Serge

A family's quest to make sense of their shared history. A bittersweet exploration of love, loss, and the chaos of sibling relationships. When family bonds are tested, humor and heartbreak collide.

A 2021 novel by esteemed French playwright Yasmina Reza, Serge tells a family story that revolves around three siblings of Hungarian–Jewish descent. As Serge, Jean, and their sister Nana embark on an unexpected road trip to Auschwitz and Birkenau they take along one of their daughters and plenty of complicated family history. What begins as a solemn trip quickly devolves into a chaotic mix of personal grievances, sibling banter, and awkward confrontations. Set in the present tense, the story is both a meditation on dying and memory and an exploration of how we love and hate those closest to us.

Reza masterfully portrays the messiness of family life, where love and resentment intertwine, and the weight of shared history looms large. She probes themes of generational trauma, midlife crises, and the absurdities of modern existence and explores how everybody handles these situations differently. Serge is a richly layered tale that is as reflective as it is humorous—a testament to Reza’s unique ability to find humanity in the chaos.