Ladivine

A novel

Fiction & Literature, Saga, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy, Contemporary, Literary
Cover of the book Ladivine by Marie NDiaye, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Marie NDiaye ISBN: 9780385351898
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Publication: April 26, 2016
Imprint: Knopf Language: English
Author: Marie NDiaye
ISBN: 9780385351898
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication: April 26, 2016
Imprint: Knopf
Language: English

From the hugely acclaimed author of Three Strong Women—“amasterpiece of narrative ingenuity and emotional extremes” (The New York Times)—here is a harrowing and subtly crafted novel of a woman captive to a secret shame.

On the first Tuesday of every month, Clarisse Rivière leaves her husband and young daughter and secretly takes the train to Bordeaux to visit her mother, Ladivine. Just as Clarisse’s husband and daughter know nothing of Ladivine, Clarisse herself has hidden nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman, whom she dreads and despises but also pities. Long ago abandoned by Clarisse’s father, Ladivine works as a housecleaner and has no one but her daughter, whom she knows as Malinka.

After more than twenty-five years of this deception, the idyllic middle-class existence Clarisse has built from scratch can no longer survive inside the walls she’s put up to protect it. Her untold anguish leaves her cold and guarded, her loved ones forever trapped outside, looking in. When her husband, Richard, finally leaves her, Clarisse finds comfort in the embrace of a volatile local man, Freddy Moliger. With Freddy, she finally feels reconciled to, or at least at ease with, her true self. But this peace comes at a terrible price. Clarisse will be brutally murdered, and it will be left to her now-grown daughter, who also bears the name Ladivine without knowing why, to work out who her mother was and what happened to her.

A mesmerizing and heart-stopping psychological tale of a trauma that ensnares three generations of women, Ladivine proves Marie NDiaye to be one of Europe’s great storytellers.

Translated from the French by Jordan Stump

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

From the hugely acclaimed author of Three Strong Women—“amasterpiece of narrative ingenuity and emotional extremes” (The New York Times)—here is a harrowing and subtly crafted novel of a woman captive to a secret shame.

On the first Tuesday of every month, Clarisse Rivière leaves her husband and young daughter and secretly takes the train to Bordeaux to visit her mother, Ladivine. Just as Clarisse’s husband and daughter know nothing of Ladivine, Clarisse herself has hidden nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman, whom she dreads and despises but also pities. Long ago abandoned by Clarisse’s father, Ladivine works as a housecleaner and has no one but her daughter, whom she knows as Malinka.

After more than twenty-five years of this deception, the idyllic middle-class existence Clarisse has built from scratch can no longer survive inside the walls she’s put up to protect it. Her untold anguish leaves her cold and guarded, her loved ones forever trapped outside, looking in. When her husband, Richard, finally leaves her, Clarisse finds comfort in the embrace of a volatile local man, Freddy Moliger. With Freddy, she finally feels reconciled to, or at least at ease with, her true self. But this peace comes at a terrible price. Clarisse will be brutally murdered, and it will be left to her now-grown daughter, who also bears the name Ladivine without knowing why, to work out who her mother was and what happened to her.

A mesmerizing and heart-stopping psychological tale of a trauma that ensnares three generations of women, Ladivine proves Marie NDiaye to be one of Europe’s great storytellers.

Translated from the French by Jordan Stump

More books from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Cover of the book Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Fermat's Enigma by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Stuffed by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Religion for Atheists by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Pieces of Happiness by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book The Crossing by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Voyage of the Sable Venus by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book November by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Ratner's Star by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book The Mermaid's Child by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book ¿Por qué ese idiota es rico y yo no? by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Women and Jewish Law by Marie NDiaye
Cover of the book Sacrilege by Marie NDiaye
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy