The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches - Softcover

Soucy, Gaetan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1611452635 ISBN 13: 9781611452631

Publisher: Arcade Pub, 2011

Synopsis

This wickedly inventive fabulist tale heralds the arrival of an utterly original voice in contemporary fiction. Alone with their authoritarian father on a vast estate where time has stopped, two siblings speak a language and inhabit a surreal universe of their own making, shaped by their reading of philosophy and tales of chivalry. When their father dies and the children set out to bury him, they encounter the inhabitants of the neighboring village for the first time, and the pair's cloak of romance and superstition falls away to reveal the appalling truth of their existence. Grappling with the sudden intrusion of the world into their isolated, devastatingly veiled lives, they must confront the horror that enlightenment inflicts, and determine by whose code they will chose to live. The choices they make will obliterate everything they once held to be true, and the villagers who insinuate themselves into the siblings' reality will have to question their own views of humanity. A brilliant, masterful story in which nothing is as it first seems, The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matchesis a triumph of suspense, linguistic invention, and a surprising playfulness that peers into the heart of guilt, cruelty, communication, and violence.

About this title

Review:

Praise for Gaetan Soucy and The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches

"Short, sharp, very successful." -- Globe and Mail

"Soucy is a master of suspense . . . While the tale becomes more explicit as it progresses, it also becomes more bewitching, more mysteriously pulsating." -- Le Monde

"Takes a short time to read and a long time to forget." -- Toronto Star

"A magnificent novel, writing that dazzles." -- Elle (France)

"The darkness at the heart of this story takes some ferreting out, the horror all the more affecting because it has become so everyday." -- Georgia Straight

From the Back Cover:

A finalist for France's prestigious Prix Renaudot, and translated into more than ten languages, 'The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond Of Matches' is the strikingly original tale of two siblings growing up isolated from the outside world.

Alone with their authoritative father on a vast estate where time has stopped, the pair speak a language and inhabit a surreal universe of their own making. When their father dies they come into contact with the outside world for the first time, and the appalling truth of their existence is revealed.

A richly imaginative story in which nothing is a tour de force of suspense, linguistic invention and playfulness.

"Soucy is a master of suspense: he gives life to enigmas in order to be better illuminate the story by plunging his reader into an even deeper, denser, richer mystery. While the tale becomes more explicit as it progresses, it also becomes more bewitching, more mysteriously pulsating."
Le Monde

"A mix of horror and beauty, cruelty and enchantment... A strong brew of earthly detail, pure poetry and suggestions of unspeakable horror."
Toronto Star

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcade Pub
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1611452635
• ISBN 13: 9781611452631
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144