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tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘When I was a little girl, I had believed that if you looked long enough and hard enough into a picture you might enter into it..’
Ms Messud’s second novel tells the story of Sagesse LaBasse and her family. Geographically, the novel moves between Algeria, France and the USA. Sagesse’s mother is American, her father and his parents are repatriated French Algerians. Each family member is haunted by different aspects of the past, each reacts differently to the reality of the present. Sagesse’s grandfather has established the Bellevue Hotel in the south of France overlooking the Mediterranean. Here, Sagesse, her parents Alexandre and Carol, her brother Etienne and her grandparents Jacques and Monique live.
The story opens with Sagesse, now resident in the USA, looking back at the events of the year her family disintegrated and the reasons why. There is more than one story in this novel, and perceptions and interpretations vary according to perspective. Overwhelmingly, for me, this was a story of loss and regret and yet there is the possibility, for Sagesse at least, of a more promising future.
Whether you enjoy this novel will depend very much on which threads of narrative you choose to primarily follow. Not all displacement and dispossession is geographic but it is all unsettling.
‘I am American now: it is a life which has, like that of many others, like my father’s or my grandfather’s, the appearance of choice. And in time, America becomes a home of a kind, without the crippling, warming embrace of history.’
The hold of the past, the draw of the future, the currency of the present: these are ties for each of us.
Ms Messud’s second novel tells the story of Sagesse LaBasse and her family. Geographically, the novel moves between Algeria, France and the USA. Sagesse’s mother is American, her father and his parents are repatriated French Algerians. Each family member is haunted by different aspects of the past, each reacts differently to the reality of the present. Sagesse’s grandfather has established the Bellevue Hotel in the south of France overlooking the Mediterranean. Here, Sagesse, her parents Alexandre and Carol, her brother Etienne and her grandparents Jacques and Monique live.
The story opens with Sagesse, now resident in the USA, looking back at the events of the year her family disintegrated and the reasons why. There is more than one story in this novel, and perceptions and interpretations vary according to perspective. Overwhelmingly, for me, this was a story of loss and regret and yet there is the possibility, for Sagesse at least, of a more promising future.
Whether you enjoy this novel will depend very much on which threads of narrative you choose to primarily follow. Not all displacement and dispossession is geographic but it is all unsettling.
‘I am American now: it is a life which has, like that of many others, like my father’s or my grandfather’s, the appearance of choice. And in time, America becomes a home of a kind, without the crippling, warming embrace of history.’
The hold of the past, the draw of the future, the currency of the present: these are ties for each of us.
sawyerbell's review
2.0
2.5 stars. Started so well but went steadily, boringly, downhill with each successive chapter.
egoubet's review
5.0
Wow. Could not put this one down. I love Claire Messud's other works, but I think this one is my favorite. An intricately woven story about a family divided - yet force-ably connected and the ghosts of their past. Also filled with the angst of a teenage girl 'in crisis.' I especially enjoyed the historical fiction aspect of the families connections with French-Algeria and the Algerian War.
showthisbooksomelove's review
3.0
I was vastly underwhelmed by this coming of age story about a 15 year old girl living in France. She tells the story as though it were a memory that spans about a year of her life. I found her writing to be rather bland, although quick moving like a current of her thoughts, tumbling together family history and her own life experiences as a rowdy teenager in a sometimes jarring manner.
At times the narration was a little unaware (although this may be due to the young adult narrator). By this I mean that there were some transphobic comments early on and some other sexist comments throughout the book. I pushed through these but did not find that I gained anything by doing so, as I could have just as easily put the book down as finished it, and would have had about the same level of experience. I did not find this story worth my time, even though it was a quick read.
At times the narration was a little unaware (although this may be due to the young adult narrator). By this I mean that there were some transphobic comments early on and some other sexist comments throughout the book. I pushed through these but did not find that I gained anything by doing so, as I could have just as easily put the book down as finished it, and would have had about the same level of experience. I did not find this story worth my time, even though it was a quick read.
literateworld's review
4.0
I really liked this book and how it wove together the history of Algeria/France with the family history and the way the author used flashback. It had many twists - it was not an uplifting book or an easy book to get through, but it was made you think (which was probably why it was harder to get through).
nutmegger's review
3.0
So far this is an engrossing come of age novel. Messud's prose is beautifully lyrical and her story entrancing.
jsc8675309's review
3.0
It was ambitious, she tackled a lot of themes here. I liked how the structure, telling an event than circling back to it to give you an understanding of why. Wish I knew more about French Algiers, thought the relationships between the families interesting. There was a section where she talked about being rooted and held both willing and unwilling that was really insightful.
egoenner's review
4.0
This was the first, but won't be the last, Messud book I read. A beautiful writer, she expertly creates characters with deep personalities and backstories. Slow to unravel, and gently looping through time and various characters' stories, the novel took, and deserved, time to explore its intricacies and language. I frequently say the stories of "the old person remembering life" are lazily written and terribly structured, and The Last Life is evidence to support my belief. Messud moves seamlessly through generations, weaving stories, echoing histories and creating new ones. The reader learns of generations of stories, woven through time, organically. In this time of 'stay-at-home' life, this novel was a treasure to savor.
jdukuray's review
5.0
This is very much my favorite of the three books by Claire Messud that I've read (The Woman Upstairs, The Emperor's Children). It is a coming of age story, in which I found much that seemed familiar--which is saying something, since it takes place in the South of France, is about the complicated history of France and Algeria, includes a handicapped brother and a suicide. Messud has a great ear for dialogue, family tension, and just how fraught it is to be an adolescent.