Daughters Beyond Command

by Véronique Olmi, Alison Anderson (Translator)

Overview

An absorbing bildungsroman that tells the story of three sisters during a decade of radical societal transformation

Three sisters were born into a modest Catholic family in Aix-en-Provence. Sabine, the eldest, dreams of an artist’s life in Paris; Hélène, the middle girl, grows up divided between the bourgeois environment of Neuilly-sur-Seine and the simple life led by her parents; Mariette, the youngest, learns the secrets and silences of a dazzling and crazy world. 

In 1970, French society is changing. Women have emancipated themselves whilst men have lost their bearings, and the three sisters, each in their own way, find ways to live a life of their own—a strong life, far from the morality, education, and the religion of their childhood. 

This family chronicle, which takes us from the May 1968 protests to the 1981 elections, is as much a tender and tragic stroll through the 20th century as it is the chronicle of an era, where consciousnesses are awakening to the upheaval of the world, and heralding the chaos to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609457914
Publisher:	Europa Editions, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/17/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Véronique Olmi was born in 1962 in Nice and now lives in Paris. She is an acclaimed French dramatist and her twelve plays have won numerous awards. Olmi won the Prix Alain-Fournier emerging artist award for her 2001 novella Bord de Mer. It has since been translated into all major European languages.

Alison Anderson’s translations for Europa Editions include novels by Sélim Nassib, Amélie Nothomb, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. She is the translator of Muriel Barbery’s New York Times bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Europa, 2008).

Editorial Reviews

11/28/2022

In Olmi’s sprawling family saga (after Beside the Sea), three sisters grow up in 1970s Aix-en-Provence while seeking independence from the stifling morals, education, and Catholicism of their parents. When middle sister Hélène, a vegetarian, refuses to dissect a frog in school, her older sister Sabine mockingly calls her a defender of animal rights. Later, with the rise of reproductive rights, women’s liberation movements, and a factory rebellion, the sisters debate animal rights, and Hélène argues with her mother about green politics and studies biology in college. Meanwhile, Sabine aspires to be an actor in the fickle theater world of Paris, and asthmatic Mariette, the youngest, keeps the shattering secrets of their parents’ wobbly marriage as she watches their mother assert herself as one of the country’s few female mail carriers. The leisurely pacing takes getting used to, but Olmi does a lovely job at blending historic moments with the characters’ personal touchstones without letting one overtake the other. For patient readers, Olmi’s panoramic vision packs in plenty of rewards. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Véronique Olmi

“[A] gem of a novel… Heartstopping and heartbreaking.”—The Independent 

“The brilliance of Véronique's writing is that you become intimately acquainted with the speaker's thoughts … it unlocks you from the inside.”—Lisa Dwan, actress, star of Bloodlands and Top Boy

“Full of wonder.”—The New York Times on Bakhita

From the Publisher

11/01/2022

This novel by French playwright Olmi, her first to be translated into English, takes place in France between 1968 and 1981, focusing on three sisters growing up in Aix-en-Provence. The eldest, Sabine, longs for a life on stage in Paris; the middle sister, Hélène, summers with her wealthy aunt and uncle and is a self-proclaimed "bourgeoisie"; and the youngest, Mariette, sickly in youth, is the most innocent and naïve of the three, which is perhaps why she becomes her mother's greatest confidante. Secrets abound in this book, which is part feminist manifesto, part coming-of-age story, and all family drama. The girls' mother, Agnès, is tethered to her husband by her children and her sense of Catholic duty, but a chance acquaintance helps her to see that there can be so much more to her life than her family. Olmi captures the fervor and ferocity that overcame France during the years before the 1981 election that made François Mitterrand president. VERDICT Olmi's novel evokes deep thought: What is humane, what it means to be free, and what happens when tradition and modern thought collide. This bittersweet story of emancipation, and forgiveness will appeal to readers who have a passion for activism.—Erin Dagenais

Library Journal

2022-11-16
Repercussions from seismic changes in French culture resonate within a provincial family.

Agnès and Bruno Malivieri’s daughters—Sabine, Hélène, and Mariette—are being raised in Aix-en-Provence in a working-class environment, with all the traditional gender, class, and religious constraints present in France until the late 1960s, when the book opens. Sabine, the eldest, yearns for a life in Paris and the arts. Mariette, the “mouse” of the family, is dogged by chronic asthma and has a quiet, dreamy way about her. In between the two is Hélène, who lives the most unconventional life of all the Malivieris: Her summer vacations, school breaks, and holidays are spent in the bourgeois Parisian home of her maternal aunt and uncle, the Tavels. (The arrangement, which takes Hélène years to understand on a psychological level, allows her to lead a life of privilege and comfort while providing her family in Provence with some financial relief.) As the young women’s roles are redefined during decades of social tumult, their roles within the family shift as well. Sabine’s artistic efforts take her in unanticipated directions, while Hélène’s passion for animal rights propels her out of the security of the Tavels' cocoon. After her older sisters leave the family home,Mariette grows into an awareness of the realities of the world and discovers music (always in the background of the girl’s lives in one way or another) as a transcendent force. Bruno’s role as the traditional paterfamilias shifts, and even Agnès takes steps toward self-determination. By the time François Mitterand is elected (a realization of almost all of Agnès and Bruno’s fears), the entire Malivieri family architecture is rearranged.

The personal is political for Olmi’s finely drawn characters.

Kirkus Reviews