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Coulommiers writing
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Claire not only knit sweaters. It helps people undo the tangled balls of their lives to relocate them more freely. “”
This week, I’m going to tell you about the Archipelago of Claire, the new novel by Eric de Kermel, released by Robert Laffont editions! It is a sweet and moving novel that makes us discover the Breton island of Bréhat and which teaches us to reconnect with our family past to heal.
The author addresses themes there like Family secretsintergenerational transmission and questions around life choices.
The summary
On the island of Bréhat, Claire, Psychoanalyst and recently widowed, decided to stop his consultations and close his office. She is now enjoying superb nature, bicycle walks, the sound of waves, while reliving with pain but love the memories of her life shared with her late husband and with her son Antoine, navigator.
He has a heart to visit him as soon as he can, worried that his mother is sad alone on his island. Claire is however well surrounded, very often visiting a friend named Sidonie, a sparkling young woman who holds a bakery-bookstore who delights the inhabitants of the island. Although she has closed her office, she still receives requests for consultations and always manages to refuse them, until a curious young woman named Aëlwen desperate has insisted.
Without knowing why, Claire accepts, convincing that she will be her last patient. His quiet life continues to be turned upside down when Antoine returns with a letter linked to the history of their family …
Why I liked
I really enjoyed this novel. We perceive sweetness and we are directly taken from compassion for the characters. Add to that the small magnificent illustrations that give the impression of reading a diary! The Breton decor completes the charm brilliantly, so I had the impression of being really there without even putting my feet on this island once! The intrigue around family secrets making them go up to their ancestors captivated me enormously!
You can easily identify with one or more characters, and that’s what I liked! Who has never been anxious by his past and his future like Aëlwen? My favorite character is that of Sidonie, this young solar woman full of courage who decides to settle on an island to open a bakery-library. She had to prove himself to show her motivation to stay, she did not drop anything and put all her heart to please all the inhabitants of Bréhat.
Then I understood that an island is a paradoxical place. Both protective – we think we are safe from the rest of the world – and vulnerable – the island seems to be drifting, detached from the earth, it faces storms before the others. If it is a place that must be swept away, it will be this first.
Whoever goes there does not happen by chance; He decided to cross the sea. If he is there, it is not because he was wrong. So he settles down, what is his reason? Available or hidden reason … It’s almost shady, to come and live on an island. “”
Claire’s archipelago is a novel that gently tackles the importance of intergenerational links, love and life choices.
Eric de Kermel, the archipelago of Claire, Robert Laffont, 330 pages, 20 €
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