Review·by Nicolas Becard·October 25, 2026
Nymphéas, by Marie-Hélène Lafon
Standing before Monet's Water Lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie, Marie-Hélène Lafon writes a short, 23-page text, sensual and poetic.
About us · Regular contributors
Nicolas Becard
Columnist
Born in Château-Thierry in 1982, Nicolas held senior positions for sixteen years at the Inditex group (Zara), then the leader of the ready-to-wear market. Just as he felt the need to slow down and step out of the frantic pace of fast fashion, the call of literature came back for him like a siren song, seeking out the reader he had been as a teenager. Now working in the book trade, he publishes reviews on Instagram, opening a space for conversation around a passion he shares with his community: the pleasure of reading.
“A book that doesn’t pass through your body, leaves no mark on you, doesn’t collide with your path or push you to think against yourself will soon be forgotten. Few are chosen.”
Writing
Review·by Nicolas Becard·October 20, 2026
L'Éléphant, by Patrick Modiano
In L'Éléphant, Patrick Modiano fits a whole life into a short text, haunted by passing time and what is gone.
Review·by Nicolas Becard·October 16, 2026
Je change de nom, by Christine Angot
Christine Angot traces the genealogy of the men, and above all the women, of her family: beneath the rules for passing on a surname lie immeasurable acts of violence. A devastating book.
Review·by Nicolas Becard·October 12, 2026
Les Carnivores, by Guillaume Nail
Epidemics rage, animals are banned, hygienism reigns. Guillaume Nail’s second novel, a prophetic fable and a genuine jolt, gives love no chance at all.
Review·by Nicolas Becard·October 8, 2026
Que ta bouche me couvre de baisers, by Antoine Vigne
Damien returns to Arles to place his father in a nursing home and meets Saïd, a Syrian refugee. A sensitive, erudite novel: a geography of desire, passionate love, and grief.
Review·by Nicolas Becard·October 7, 2026
Après Mireille, or the Archaeology of a Trauma
Robin Josserand
Robin Josserand traces the genealogy of an original wound: the story of Mireille and Gaston, two great Resistance fighters destroyed by their deportations. A bittersweet experience.
Review·by Nicolas Becard·October 5, 2026
Le livre de Sève, by Charlotte Monsarrat
Both a human dystopia and an ecological fable, Le livre de Sève follows the epic journey of Sève, born in the heart of the Ronciers. A singular, intelligent novel.