Suspiro

by Ananda Devi

Au lieu-dit Soupir, dans Rodrigues, dernière île habitée à l'est de l'Afrique, les quatre points cardinaux sont soleil, sécheresse, mer et cyclone. Une poignée de gens, piégés entre un passé renié et un avenir compromis, poussés par leurs rêves fous, décident de s'exiler à Soupir, au flanc d'une colline, pour y cultiver la ganja. Livrés à eux-mêmes, hantés par les âmes mortes de Soupir, pris dans leur chair tourmentée, Patrice l'Éclairé, Bertrand Laborieux, Noëlla, Marivonne, Pitié, Royal Palm et tous les autres seront confrontés à leurs propres ombres et au bleu-noir de leur destin, où seule une frontière fragile et bien trop aisément franchie sépare l'innocence de la cruauté."Chaque jour à Soupir le temps était violet et cyclonique. Même le soleil était graisseux, les nuits vitrifiées, les matins remplis d'égratignures. Les gens se réveillaient avec des boursouflures et des démangeaisons. Ils sortaient des abris de fortune le corps dilapidé. Ils contemplaient le jour, incurieux, sachant qu'ils n'en réchapperaient pas."

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 204

About the author

Ananda Devi is a Mauritian writer. Her novel, Eve de ses décombres, won the Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie in 2006, as well as several other prizes. It was adapted for the cinema by Sharvan Anenden and Harrikrisna Anenden. In 2007, Devi received the Certificat d'Honneur Maurice Cagnon du Conseil International d'Études Francophones.[1] She has since won other literary prizes, including the Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature française of the Académie française. During 2010 she was bestowed with Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.

Reviews

[James F · Rating 2 out of 5]

Devi's sixth novel and the third I have read, Soupir is set on the smaller and less developed Isle de Rodrigues, an outlier near her native Mauritius, which also figures in a novel by the other Mauritian author I have read, J.M.G. LeClézio. It is the story of a group who leave the city (Port Mathurin) to settle on a barren hillside, which is called Soupir (to sigh), hoping to become rich by cultivating ganja. The novel is told by one of the group, Patrice L'Éclairé; each of the short chapters is about one or more individuals in the group. There are also a few ghosts. The style is somewhat experimental but much less so than in Pagli, which was published a year earlier. The book focuses on violence, and has an (unclear) connection with the history of slavery. The psychology is rather unconvincing, and this one just didn't work for me.

[Annabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book I've read for pleasure in quite a while.

I'd first been introduced to Anandi Devi through Eve et ses décombres, which had been an absolutely devastating read. This is also bleak, but in such a way where it's difficult for me to be as present as a reader. But the writing itself is still so beautiful, the bodies so well constructed, that I found myself carried along despite a certain distance that was impossible for me to ever overcome or breach.