The fact that Marie, the heroine of this real-life novel, was called Juliette from the time she was a baby has little impact on the rest of the tale. Yet it is typical of the odd mores of the archaic region where she was born: the Gévaudan at the turn of the 20^th century, one of the most remote spots in the European galaxy. But that wouldn’t keep this woman, who became a shepherd at age eight, from inviting herself a decade later to the Popular Front’s party. Then, over the course of her marriages, to the idyllic american Far East and post-war rural Germany. A singular existence, both picaresque and pathetic, composed of dizzying highs and – more often – wretched lows. The tale of how Juliette’s thirst for life opened all doors, except the one that is a saving grace, the one that leads to oneself.

It takes a good dose of humor to tell the story of an exciting but ultimately unsuccessful life… especially when it is your own mother’s. Tucked inside the circumvolutions of his style, Gil Jouanard has hidden a smile that looks a lot like wisdom. Thanks to a gift of the gab and a heart-rending vibrato, he brings out the universal nature of this hilarious adventure. A saga that spans the twentieth century, dedicated to all the women and men who never knew who they were or how to find out.