Gratitude
A poignant tale of love, loss, and the importance of gratitude.
Delphine de Vigan author Mr George Miller translator
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:21st Jan '21
Should be back in stock very soon
Marie has placed her aging friend Michka in a care home, where Michka grapples with haunting memories and the loss of her words. A speech therapist helps her confront buried guilt and seek redemption.
In Gratitude, the intricate relationship between Marie and Michka unfolds as they navigate the complexities of aging and memory. Marie has devoted herself to caring for Michka, who has become increasingly unable to care for herself due to age. To ensure Michka's safety, Marie moves her into a care home, but this transition leaves Michka feeling more vulnerable than ever. She is haunted by unsettling figures from her past, which threaten to expose deep-seated guilt that she has carried since childhood. As her ability to communicate diminishes, Michka's struggle to hold onto her words becomes a poignant reflection of her internal turmoil.
Jérôme, a speech therapist assigned to the home, is tasked with helping the residents maintain their ability to speak. However, Michka presents a unique challenge. Her situation is complicated by the emotional baggage she carries, including an unacknowledged debt that she feels she cannot repay. As Michka's words slip further away, the urgency of her circumstances intensifies, highlighting the connection between language, memory, and identity. Jérôme's role becomes critical not only in helping her articulate her thoughts but also in guiding her towards a sense of closure.
Gratitude is a delicately crafted narrative that delves into themes of love, loss, and the importance of expressing thanks. Through Michka's journey, the story explores what we owe to one another in relationships and the healing power that comes from acknowledging our connections. With its dark yet compelling tone, the novel invites readers to reflect on their own experiences of gratitude and the redemptive qualities of human interaction.
Poignant * Observer *
A slim but powerful meditation on the nature of gratitude …. As with all the best fiction, what is ordinary has been elevated to the extraordinary … The beating heart of this novel is the exquisite empathy it demonstrates for the elderly and the process of aging … There is a gentle magnificence at work in its pages * Irish Times *
Tender, poignant and heartfelt, this slender volume packs a huge emotional punch … [a] generous novel that celebrates communication, connection and courage * Daily Mail *
With Gratitude, she has made a bold choice of subject matter … She is swimming energetically against the tide, because this is literary terrain neglected – not to say shunned – by many other novelists … The novel steadily accumulates into a moving tale of how unfinished business can be dealt with without diminishing the dignity of old age * i paper *
A short, elegant novel * Saga *
Taut and poignant ... There's sadness in this simple tale * Sunday Telegraph *
Praise for Delphine de Vigan: ‘Delphine de Vigan's dark family thrillers are a cult sensation * i *
A moving portrait of aging, devotion and love ... It stayed in my thoughts long after reading * Eurolit Network *
The latest literary sensation ... It has people in a word-of-mouth frenzy I’ve not seen since Gone Girl * Daily Telegraph *
One of the finest writers of psychological fiction in France today * France Magazine *
You’re kept reading helplessly to the desperate cliffhanger finish * Daily Mail *
Taut and fascinating ... A moving tribute to the power the bonds of love * Guardian *
A taut, intense novel of secrets, lies and the unknowable depths of others * Tatler *
Dark, smart, strange, compelling – and tremendously French -- Harriet Lane
I’ve never read a book that makes the complex relationship between reality and fiction both as visible, and at the same time so opaque, as here. I was captivated. * Independent *
de Vigan plays with the tropes of the psychological thriller, but her work is steeped in philosophical ruminations -- Joanna Briscoe * Guardian *
Frighteningly honest, precise and thrilling * Observer *
ISBN: 9781526618856
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 286g
160 pages