Eddy Bellegueule grows up in a poor village in northern France, in a family where men are expected to be tough and unemployment and alcohol are common. He is effeminate and is mocked, beaten and called names by classmates and neighbors, and he tries to change himself through exercise and pretending. Louis based this first novel on his own childhood, and he later dropped the name Eddy Bellegueule in real life.
It is for readers who want a direct account of poverty, homophobia and rural class bias in contemporary France. It suits those who read Annie Ernaux and want a younger writer working in a similar vein.
Inward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2014
- Language
- EN
