Novel
Love, Anger, Madness
Amour, Colère et Folie
Marie Vieux-Chauvet · 1968
Synopsis
Three short novels gathered in one volume, with no common character, under the same oppression. Claire, an unmarried woman of the mulatto bourgeoisie, keeps her diary: she secretly loves her sister's husband, while the town's commandant rules by terror. The Normil family sees its lands seized by men in black uniforms, and the young Rose says she is ready to sacrifice herself to recover them. The poet René, shut in with his companions, believes himself surrounded by “devils”.
Context
The three manuscripts had been sent to Simone de Beauvoir, who recommended them to Gallimard; the volume appeared in 1968. It was almost immediately withdrawn from sale, at the request of the author and her family according to Universalis, her husband having bought back the copies according to Zulma; the reasons remain uncertain. Maisonneuve et Larose reissued it in 2005, Zulma in 2015 with a preface by Dany Laferrière, and Rose-Myriam Réjouis and Val Vinokur translated it into English in 2009.
Who it is for
Three short novels in French, reissued in paperback and translated into English; violence, sexual violence in particular, is described without detour.
Prizes and reception
The book received the Deschamps Prize in 1986, posthumously, and José Pliya drew from it plays staged in 2007 and 2008.