A Nail, A Rose
Stories of longing, desire, and everyday life
Madeleine Bourdouxhe author Faith Evans translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pushkin Press
Published:6th Jun '19
Should be back in stock very soon
This collection of stories reveals the emotional turmoil of women navigating desire and dissatisfaction, as seen in A Nail, A Rose.
In A Nail, A Rose, Madeleine Bourdouxhe crafts a poignant exploration of longing and dissatisfaction through a series of interconnected stories. Each narrative delves into the complexities of daily life, where the ordinary is disrupted by unexpected emotional currents. For instance, a heartbroken woman finds herself both attacked and pursued by a mysterious stranger, illustrating the chaotic interplay between vulnerability and desire. Similarly, a maid's experience of wearing her mistress's luxurious coat reveals her yearning for intimacy, not just with her lover but with the life she observes from a distance.
The backdrop of A Nail, A Rose is the turbulent aftermath of the Nazi occupation of Europe, a period that deeply influences the characters' lives and choices. Bourdouxhe's writing resonates with the existential and surrealist movements of her time, capturing the essence of women's experiences through a lens of piercing insight. One striking story depicts a woman giving birth amidst the chaos of foreign troops invading her city, forcing her to flee with her newborn, symbolizing the resilience and fragility of life.
Translated with remarkable clarity by Faith Evans, these stories illuminate the conflicted hearts of housewives, mothers, and maids. Bourdouxhe's unforgettable tales are infused with desire and melancholy, memory and fantasy, revealing the emotional furnace that simmers beneath the surface of everyday existence.
Madeleine Bourdouxhe is one of the more remarkable literary discoveries of the last few years * Jonathan Coe *
An unforgettable, remarkable achievement... What [Marie] does, no less, is stake a claim to Bourdouxhe's rightful position alongside Proust and Virginia Woolf as an explorer of the interior life * Sunday Times *
Madeleine Bourdouxhe is the laureate of yearning... greatness lies in her ability to conjure the most exquisite and heart-rending moments from the most quotidian circumstances. Everyone should read her. -- Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of His Bloody Project
Often dream-like but are centred on the daily life of women... quiet and acutely described... magnificent' * Guardian *
The publication of A Nail, A Rose marks the rediscovery of a remarkable writer . . . Her lonely, fantasising women call up Rhys and Mansfield, and her strange, shifting images suggest the surrealism of her friends Eluard and Magritte . . . She has long been forgotten; now, at the end of her life, people are talking of her again. -- Hermione Lee * Observer *
A stunning collection . . . Bourdouxhe's writing is absolutely one of a kind. Engaging with it is a moving, powerful and transformative reading experience. -- Kate Kerrow * The Heroine Collective *
These are the stories of a very gifted, very honest writer, who moves quite naturally between fidelity to fact and fidelity to the furnace beneath it, of memory and fantasy and bereavement. * Times Literary Supplement *
The stories here reveal a poetic imagination which combines the startling imagery of the surrealists with intensely female preoccupations . . . One of the most striking features of the book is Bourdouxhe's consistency of theme and vision. She swiftly reveals herself as a singular, resonant voice, and it is astonishing that this excellent translation by Faith Evans represents Bourdouxhe's very first appearance in English * Literary Review *
Bourdouxhe's women have almost untold depths of feeling and trauma...But they are never bowed: they love, they mourn, they desire, they dream, they take risks. Above all, they never lose their sense of self... * Translating Women *
Vivid... exquisite... stylish * Book Jotter *
ISBN: 9781782275138
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
224 pages