Maylis de Kerangal’s novel Eastbound was a recent favorite of mine, and a real surprise. This beautiful collection is translated from French to English by Jessica Moore.
In Bivouac, a trip to the dentist reminds a woman of a visit to Paris. It’s a great introduction to Kerangal’s vivid writing, and how she establishes a very strong sense of place and time.
I related to Mustang, which involves a woman moving from France to Colorado, and how moving from a place with a public transport infrastructure to one heavily reliant on cars can be incredibly isolating and discombobulating.
A few stories involve the power of the human voice. In Stream and Iron Filings, a woman notices a change in her friend’s voice. In Nevermore, our narrator is scouted by two legendary, eccentric producers to record a recitation of The Raven. This story contains wonderful, thoughtful passages on speech, and how the throat works. Another is Light Bird, a heartbreaking story about a woman who tries to convince her father to delete her dead mother’s voice from the answering machine.
The brief, final story, Arianespace, is probably my favorite. A woman goes to visit another woman in her nineties to talk about a UFO sighting, with an incredible ending.
I love Maylis de Kerangal’s writing; it’s so vivid and simple. Her characters are very well-established, and small moments are described with such clarity I felt like I was part of the story.
California Reading 