My Favourite - by Sarah Jollien-Fardel (Paperback)

About the Book

"In 1970s Switzerland, high up in the Valais mountains, is a village where everyone knows everything, and no one says anything. Jeanne learns from an early age to dodge her father's abuse, but her mother and sister resign themselves to his brutality. One day when she is eight he attacks her viciously, angered by her self-assurance. Convinced that the village doctor will put an end to their nightmare, she is shocked by his silence. From then on, Jeanne's hatred of her father and her disgust at the doctor's cowardice drive her on. At boarding school she experiences five years of respite, but is then triggered by an unbearable replica of the violence that started it all. Moving to Lausanne, unable to come to terms with her past and to engage fully with life, she nevertheless finds solace in te arms of lovers and in the waters of Lake Geneva, while further tragedy fuels her rage."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the English PEN Translates award and the Swiss Prix Goncourt

In 1970s Switzerland, high up in the Valais mountains, is a village where everyone knows everything, and no one says anything.

Jeanne learns from an early age to dodge her father's abuse, but her mother and sister resign themselves to his brutality. One day when she is eight he attacks her viciously, angered by her self-assurance. Convinced that the village doctor will put an end to their nightmare, she is shocked by his silence.

From then on, Jeanne's hatred of her father and her disgust at the doctor's cowardice drive her on. At boarding school she experiences five years of respite, but is then triggered by an unbearable replica of the violence that started it all. Moving to Lausanne, unable to come to terms with her past and to engage fully with life, she nevertheless finds solace in the arms of lovers and in the waters of Lake Geneva, while further tragedy fuels her rage.

My Favourite is a powerful novel about departure and return, of love, guilt and shame, and the paralyzing effects of trauma. Sarah Jollien-Fardel forcefully describes the price to be paid for Jeanne's hard-won emancipation, as history inexorably repeats itself.

Review Quotes

"The narrative is propulsive, moving at a rate that reflects Jeanne's urgency and intelligence...The result is an emotive, complex novel that asks biting moral questions."
--Foreword Reviews

"Beguiling... shows the corrosive nature of revenge" -- The Financial Times

"A sparklingly written novel of a young woman's trauma and liberation."-- Catherine Taylor, Author of The Stirrings

"Excellent" --The Daily Mail

'A remarkable debut.' LE MONDE DES LIVRES

'Exceptional, moving and fierce, proud of its often elliptical style, reflecting its title.' LIBÉRATION

'Jollien-Fardel demonstrates her mastery and composure during the implacable outcome of events and human behaviour.' L'EXPRESS

'A poignant story, narrated with finesse and boldness.' Nataliya Deleva, author of Arrival and Four Minutes

About the Author

Sarah Jollien-Fardel was born in 1971, she grew up in a village in the Hérens district of Valais (Switzerland). She lived in Lausanne for several years before moving back home with her husband and two sons. She became a journalist in her thirties, and has written for numerous local and national newspapers. The places she knows and loves are the focal points of her debut novel, Sa Préférée.

Holly James is a British literary translator based in Paris.