«The sun was out»: a historical novel that lacks finesse3 reading minutes

Tuesday's books - Lauriane Pipoz

Marguerite is a Savoyard peasant. She works for a pharmacist with whom she has a very good relationship. Seeing great potential in the young woman, he decided to recommend her to a wealthy family in Geneva. Marguerite and her family leave for the city, where peasantry is a very difficult business: it's the year 1815, the ’year without summer«, when the climate has suffered from the explosion of an Indonesian volcano.

The novel opens with a dialogue between Marguerite and her mother. While the dialogue is certainly very difficult to construct so as not to appear meaningless, it is something that I feel is not mastered in this novel. The narrative is slowed down by a lot of hesitations - reflected in suspension points - and lines that do little to define the characters. This can make the reader want to skip a few passages to get to the point.

«Margue...Margot told me she was going to have a letter.

- What kind of letter?

- A letter to Geneva.

- And when did your sister tell you about this?

- A few days ago...Just a few days ago.»

Unsound psychology

While there's plenty of suspense - not least thanks to the story's judicious episodic construction - there are a number of elements that introduce a lack of coherence. In particular, some of the characters lack credibility. For me, the most telling case is that of Charles, the thirteen-year-old child in Marguerite's care. He seems to come up with some rather sophisticated ideas for his young age, which at times left me very skeptical:

«The hardness of her gaze revealed a Marguerite he didn't know (...). «Is this where class difference leads us?» he asked himself. «To the abolition of all humanity in favor of hatred?» There was no point in lecturing Marguerite; what was stirring the girl was beyond rational analysis. Her guts were boiling, he could tell by her flushed cheeks.»

The psychology of the protagonists doesn't seem to be very well developed overall. We learn very quickly the This is a little too simple and schematic. While the reader is repeatedly eager to know the heroes' motivations - thanks once again to the good construction of the plot - he finds himself frustrated by learning about them too easily and often too crudely.

The characters' thoughts, spelled out in full, also lack finesse. Some of them sometimes take up entire pages. The sheer number of them takes the narrative hostage, and it's a shame the author didn't manage to convey the protagonists' impressions in a more subtle way.

«Anne wanted to come closer, but she saw that the girl was seething with rage. «Decidedly, she baffles me. But not for much longer.» As if she'd read her boss's mind, Marguerite raised her surly, almost mocking eyes to her.»

But a very historical novel

Despite the lack of depth in the characters, the novel remains interesting if taken as a historical novel. The harshness of life in 1815 as portrayed is gripping.

«They spotted a group of agitated people crouching at the side of the road. As they approached, a man rose to meet them menacingly, brandishing a blood-stained dagger. «Move along!» he shouted. His face was pallid and his cheeks were hollowed out, his rimmed eyes bulging out of their sockets.»

We also learn a great deal about the way of life of men in the fields and cities, thanks to vivid descriptions that are well integrated into the narrative. The work of the peasants, using their muscles to the point of exhaustion, and the daily life of the merchants, punctuated by the interventions of the market police, are well detailed and will pique the interest of history-loving readers.

«She began to unpack her belongings, when a gruff woman pulling a cart full of ceramics came up to her and aggressively enjoined her to give up this space sheltered from the rain. Régine tried to argue that her products were more fragile, but the merchant had no intention of letting go, and Régine feared she would attract the attention of the market police.»

We also welcome the inclusion of an afterword and explanatory notes on Geneva in 1816 at the end of the book. This initiative complements the historical knowledge acquired throughout the story, and brings the book to a pleasant close, even if it lacks a great deal of finesse.

Photo credits: © Lauriane Pipoz

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

Matylda Hagmajer
The sun was out
Editions Slatkine
2019
303 pages