and an anti-capitalist and permissive hippie mother. Hilarious episodes guide us to the first half of the book, where we can appreciate the naive and fresh point of view of a child who actually cannot fully understand the reality around her.
The second half of the story unfolds in a more serious tone leading to an unexpected ending, which puts everything into perspective. We understand Esther’s desire for conformism and normalcy and her rejection of her family as nonacceptance of the reality that she is living. I appreciated the courage of the author to treat current and delicate issues without filters and with sharp and honest language.
To conclude loves, I found this book to be a short but engaging read that kept me company for a few hours at the beach. It’s a read I recommend even though the ending left me the feeling of a bitter melancholy.
Did you read this debut novel? Let me know!
With love,
