Novel
The Safety Matches
Les Allumettes suédoises
Robert Sabatier · 1969
Synopsis
In the early thirties, on the slopes of Montmartre, Olivier is ten years old and his mother, a haberdasher in the rue Labat, has just died. His cousin Jean and Jean's young wife take him in, but the boy spends most of his days in the streets of the neighbourhood. There he spends time with Lucien the radio repairman, Bougras the anarchist, Daniel known as the Spider, and Gastounet the veteran, and discovers in episodes the working-class life of pre-war Paris.
Context
The novel was published by Albin Michel in 1969, a house whose literary department its author was then running. It opens an autobiographical cycle whose hero is Olivier, continued over eight volumes up to Les Trompettes guerrières, in 2007. The book became a great bestseller, selling more than two million copies according to Livres Hebdo, and its author joined the Goncourt jury two years later. Jacques Ertaud adapted it for television in the mid-nineties, in 1995 or 1996 depending on the sources.
Who it is for
Short, episodic chapters, seen from a child's height, in the working-class Paris of before the war; little plot, many portraits.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English by Patsy Southgate, it appeared in 1972 in New York with Dutton under the title The Safety Matches.
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