Exile: According to Julia

by Gisèle Pineau, Betty Wilson (Translator), Marie-Agnes Sourieau (Introduction)

Gisèle Pineau was born, and spent the first fourteen years of her life, in Paris. Her parents, originally from the island of Guadeloupe, were part of the massive transplantation of Antilleans to the métropole after World War II. Most had left their homeland hoping to improve their lives and their children’s prospects. Born French nationals, all theoretically enjoyed equal footing with the Parisian French. The color of their skin, however, meant a far different reality for Pineau’s family and their fellow émigrés. They lived on the outskirts of the city and on the margins of French society and culture. L’exil selon Julia, Gisèle Pineau’s compelling portrait of alienation and exile, was born of that experience. The critically acclaimed 1996 autobiographical novel, now available in its first English translation, explores the alienation of a girl and her grandmother contending with life between two identities. As a young woman of color and Caribbean ancestry―even though Paris-born―the girl is not accepted, not French enough, for her fellow Parisians. Yet she is too cosmopolitan to fit into Guadeloupean society upon returning to the island for a visit. And since her parents have virtually silenced their Creole legacy hoping to become better assimilated, she has no base of traditional knowledge to fall back on for strength or guidance as she contends with her identity crisis. When her grandmother Julia moves in with the family, the stories, the culture, and the strong sense of cultural identity the older woman brings finally provide the girl with a sense of belonging that transforms her life. Powerful and accessible, Exile according to Julia is above all a moving and beautiful story of childhood, survival, and heritage that will speak to readers of all ages. CARAF Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French

Genres: France, French Literature, School, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Gisèle Pineau is a French novelist, writer and former psychiatric nurse. Although born in Paris, her origins are Guadeloupean and she has written several books on the difficulties and torments of her childhood as a Black person growing up in Parisian society.

During her youth, she divided her time between France and Guadeloupe due to her father's stationing in the military.[2] Pineau struggled with her identity as a Black immigrant due to the racism and xenophobia she experienced at her all-white school in the Kremlin-Bicotre suburb.[2] Pineau took to writing in order to console the difficulties of her French upbringing and Caribbean heritage, as her works would connect the two cultures rather than separating them.[3][4]

In her writings, she uses the oral tradition of storytelling in fictional works to reclaim the narratives of Caribbean culture.[4] She also focuses on racism and the effects it can have on a young girl trying to discover her own cultural identity. Her book L'Exil Selon Julia highlights this, as she relies on the memories and experiences of her aged grandmother to help her learn about her society's traditions and her own cultural background. In the book, she also mentions that the discrimination she felt as a youngster did not only apply to French society in Paris, but also to the people of Guadeloupe, who rejected her for being too cosmopolitan upon her return to the land of her ancestors.

She for many years lived in Paris and, whilst maintaining her writing career, has also returned to being a psychiatric nurse in order to balance out her life; but she recently has moved back to Guadeloupe.

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made it!!!!!!! My first book read entirely in French. (Batouala has been postponed.) This took A LOT of willpower, and I'm gonna have a celebratory coffee now. Then I'm gonna start the next one... Friday's the exam. Review might follow some time after that.

[Vince Will Iam · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a native of Guadeloupe myself, I was quite disappointed in this book. I had really enjoyed "Fleur de Barbarie" by the same author. From the opening pages, the narrator conjures up memories of her grandmother whom the reader knows so little about. Though Pineau addresses serious topics such as racism or colonization, I never felt moved. Surely because of her style which is overblown and a rather poor characterization. On top of that, mixing the French and Creole languages is a difficult endeavour. Being a native speaker of both, to me it sounded neither French enough nor Creole enough. I know Pineau can write brilliantly so my expectations might have been too high.

[M. Gelston · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was originally supposed to read this book for a class but it didn’t come in the mail in time. originally written in french, it is an interesting reflection on place and identity - where does one truly belong? i enjoyed it, although at times i found it to be a bit heavy handed on sentiment/romanticizing.

also the part where julia walks to sacré coeur will stick with me for a long time. i’d like to make that walk one day.

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was lovely. I love pineau

[Kaity · Rating 4 out of 5]

a beautiful story filled with lovely imagery. Gisèle Pineau draws you into her memories as if you lived them alone side her.

[Régine Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this is not my favorite by Pineau, I do love the way she weaves her grandmother's experiences of migration and the mental health to tell this story. The generational sharing of memory and the cultural adjustments that vary from the grandmother, the parents, and the children and also very well thought out.

[nesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for class, have to reread as i don’t think i appreciated it enough. great insight into what it’s like to be too black for white spaces and not black enough for black spaces.

[Cecly Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

English:
I have had this novel with me since the day I met Giselle at the Congress of Caribbean Writers in Guadeloupe way back in 2011.
I took my time to read it, as French is not my first language, but this novel gutted me. It was beautifully written with precise narrative prose.
The reader feels all the angst and conflicts of the young black woman growing up in Paris at a time, so much like the present when anyone non-white is considered an immigrant.
Thank you Giselle for this story.

French:
J'ai ce roman avec moi depuis le jour où j'ai rencontré Giselle lors d'une conférence des écrivains caribéens en Guadeloupe.
J'ai pris mon temps pour le lire, car le français n'est pas ma langue maternelle, mais ce roman m'a vidé. C'était magnifiquement écrit avec une prose narrative précise.
Le lecteur ressent toute l'angoisse et les conflits de la jeune femme noire qui grandit à Paris à la fois, un peu comme le présent où tout non-blanc est considéré comme immigré.
Merci Giselle pour cette histoire.

[Xareni Galindo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to start? I had the fortune to attend a conference where Gisele talked about her work and how she gets inspired to write. There, she talked about this book and I was decided to read it as soon as possible. Now that I have finished it I can say that is a very lovey and touching story. As and immigrant living in France I felt the need to read this story and surprisingly I could identify myself in Man Ya’s struggles to adapt and understand the French culture even though more that 60 years years had passed.

Besides, I was also struggling to read how a woman that has been beaten by her husband physically and morally all her life was so willing to go back to him and even miss him, even though is a well known phenomenon it was painful to read.

Love the ending. I really like where the narrator realizes that there is more ways of knowledge than the one we got in school and how her was open to embrace what Man Ya has to teach. Also, I was a nice message to give about someone that we love when they pass away.

[Remi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this took years off of my life. The story was interesting and it was very well written but for my first ever full book in French it was definitely difficult 😭😭 I also felt like a lot of the book was just individual events that weren’t strung together very well

[Shanzay · Rating 3 out of 5]

So impossible to understand but honestly so beautiful when I actually did understand it.

“Pendant toutes ces années de neige et froidure, elle avait tenu allumée la torche qui montrait le chemin. Sa main ne nous avait jamais lâchés.”
🥹

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book!!!

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pace a little slow at times, but overall I really enjoyed this book and the issues of cultural identity for a Guadeloupean family living in France.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. The French version was required reading for a class I took; and now I've re-read it about five times in English and French. I'm about to sit down with it again...

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really beautiful book that highlights so many nuances about immigration, abuse, mental health, France & Guadeloupe, and what it means to be home

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rien de spécial. Évidences d'amour pour une grand-mère cherie, mais plutôt un souvenir pour la famille que pour nous tous. Évidences aussi du racisme de l'époque que persiste de nos jours, mais encore, pas de nouveau côte de ce problème n'était exploré.

[Myrna Minkoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote a review of this book for an academic website: http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Critique...

[Marylynn Hopps]

Great book-have added it to book list for my fall 2008 Global Women Writers class