Every once in a while, books that will make you take an all nighter in your adult life, get published. Leïla Slimani’s books are that kind. They are short, addictive and pack a punch. My introduction to the French Moroccan writer was through Lullaby (also known as The Perfect Nanny in US), translated from the French by Sam Taylor, last year. I read it in a single stretch, knowing the nanny murdered two kids, and wondering ‘why why’ with each page. Louise, the white nanny, was perfect. She was a gem. Maybe it was a mistake, and she was wrongly framed? Was it for money? The sudden transition from the murder scene to the inside lives of the Parisian couple and their nanny left me confused. How could this happen? Why, why?
‘Nothing rots, nothing expires’ in Louise’s kitchen. She is the perfect nanny, a Mary Poppins, almost making you wonder if she uses magic. When the Parisian couple, Myriam and Paul hire her to take care of their son and daughter, they are elated by how efficient she is. She cooks, cleans, help them throw dinner parties, transforms their house into a beautiful living space and takes the children to park. She is a ‘miracle nanny’ as the couple address her. She becomes part of the family, often willingly working long hours with no complains. But an unnerving tension seeps into the family. Louise stops obeying orders from Myriam (once force feeding stale chicken to the kids), role playing a secret life when the parents are away at work and charting out a future for herself, and her employers. I loved it!
When the next Slimani book, translated by Sam Taylor once again, was published this year, I knew I would definitely read it and hopefully it might make me lose another night’s sleep. It did. Her debut novel, Dans le Jardin de l’Ogre (“In the Ogre’s Garden”) is published with a less gruesome title, Adèle, in English. Adèle is a 35 year old news journalist, married to a surgeon husband for nine years and living in Paris with their son. She smokes like a steam engine and is lavished with expensive gifts from her husband. Her second life is amusing and miserable, with one night stands, affairs, seducing strangers, secret phones and missing appointments because ‘of a fuck that lasted too long’.
Adèle was a more captivating character than Louise, because of her reckless ways in a perfect world. She is sex starved but her nights with strangers, acquaintances and co workers, give her little gratification. She is in a vicious circle of addiction, netted by lies and drowning in discontent. Her work at the newspaper often involve ‘copy-paste’ from the internet.
Lullaby is finer than Adèle, in the writing. Adèle has some flat dialogues but these are easily overlooked by the unpredictable risky life of the eponymous character. Both books are pacy, Adèle, more racy, and keep you entertained for their worth. Leïla Slimani’s strength is her ability to create interesting characters, temptingly amusing. that make you want to know them better. She makes you crave to peer into their mysterious lives, want more of them. Her characters ‘want things, work and sex’, as Lauren Collin describes in her New Yorker piece on the writer.
I was slightly disappointed by how both her novels ended – Lullaby lifted me to high clouds and threw me down at the finish line, Adèle kept me on a thrill from the first page but on the last page, I needed more, I didn’t want the novel to end. I felt angry, a wee bit, and disappointed. You know that familiar feeling when a really good friend just disappears from your life and you are left with questions, all unanswered and you start spewing theories in your mind? The very same feeling. But would I recommend the books? Did I love them? YES.
Rating:
Lullaby : 4/5
Adèle : 4/5
I loved the pacy Lullaby, a perfect nanny turning murderous and the racy Adèle, a sex addict journalist with a secret life.Leïla Slimani’s books are addictive; characters, temptingly good, that you crave to know them better Click To Tweet
Disclaimer : Much thanks to Faber and Faber for sending me Adele. All opinions are my own.
I’m not familiar with Slimani’s work at all but it sounds fantastic! I’m a bit thriller-wary – I find they either, as you say, keep you up all night OR bore/annoy you to tears (and a lot, by men in particular but not exclusively, are just straight up misogynist). This sounds intriguing though! Both of these terrible women sound like characters I could absolutely spend some time with. I hardly ever read novels in translation either, and it’s something I am trying to do more of.
I hope you will love Slimani if you pick her up. The books are pretty short and you’d love them
I’ve heard about Leïla Slimani. She is quite “hot” (No double-entendre) on the French literary scene.
Not only does she seem to write well, she is also very outspoken on the condition of women.
An interesting young woman. Glad you liked the book. Another one to add to my pile. Though that should be easier to buy in Paris, next summer. Have a great week, Resh.
Both books are perfect reads for summer . Hope you enjoy
Excellent reviews. I’ve seen both, but not sure yet if I’ll read either.
Shame about the disappointing endings for both of these. Adele does sound like an interesting character though. Great reviews!
Both are so great even though the endings are okayish. It is because Slimani takes our expectations to great heights