Amélie Nothomb’s allegorical tribute to her mother

As usual since 1992, the year marked by the publication of the Hygiene of the Assassin, Amélie Nothomb reveals, on the occasion of the literary school year, his new vintage. Moreover, This year, he is an exception. Therefore, So much the better. Therefore, his 34th novel, evokes for the first time his mother and the singular link which united them, like a naturalist tale.

Orphan since the death of her mother, at the age of 86, in 2024, Amélie Nothomb wanted to do her justice. Consequently, “For the past thirty years. However, many readers have told me that by reading my books, we felt my love for my father and my prevention towards my mother. Moreover, The first impression is as fair as the second is false ”she corrects in her new novel.

Wondering how she was able to give amélie nothomb’s allegorical tribute her this impression. Therefore, she decides to rebalance the balance in her favor, after having already alluded to her father, who died in 2020, in several of her novels, including Psychopompe (2023) et The impossible return (2024). Consequently, In 2021. However, she even paid him a vibrant tribute in Premier sang (Renaudot Prix, 2021), written in the first person, to bring it to life and voice, and thus mourn through literature.

Bonne-Maman. Therefore, an unnamed grandmother – Amélie nothomb's allegorical tribute her

For her mother, Amélie Nothomb chose another way, that of the biographical, even naturalist tale, as the book contains precise and sometimes unaware anecdotes. Moreover, “Standing in there!” »»Then « Sale gosse ! » et “Do you want a Taloche?” »» : It is with these words that begins So much the betterthose of Bonne-Maman, the un named grandmother of Adrienne.

In the amélie nothomb’s allegorical tribute her summer of 1942. the parents of the 4 -year -old child thought she was sheltered from bombing, without suspecting that they would expose him to human cruelty. This rascal old woman. who acts as a real witch, having nothing to envy to the bad guys from the Brothers Grimm or Charles Perrault, decided, as a welcome, to make her swallow a bowl of milk coffee and a plate of herring in vinegar.

This repugnant but tasty fallen Cruella pours her bitterness around her. while reserving an inconsiderate love for cats, of which her last baptized, tire. The big tomcat will bring them closer. but also allow the girl – particularly ripe for her age – to unravel the secrets of her mother “As gifted for concealment as for simulation”and whose character oscillates between those of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde.

Each problem, a stroke of ” so much the better “

Adrienne is none other than the alter ego of the real mother of Amélie Nothomb, Danièle Scheyven, also “Big, fat and stupid” that his own mother, at least according to the said of Bonne-Maman. Inevitably, such remarks, even lie, leave trauma. So. to protect himself from the dark side of his maternal family, Adrienne takes life on the right side, using the ” so much the better “ comforting like a magic wand. So much the better if his mother kills cats in the neighborhood, these animals which stole the maternal affection. At each problem. a ” so much the better “ : A formula that gradually brings the two women together amélie nothomb’s allegorical tribute her around a common double personality.

The story of a parentage

Beyond a tribute uncompromising to the maternal figure. So much the better turns out to be the story of a parentage and a brain inheritance. To explore them. understand the mechanisms, the author traces here the misadventures of her mother, from her childhood until her departure from the family cocoon, after her marriage.

In his autobiographical works as Stupor. tremors (1999) or Happy nostalgia (2013), Amélie Nothomb shows a jubilant self -mockery; In those devoted to his father, a poetry and spirituality full of tenderness. Here, she opts for a genre that she particularly likes: the tale. She also revisited those of Blue beard or Riquet to the Houppe. This genre allows her to enhance the funny situations, from which she revels and delights us.

In So much the betterAdrienne appears like a mischievous. courageous and clever amélie nothomb’s allegorical tribute her heroine, always ready to protect her frail and whining sister, then her mother, violence of her father – yet loving – armed with a frying pan.

Once again, Amélie Nothomb adds to the tragic a hint of comic: her signature. A way of taking distance, but also of bringing relief to history. There is no shortage of characters either. Unlike that of Bonne-Maman, fundamentally malicious, the others are more ambiguous and nuanced, neither quite good nor completely bad. Writing is sometimes a bit caricatured, but the tone remains fair and imprinted with subtlety, like Adrienne. “In all my books, no mother looks like her. No doubt because my mother was too confusing ”she says in her novel. So he needed an entirely to pay tribute to him: proof of great love.