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Tel fils
Pierre Cochez

A son – the narrator, now an adult – writes a letter to his father, who died when the son was just a few months old. The letter evokes the shadow of the man whose absence marked the narrator’s childhood, and describes the ties that father and son through what was left behind: photos, school report cards, notes written at university... The father’s life began amidst the post-war Parisian bourgeoisie, in the affluent Monceau quarter, where sons are cherished and confident in their future… and ends with a brief, but dazzling connection to the narrator’s mother. Putting the pieces back together allows the son to understand that he was loved, despite everything, and to learn that his father had known happiness. In his letter, he also realizes that, although they had been unable to talk about his father, his family supported him and accompanied him after the loss, to help him to grow up. His misses his father both intellectually and viscerally. Anyone who has lost a parent at a young age will recognize situations described in this letter. Anyone who is a father or a son will better understand the strength they were given.

An intimate, yet universal narrative in the shape of an epistolary novel that explores the ties that bind a son to his dead father, memory, absence and missing someone – themes that affect orphans in particular, but actually concern every one of us. An immersion in the Parisian bourgeoisie in the Monceau neighborhood, where life is comfortable and families can love each other without necessarily being able to express it, and where being true to your commitments is a founding principle.

Tel fils -
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  • Phébus
  • Littérature française
  • Publication date : 02/04/2015
  • Size : 14 x 20,5 cm, 112 p., 11,00 EUR €
  • ISBN 978-2-7529-1019-6
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