Dédicace Clémentine Biano - Un éclat rouge

Clémentine Biano will be presenting her first novel, Un éclat rouge (published by Calmann-Lévy).
Summary:
‘You say nothing, you understand? Nothing.’

In this French village in the 1950s, the world of 9-year-old Jeannot collapses the day his disobedience causes a fatal accident involving his younger brother. Shocked, his parents force him to keep quiet and invent a prowler for the gendarmes who is responsible for the tragedy.

Fearing that the truth might escape him, Jeannot becomes mute and keeps as quiet as possible. Is he still allowed to have friends? To get a hug from his mother? A smile from his father?

Surrounded by his grandmother's clumsy affection, Jeannot wavers between isolation and guilt, and doesn't know how to go on growing up.

One day, a little girl his own age moves into the village. She's not afraid of words, and speaks for both of them. Their budding friendship is the first spark to pierce Jeannot's darkness and give him a glimpse of an unexpected path. Could it be that one day, life will take a happy new course?

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

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