Little Jewel

by Patrick Modiano, Penny Hueston (Translator)

Overview

A mesmerizing novel by Nobel Laureate Patrick Modiano, now superbly translated for English-language readers

For long standing admirers of Modiano’s luminous writing as well as those readers encountering his work for the first time, Little Jewel will be an exciting discovery. Uniquely told by a young female narrator, Little Jewel is the story of a young woman adrift in Paris, imprisoned in an imperfectly remembered past. The city itself is a major character in Modiano’s work, and timeless moral ambiguities of the post-Occupation years remain hauntingly unresolved.
 
One day in the corridors of the metro, nineteen-year-old Thérèse glimpses a woman in a yellow coat. Could this be the mother who long ago abandoned her? Is she still alive? Desperate for answers to questions that have tormented her since childhood, Thérèse pursues the mysterious figure on a quest through the streets of Paris. In classic Modiano style, this book explores the elusive nature of memory, the unyielding power of the past, and the deep human need for identity and connection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300224818
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	08/23/2016
Series:	Margellos World Republic of Letters
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize for Literature, among many other awards, Patrick Modiano is an author of worldwide acclaim. He lives in Paris. Penny Hueston is an editor, translator, and coauthor of a study on Patrick Modiano. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Editorial Reviews

Patrick Modiano has never better expressed the quintessence of his art than in this somnambulistic novel. . . . Flaubert, we know, dreamed of writing a book ex nihilo, one that holds by sheer force of style, responds to the laws of pure rhetoric, can’t be reduced to the author’s life, and is, finally, superior. Little Jewel is Modiano’s Bovary.”—Jérôme Garcin, Le Nouvel Observateur

“An appealing variation on the typical Modiano novel . . . well and convincingly handled by the author.”—M. A.Orthofer, Complete Review

“[An] intense and totally seductive novel of identity. . . . Without a trace of sentimentality, Modiano creates one of the most revelatory of all his novels, one that shows the possibilities of redemption, even for those who have always been alone.”—Mary Whipple, Seeing the World Through Books (blog)

“A simple story . . . that grows richer with each reading.”—J. P. Smith, The Millions

From the Publisher

An appealing variation on the typical Modiano novel . . . well and convincingly handled by the author.”—M.A.Orthofer, Complete Review

Complete Review - M.A.Orthofer

[An] intense and totally seductive novel of identity . . . Without a trace of sentimentality, Modiano creates one of the most revelatory of all his novels, one that shows the possibilities of redemption, even for those who have always been alone.”—Mary Whipple, Seeing the World Through Books

Seeing the World Through Books - Mary Whipple

A simple story . . . that grows richer with each reading.”—J.P. Smith, The Millions

The Millions - J.P. Smith

Patrick Modiano has never better expressed the quintessence of his art than in this somnambulistic novel. . . . Flaubert, we know, dreamed of writing a book ex nihilo, one that holds by sheer force of style, responds to the laws of pure rhetoric, can’t be reduced to the author’s life, and is, finally, superior. Little Jewel is Modiano’s Bovary.”—Jérôme Garcin, Le Nouvel Observateur

Le Nouvel Observateur - Jérôme Garcin

Patrick Modiano has never better expressed the quintessence of his art than in this somnambulistic novel. . . . Flaubert, we know, dreamed of writing a book ex nihilo, one that holds by sheer force of style, responds to the laws of pure rhetoric, can’t be reduced to the author’s life, and is, finally, superior. Little Jewel is Modiano’s Bovary.”—Jérôme Garcin, Le Nouvel Observateur

Le Nouvel Observateur - Jérôme Garcin

10/01/2016
Nobel Prize winner Modiano here retains the ineffable sense of mystery pervading all his fiction but does something different; uniquely in his oeuvre, he offers a female protagonist, which lends perhaps a greater sense of intimacy to the narrative. On the metro, 19-year-old Thérèse spots a woman in a threadbare yellow coat she's convinced is her mother, who supposedly died in Morocco years ago after abruptly abandoning Thérèse to friends. Thérèse follows the woman home but doesn't speak, instead returning to question the concierge and reflecting on keepsakes stored in a tin box. She claims not to have thought about her childhood until this encounter, but it's evident how deeply she's been hurt, which we see mirrored by her babysitting charge, whose parents are mysteriously detached. Thérèse's mother might have called her Little Jewel, but this young woman is decidedly chipped and tarnished. VERDICT An affecting read, ambiguous even for Modiano in its ending; his fans will embrace.

Library Journal