France's latest international star continues her ascent with an excavation of her famous family's legacy
In the world of the bourgeoisie and aristocrats, names are everything. They are currency that cannot be bartered but give their owners access, respect and above all, protection from the laws that govern those unfortunate souls who belong to classes without names, people who might as well be nameless. To the narrator of Constance Debré's third novel, her name is a dead weight to cut herself free from. Tracing a family legacy of aristocrats and politicians, including her late grandfather, a former president of France, the narrator unravels a tapestry of relationships and bonds made fraught by addiction, pride and grief. As her parents struggle with substance abuse and their own histories, our narrator becomes resolute in her choice to live an existence unencumbered by responsibility, expectations, and a name she has long been ready to part with.
