Ladivine : A Novel

From the hugely acclaimed author of Three Strong Women — “a masterpiece of narrative ingenuity & emotional extremes” (The New York Times) - Marie NDiaye produces a harrowing & subtly crafted novel of a woman captive to a secret shame that ensnares three generations. Translated by Jordan Stump.°°° Clarisse is an orphan. Or so she tells her husband & daughter. But every month she makes a secret visit to her mother Ladivine - a poor black housekeeper. This 25-year deception takes its toll. Her husband leaves her, frustrated at the gulf of silence that has grown up between them. She finds solace in another man, but this peace comes at a terrible price. It will be left to her daughter - also called Ladivine, without knowing why - to work out who her mother was & what happened to her."Fair warning: Guilt, shame, grief, cruelty — the denser flavours of the human dynamic — make for intense reading. Not handled well, such heavyweight emotions easily turn to stone. But the sharp-edged writing in Marie NDiaye's second novel, Ladivine, warrants spending time with her bleak vision of reality. Committed readers may find unexpected rewards in the harrowing twists & turns this gloomy family drama takes." — Jean Zimmerman, NPRMarie NDiaye published her first novel at the age of 17, won the Prix Femina for Rosie Carpe in 2001 & the Prix Goncourt for Three Strong Women in 2009. Her play Papa Doit Manger has been taken into the repertoire of the Comédie Française. In 2013, she was shortlisted, for her entire body of work, for the Man Booker International Prize. From the hugely acclaimed author of Three Strong Women— “a masterpiece of narrative ingenuity and emotional extremes” ( The New York Times )—here is a harrowing and subtly crafted novel of a woman captive to a secret shame. On the first Tuesday of every month, Clarisse Rivière leaves her husband and young daughter and secretly takes the train to Bordeaux to visit her mother, Ladivine. Just as Clarisse’s husband and daughter know nothing of Ladivine, Clarisse herself has hidden nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman, whom she dreads and despises but also pities. Long ago abandoned by Clarisse’s father, Ladivine works as a housecleaner and has no one but her daughter, whom she knows as Malinka. After more than twenty-five years of this deception, the idyllic middle-class existence Clarisse has built from scratch can no longer survive inside the walls she’s put up to protect it. Her untold anguish leaves her cold and guarded, her loved ones forever trapped outside, looking in. When her husband, Richard, finally leaves her, Clarisse finds comfort in the embrace of a volatile local man, Freddy Moliger. With Freddy, she finally feels reconciled to, or at least at ease with, her true self. But this peace comes at a terrible price. Clarisse will be brutally murdered, and it will be left to her now-grown daughter, who also bears the name Ladivine without knowing why, to work out who her mother was and what happened to her. A mesmerizing and heart-stopping psychological tale of a trauma that ensnares three generations of women, Ladivine proves Marie NDiaye to be one of Europe’s great storytellers. Translated from the French by Jordan Stump From the acclaimed author of Three Strong Women : a harrowing and subtly crafted novel of a woman captive to a secret shame. The first Tuesday of every month, Clarisse Rivière leaves her husband and young daughter to take the train to Bordeaux and visit her mother, Ladivine. Clarisse has concealed nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman whom she dreads and despises but also pities, and who knows her as Malinka. But after twenty-five years, the idyllic life she has built from scratch cannot survive the walls she's put up to protect it. Her anguish leaves her cold and guarded, her loved ones forever trapped outside, looking in, and then everything comes crashing down. When she is brutally murdered, her daughter will try to work out what happened, and through a mystical logic NDiaye makes utterly persuasive, Clarisse's spirit will be perceived to have lodged itself in a brown dog that watches over her daughter and mother. Translated... Clarisse's husband and daughter know nothing of her mother, Ladivine, and Clarisse has hidden nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman, a housecleaner. After more than twenty-five years of deception the middle-class existence Clarisse has built from scratch can no longer survive inside the walls she's put up to protect it. She finds comfort in the embrace of Freddy, a volatile man. When Clarisse is murdered her daughter, who also bears the name Ladivine, needs to work out who her mother was and what happened to her After A Woman, Clarisse, Is Murdered On A Trip To Visit Her Mother In Bordeaux, Her Daughter Tries To Uncover What Happened To Her With The Help Of A Brown Dog Who Appears To Have Taken In The Spirit Of The Deceased. Marie Ndiaye ; Translated From The French By Jordan Stump. This Is A Borzoi Book. Translated From The French.