Le bout du monde est une fenêtre par Emmelie Prophète (review)

entraîné le lecteur dans une voie inattendue et pleine de rebondissements, une tangente existentielle qui lui aura fait autant de bien qu’à ses personnages. Western Kentucky University Karin Egloff Prophète, Emmelie. Le bout du monde est une fenêtre. Montréal: Mémoire d’encrier, 2015. ISBN 978-2-89712-275-1. Pp. 207. $22 Can. In her fourth novel, Prophète explores with remarkable sensitivity the bleak existence of the marginalized in her native Haiti. Following a similar approach used in Impasse Dignité, another of her texts which hauntingly chronicled the lives of a cohort of Haitians just prior to the 2010 earthquake, Prophète’s new literary effort paints a stifling world of dysfunction, both personal and familial, brought on by a wide spectrum of fears and economic misery. The novel opens with a description of Suzanne, a village whose inability to provide a viable livelihood for its residents drives many to seek better living conditions in neighboring Bondeau or, for the more adept, in Port-au-Prince. Samuel, who at eight years of age leaves Suzanne following the death of his grandmother with whom he had been living, eventually lands in the capital having believed the universally-accepted credo for ultimate survival: “Tout le monde semblait s’être entendu pour dire que la vie était et ne pouvait être qu’ailleurs” (21). Juxtaposed to the portrait of Samuel is that of Rose, a twin whose mulâtre origins have made both Rose and her sister,“prisonnières de préjugés dont elles ne comprenaient pas le sens” (95). Now as adults, Samuel and Rose conduct a non-verbal interchange via the open, yet symbolically-veiled window of Rose’s bedroom overlooking the garage where Samuel is employed. Their single brief physical encounter and actual conversation occur in the family jalopy which is being sold by Rose’s quasi-absent father and dismantled by Samuel and his fellow mechanics. That shared space and time represent familial regret for Rose while inspiring imaginable future destinations for Samuel. As the text progresses, a theme of inaccessibility remains paramount as Samuel and Rose continue to share a voiceless dialog of mutually unrequited desire, mainly for interpersonal communication and acknowledgement. The window’s symbolic opening remains pivotal till the end.Alongside Samuel and Rose, there exists a rich cast of secondary characters representing a wide variety of archetypes such as Marcel, Samuel’s benefactor, who concocts and provides homegrown alcohol and a non-judgmental listening ear to Port-au-Prince’s most disadvantaged citizens of the night. Baka, whose Rastafarian look, jangling bracelets and voodoo chants scare children, remains an enigma to those who have never taken the time to recognize his tender side. Madeleine, Rose’s mother, who has long since slipped into a detached mentally-ill space from which she conjures up an imagined lover, sadly attempts to make up for the affection she never received from her husband. The emotional power of the novel lies in the author’s ability to communicate a distressing sense of fear and 274 FRENCH REVIEW 89.4 Reviews 275 alienation while crafting memorable characters whose struggle to overcome their deficiencies captures the reader’s heart. Prophète does so with intense, often beautiful descriptions which are a mixture of masterful observations rendered poignant by their universality and symbolic markers of impending psychological peril: threadbare and oil-stained clothing,a house that leans representatively toward its demise,an abandoned car and equally corroded relationships. University of Colorado, Denver Linda Alcott Quignard, Pascal. Sur l’idée d’une communauté de solitaires. Paris: Arléa, 2015. ISBN 978-2-3630-8076-9. Pp. 80. 8 a. Pour qui s’émeut du rythme auquel Quignard publie (deux ou trois livres par an), et recule devant une œuvre imposante (une soixantaine de titres), ce petit livre constitue une excellente introduction. On retrouve les topiques chères à l’auteur, en un émiettement formel qui donne un ton et une cohérence caractéristiques à son discours. En quatre-vingt pages se livre ici la teneur, au sens musical, le fond du propos, en de courtes formules qui frappent la mémoire, et résonnent, pour qui...