Eleven-year-old Verbena thinks her hereditary witchcraft is a curse that will keep her from having a normal life and marriage one day, but her mother and grandmother, who help tell the story, are eager to start her training.
Souvenez-vous. Nous avions laissé Verte, l’apprentie sorcière rebelle, rayonnante. Entourée de femmes, comme depuis toujours : sa mère Ursule et sa grand-mère Anastabotte. Mais aussi, c’était nouveau pour elle, d’hommes : Soufi, le garçon de sa classe grâce à qui elle avait retrouvé son père, et celui-ci, Gérard, l’entraîneur de foot. Les choses pourraient être simples désormais. Et bien sûr, elle ne le seront pas. Car Soufi déménage et Gérard a un père, lui aussi : Raymond, un ancien commissaire de police. Verte pleure, Verte rit, Verte est très entourée soudain et pourtant elle se sent seule. Heureusement, une fille vient d’emménager avec sa mère dans le bâtiment B. C’est Pome. Verte se dit que c’est un nom parfait pour une alter ego, une future meilleure amie, une pareille en tout. En tout ? Même en sorcellerie ?
À l'école, personne n'aime Nejma. Elle est nulle, méchante, moche et mal habillée. En plus, elle crache par terre. Mais on ne lui dit jamais rien, parce que tout le monde sait qu'il ne faut pas pousser à bout une personne qui n'a rien à perdre. Aussi, le jour où Jonathan Suyckerbuck, grand amateur de catch, est retrouvé inconscient derrière la porte de la cantine, c'est Nejma qu'on accuse. Elle a beau se défendre, personne ne la croit. Elle fait une coupable idéale. Mais Nejma n'est pas aussi seule qu'elle l'imagine...
A l'école, personne n'aime Nejma. Elle est nulle, méchante, moche et mal habillée. En plus, elle crache par terre. Mais on ne lui dit jamais rien, parce que tout le monde sait qu'il ne faut pas pousser à bout une personne qui n'a rien à perdre. Aussi, le jour où Jonathan Suyckerbuck, grand amateur de catch, est retrouvé inconscient derrière la porte de la cantine, c'est Nejma qu'on accuse. Elle a beau se défendre, personne ne la croit. Elle fait une coupable idéale. Mais Nejma n'est pas aussi seule qu'elle veut bien le croire. Au tour de son voisin et ami Rajanikanth, alias Raja, alias Freddy, de faire quelque chose pour Nejma, elle qui l'a toujours protégé. Sans oublier Isidore, le vigile du supermarché dans lequel Nejma se réfugie après les cours. Isidore estime Nejma. Il la voit différemment. Il a même prononcé ces mots magiques: " Tu n'es pas grosse. Tu es puissante.
Comme les films, nos vies se déroulent sur des bandes-son. Les chansons d'amour, celles en français qui nous hantent, celles en anglais qu'on ne comprend pas toujours, celles qu'on écrit parce qu'on ne sait comment vivre, la voix sans paroles d'un clavecin qui fait pleurer, une flûte qui imite le chant des oiseaux, toute cette musique nous accompagne et recèle la toile des sentiments qu'on ne veut qu'on, qu'on ne peut exprimer. Le juke-box, c'est six auteurs et des centaines de mélodies, de L'offrande musicale de Bach à Smells Like Teen Spirit de Nirvana. Six histoires d'amour, d'indignation, de révoltes qui se répondent, s'opposent et s'harmonisent. Dans chacune d'elles la musique sert de clé ; clé de l'amour, du pouvoir, de souvenir, de découverte de soi.
Eleven-year-old Verbena thinks her hereditary witchcraft is a curse that will keep her from having a normal life and marriage one day, but her mother and grandmother, who help tell the story, are eager to start her training.
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Since it was first published, French in Action: A Beginning Course in Language and Culture—The Capretz Method has been widely recognized in the field as a model for video-based foreign-language instructional materials. The third edition, revised by Pierre Capretz and Barry Lydgate, includes new, contemporary illustrations throughout and, in the Documents section of each lesson, more-relevant information for today’s students. A completely new feature is a journal by the popular character Marie-Laure, who observes and comments humorously on the political, cultural, and technological changes in the world between 1985 and today. The new edition also incorporates more content about the entire Francophone world. In use by hundreds of colleges, universities, and high schools, French in Action remains a powerful educational resource that this third edition updates for a new generation of learners. Part 2 gives students at the intermediate level the tools they need to communicate effectively in French and to understand and appreciate French and Francophone cultures.
Winner Prix Médicis, Prix des Prix, 2013 The French title of Men plays on a quote by Marguerite Duras: We have to love men a lot. A lot, a lot. Love them a lot in order to love them. Otherwise it's impossible, we couldn’t bear them.’ With her characteristic intensity, edginess and humour, Marie Darrieussecq explores female desire, what it means to be a woman. Solange was a provincial teenager in All the Way; now in her thirties, she’s not a great mother, is a mediocre actress, but in Hollywood she falls for a charismatic actor, Kouhouesso, who wants to direct a movie of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness—in Africa. He’s black; she’s white—what’s the difference when it comes to love, she wonders? Solange follows her man to Africa, determined to play a main role in both his film and his affections. But nothing goes to plan in this brilliantly droll examination of romance, movie-making and clichés about race relations. After all, there’s no guarantee you’ll be loved by the one you love. Personal and political, passionate and engaged, Men is a novel that will make you see things differently. Marie Darrieussecq was born in 1969 in Bayonne, France. Her debut novel, Pig Tales was published in thirty-four countries. Five other novels have also been translated into English including A Brief Stay with the Living, Tom is Dead and All the Way. Marie Darrieussecq lives in Paris. ‘There are few writers who may have changed my perception of the world, but Darrieussecq is one of them.’ The Times ‘The internationally celebrated author who illuminates those parts of life other writers cannot or do not want to reach.’ Independent ‘Compelling...Anyone who has experienced heartbreak will relate...A moody, powerful book.’ Age/Sydney Morning Herald ‘As a chronicle of the humiliations and occasional joys of loving someone whose own feelings are more ambiguous, though, it feels queasily accurate...A sometimes biting, often sharply observed take on a relationship one would surely rather read about than be part of.’ Kirkus ‘This is an atmospheric novel, written in prose that is at once evocative and compulsive...For those in the market for a nuanced and thought-provoking dissection of race and gender relations and who are willing to risk being infuriated, Men is an easy and engaging read.’ NZ Listener
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