Jean-Luc Seigle (1955–2020)

Jean-Luc Seigle was a french dramatist, scriptwriter and novelist; he died in 2020. his first novel was published in 2001 and so his novel writing came towards the end of his career: Femme à la Mobylette was published in 2017. He seems to have specialised in modern day tragedies and this novel takes the POV of a woman in her forties who is at the end of her tether. Reine has three children and they live in a three roomed house with a small garden. Her husband has left her for another woman and Reine has not managed to find any work, she struggles to put one meal a day on the table for her three children who are always hungry. We meet Reine during one of her many nuit blanches (sleepless nights), but this one is worse than most, she has a sharp knife on the kitchen table and does not dare to look at it in case she picks it up and murders her children and herself.

The day after her worse night she looks out of the window at her small garden that is covered in junk. Her ex-Olivier always had big plans of building something, but never got round to it. Reine in an attempt to lift herself out of her depression decides to clear the garden, she loves the flowers and the birds. At the bottom of the heap she finds a mobylette that still looks presentable. She manages to get it started and now has the means to look for a job. She gets employment at the local undertaker who wants to train someone to become a mortician. Reine has always been fascinated by the dead, paying frequent visits to her family tomb and her skills as a dressmaker secure her the job, meanwhile Olivier is suing for a divorce.
Reine battered by life is rapidly coming apart at the seams, but the mobylette could be a turning point. She meets Jorgon a long distance truck driver who thinks that Reine looks like Bathsheba in a painting by Rembrandt and says he wants to make a picture of her.

This is a story of a woman, who seems haunted by a past, which is never explained. Her current troubles prey on her mind and push her to the edge of suicide. Her fascination with the dead and her family history all play their part in pushing her to embark on some surprising actions. What is real and what is imaginary becomes confused and Jean-Luc Seigle captures this in his novel. His use of short sentences in describing the thoughts and actions of Reine add to a feeling of disconnectedness, a feeling that can only be eased by love. 3.5 stars.… (mehr)