Un homme effacé by Alexandre Postel (review)

seven years earlier. The novel, a first-person narration, tells the story of French filmmaker Hortense, raised in Caen. She describes her hometown as “ma ville de province étriquée” (17). She details her relationship with her “trop aimante” (20) mother who understands Hortense well, and indulges her whims. Her father, seen as bigoted and“sévère”(17) is, in fact, protective: Hortense suffers from bipolar disorder which can be managed with a medication that causes weight gain.When the protagonist does not take her medication regularly, however, she experiences periods of manic activity followed by depression. She dreams often of escaping from her bourgeoise life. On impulse, she buys a round-trip ticket to Ouagadougou for the purpose of attending a film festival, to her mother’s delight. On the other hand, her father complains that she might “nous ramener un autre Nègre” (17); this is his way of expressing concern, as Hortense has been recovering from a romantic break-up with a black African living in Caen. In Ouagadougou, the protagonist meets film producer Seydou, a love-atfirst -sight encounter for them both. When Seydou proposes marriage after only a few days, Hortense assents, not knowing that a pregnant first wife awaits Seydou in Dakar. Although shocked that Seydou is already married, Hortense converts to Islam immediately and learns the details of being the second wife, particularly which nights of the week she can spend with Seydou. Overcome with passion for him, she fails to understand that her arrival has disrupted his family.Awa, the first wife, exhibits hatred towards Hortense; as the first wife, she had hoped to have Seydou’s undivided attention before and after the birth of their first child. The protagonist, who speaks of having a child with Seydou herself, has interfered with Awa’s plans. At the end of a mere two months of marriage, Hortense decides to return to France because she has had enough of “riz-au-poisson [...], Seydou comme unique interlocuteur [...] et d’être devenue le petit robinet blanc à Céfa”(250).Hortense’s account of her short time as the“deuxième femme” interests the reader by virtue of her being part of such a culturally diverse couple. An African man having a white European second wife is virtually unknown. In addition,Deuxième femme informs us about women’s interactions in this polygamous setting. To its disadvantage, the novel only narrowly characterizes the protagonist’s reactions to second wifehood, since her feelings express the extremes of joy and tears, mostly the latter. Her psychological vulnerability conjures sympathy in the reader as it simultaneously raises the question of how to help mentally-ill adults who are noncompliant with their medical treatments. University of Texas, El Paso Jane E. Evans Postel, Alexandre. Un homme effacé. Paris: Gallimard, 2013. ISBN 978-2-07013850 -0. Pp. 243. 17,90 a. Tout en étant situé dans le hic et nunc du monde moderne, ce roman offre des réflexions sur des sujets aussi immémoriaux que la vérité et les apparences, le 218 FRENCH REVIEW 87.3 Reviews 219 déterminisme social ou encore la souillure. Damien North, professeur de philosophie dans une université qui pourrait être américaine, homme réservé, solitaire et introverti, veuf depuis douze ans et à peine sexué, se voit accuser d’avoir téléchargé des images pédopornographiques, crime qu’il n’a pas commis. La machine sociale et juridique— journalistes, témoins divers, procureur et expert psychiatre—se met en marche et North, qui a plaidé coupable sur conseil de son avocat, est condamné à la prison. Il sera finalement innocenté mais, et c’est là un des questionnements du roman, là où Postel va plus loin qu’Hitchcock avec ses héros faussement accusés: peut-on jamais être blanchi? Car, comme “[e]ntre le faux et le vrai, il y a un espace qui est celui de l’apparence du vrai” (27), il existe une différence entre être innocenté et être innocent. Cette épreuve poursuivra North et dans la perception qu’ont de lui les autres (ses voisins dont les soupçons sont réveillés à la fin) et dans sa...