{"id":50507,"date":"2022-08-02T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=50507"},"modified":"2022-09-25T15:58:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-25T13:58:40","slug":"a-crime-of-no-importance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/literature\/a-crime-of-no-importance\/","title":{"rendered":"An unimportant book?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A crime of no importance<\/em>, <\/b>prix Interalli\u00e9 2020, joins the countless stories that have been occupying bookstore shelves in recent years. At least, its author Ir\u00e8ne Frain has labelled it a \u00abnarrative\u00bb, not a \u00abnovel\u00bb. This sets the tone from the outset. But while its subject, the murder of her sister, is terrible, this book is not poignant. Perhaps this was not the novelist's aim with this work, which is understood above all - or rather, after all - as an eulogy of literature and its powers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

An autumn weekend. Denise, aged 79, was attacked at her home in a \u00abquiet, almost too quiet\u00bb neighborhood, not far from a small wood, a hypermarket, a problem housing estate and an evangelical church she used to attend regularly. A few weeks later, her injuries claimed her life. It was only after her death that her younger sister, Ir\u00e8ne Frain, was informed of the tragedy by one of the victim's sons. At the funeral, the novelist sees an opportunity to get closer to Denise's family. But she soon realizes that the rapprochement she so earnestly hopes for will not happen. Nor will mourning, which requires words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Books against silence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The author-narrator then turns to the law: she wants to understand what happened to her sister, to get more information. She will learn that this murder, mysterious to say the least, is not the first of its kind in this housing estate - nor will it be the last. She will also notice that public opinion is usually moved by the murder of an elderly person, but immediately moves on to something else, never mobilizing for such a case, which is considered (painfully) lost. She will want to sue for damages, will turn to one lawyer, to another, will write to the court. But once again, Ir\u00e8ne Frain was painfully silenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n