Literature

Go «In search of Alice Love».»

2 reading minutes

written by Lauriane Pipoz · August 20, 2019 · 0 comment

Tuesday's books - Lauriane Pipoz

After a fall, thirty-nine-year-old Alice Love is left with amnesia: she has forgotten the last ten years of her life. Mother of three and in the process of divorce, she wakes up convinced that she's a pregnant bride. Her life, so different, doesn't suit her: her diary overflows on all sides, and she finds no pleasure in the activities that have become her daily routine.

From a plot as simple as that, Liane Moriarty builds a story that will speak to most people who are entering or have already entered their third decade. More than just a simple story, Liane Moriarty's fine retranscription of the characters' psychology allows us to identify with them; better still, it makes us want to accompany them and question ourselves. Because their life choices don't always seem right, we feel justified in judging them. But what would we think of our own lives if we didn't know the path we've taken to get there?

This book deals intelligently with many universal themes, such as the ideals we forget over time, the disappointments that punctuate our path, the influence of life's events on our personality, the compromises we have to make with ourselves, and the differences in how we perceive the same situation. The idea of showing a protagonist discovering herself through the eyes of others is as entertaining as it is enriching. She points the finger at herself so much, and accuses herself of so many faults, that we also feel like condemning her: wouldn't it have taken a great deal of carelessness to get her to this point?

Before reminding us that, no, we don't know what happened in his life. It's a beautiful lesson, not one that's brutally presented, but one that emerges naturally and sympathetically as the story unfolds. This story is also the story of the people who surround Alice. Neither good nor bad people. Just ordinary people, going about their ordinary lives, doing the best they can. They're your friend, your neighbor, your cashier or your accountant. Characters who are so well portrayed with extremely subtle emotions.

As I consulted her other books, I realized that this was Moriarty's strength: making us empathize with her characters. Among the range of emotions she presents to us, it's guilt that seems to occupy her most - an ambivalent feeling, which is a real goldmine for those who know how to deal with it. If the first few pages of her books seemed to me to be too many each time, it's certainly because the author gives us to see the negative points of her characters before their positive ones. But we don't regret having read on and come to understand them. An invitation to do the same in our daily lives?

Write to the author: lauriane.pipoz@leregardlibre.com