"Writing would be very sad if one never deviated from the plan."
Giorgio Agamben
My First Novel
CONDIMENTS
will be released soon by Maïa Publishing
Reviews and opinions
The writing is excellent. The characters are interesting, and the tone is pleasant.
Peggy's character brings a light touch and her duets with Jack and Sam work well.
"Condiments" is easy to read.
CONDIMENTS: the birth of the novel
Through a fictionalized and fast-paced story in the form of a thriller, this novel pays tribute to the thousands of students killed in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and to Operation Yellow Bird. It offers a critique of contemporary China, which, under the gaze of the entire world, continues its policy of repression with impunity. To my knowledge, this theme had never been approached from this angle or with such a conclusion. While it reads with the lightness of a popular novel, it nevertheless questions our present: what danger would an imbalance of multipolar powers pose? One day, an unusual phone call—"Are you the one who sells parrots?", spoken with a strong Asian accent—awakened a buried memory: 1989, at my grandparents' house, the television screen, and that man standing facing a column of tanks in a devastated Tiananmen Square. Resurfacing, this act, as heroic as it was desperate, drew me into a story guided by extraordinary and indomitable characters from the world of history. More than just writing it, I lived it. Intended for a wide audience, this book aims to share a piece of history so that it is not forgotten, while offering a clear and accessible reading experience for everyone.
Student protesters in Tiananmen Square, June 4, 1989
Author's Journey
Poetry has always guided my writing. I love words for what they are, for the power they carry within them, the emotion they evoke, and their precision. They have the power to change destinies, but what will become of them in the world of tomorrow?
A few years ago, I wrote a collection of poems, "The Temple of Kneeling Elephants." This collection was selected for publication by the publishing house "Caractères," represented by Nicole Gdalia. "Caractères" was founded in 1949 by her late husband, the renowned poet Bruno Durocher. Today, 25 years later, I want to thank her for this great honor, this recognition, and this opportunity she offered me at the time, but which, unfortunately, life circumstances prevented me from fully seizing. She was the first person in the publishing world to appreciate my writing, my world, and she allowed me to always listen to that inner voice, so characteristic of passionate people who never let their dreams fade away.
