Published on April 25, 2001 by Gallimard, La Petite Bijou is a novel that takes us throughout Paris in search of the roots of its heroine.
In search of its roots
La Petite Bijou does not escape the theme so dear to Patrick Modiano of the search for identity. We relive over the pages the abandonment of his heroine and the disastrous consequences he may have had on her life. Thérèse is a young woman in her twenties, abandoned by her mother when she was eight years old. The latter died in Morocco a few years later in circumstances still unknown to her daughter. When Thérèse was little, her mother gave her a stage name: La Petite Bijou. That's about all that defines her today: that lost nickname and that absence.
A Parisian labyrinth
One day, on her way home from work by subway, Therese sees a woman with a yellow coat. It's exactly the same one his mother wore as a child, and she looks a lot like him. To be clear, Thérèse decides to follow her. She follows her all over Paris to her home, physically running after this woman as she runs after her mother in spirit. Following this spinning in the maze of Parisian public transport, Thérèse wanders throughout the city in search of the ghosts of the past, taking us with her along the streets, parks and subways.
An intoxicating style
Patrick Modiano's talent lies not so much in the sequence of the story as in his finesse in drawing the portraits of the characters and the emotion he draws from them. La Petite Bijou is a book that makes you dizzy, not awkward but relaxing. We let ourselves be carried away on each page, clinging to Thérèse like a little girl who would be held by the hand so that she does not get lost. Patrick Modiano is one of those authors who know how to bring their characters to life. Difficult to let go of such a novel without feeling guilty at the idea of a new abandonment of its heroine!
La Petite Bijou is a precious book, written fluidly and reads quickly. In short, the perfect novel to discover the world of Patrick Modiano!
