«Contrefeu», the emotionless burning of a cathedral

Tragedy strikes a quiet French commune, and a whole system collapses. Unfortunately, Emmanuel Venet turns this hot topic into a lukewarm novel.

Pontorgueil is in mourning. The cathedral in this small provincial town has just gone up in flames, and with it, 500 years of history. Caught between anger and dismay, the residents are left wondering. How could such a catastrophe have happened? How, in the 21st century, can fire still engulf monuments so old that they are sometimes the last links connecting a bygone era to our own?

Search for the Culprit

Like a police detective, writer and psychiatrist Emmanuel Venet sifts through every lead that might explain the fire that occurred on April 15. Curiously, this is the same date that Notre-Dame de Paris burned down. From the bishop having an affair with one of his parishioners to the young «dog-walking punk» who has strayed from the straight and narrow, the life stories of the characters revolving around the cathedral are dissected and scrutinized. Who could possibly have committed such a monstrosity? The question, however, must be phrased differently, for it may not be «who» but «what» that caused the fire. The mystery remains unsolved as the pages turn.

Caught up in an incident of such magnitude, people nevertheless feel the need to pin the blame on someone. In this case, it is Blaise Muki, a rejected asylum seeker, who will take the fall during many years of litigation. As the perfect scapegoat, he will pay the price for a mistake that may ultimately be due to a technical glitch. The author subtly highlights this tendency to point fingers. Quick, we need someone to blame! And besides, he—who lives somewhat on the margins—has something to be ashamed of anyway.

The Decline of a Medium-Sized City

The collapse of the cathedral brought the town of Pontergueil down with it. Now stripped of the only monument that gave it its prestige, the town is rapidly losing its appeal to tourists and its significance to its residents. Proof of this is that the only newspaper covering the region filed for bankruptcy shortly after the events.

The tragedy of losing a building of such value spreads like an oil slick: it affects the community, which soon becomes nothing more than an insignificant dot on the map. In this sense, the novel highlights the importance of historic monuments, which even today adorn our cities and often serve as focal points.

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Yet one does not come away from this book feeling moved or affected in any way. Emmanuel Venet’s novel reads like a well-polished police report: it sticks to the facts, contains a few interesting passages, but remains bland. It’s a shame, because when literature fails to convey emotions, it unfortunately misses the mark.

Write to the author: chelsea.rolle@leregardlibre.com

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Emmanuel Venet
Backfire
Editions Verdier
January 2024
127 pages

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