“L’épaisseur D’un Cheveu” by Claire Berest
My thoughts on reading this novel at the start of the 2023 literary season in France.
Claire Berest tackles the theme of feminicide within a modern couple living in Paris.
It’s the summer of 2023.
Vive aka. Violette and Étienne live in Paris.
Vive is a bubbly girl who loves life to the full. She’s involved in a cultural association and is trying to break through as a photographer.
Étienne is constantly seeking recognition from his peers, and has been a proofreader at a publishing house for over twenty years.
Étienne is working on a project. One that will change his life.
Vive and Étienne have been a couple for 10 years.
“L’épaisseur d’un cheveu” (The thickness of a hair) tells the story of a couple who end up tearing each other apart.
The turning point in the criminal act often comes down to “the thickness of a hair”, as Etienne de Greeff famously put it.”
Daniel Zagury, The Barbarity of Ordinary Men.
This book is written in French, part of the 2023 literary season in France, and is not translated into English.
It may be, but I can’t give you the information.
If you enjoy reading new authors and don’t mind reading in French, I suggest you read on!
I bought this book to accompany me on my trip to the USA.
October 2023, a year has passed since my darling and I began planning this three-week trip with our children.
A trip that will take us from the West Coast to the East Coast.
I never leave home without a good book in my bag.
I love the atmosphere of airports. Those moments when time stands still, when it’s okay to sleep with your clothes on, a cap over your eyes, dance to TikTok, trilogies on your PC, listen to music with headphones on, fight over a power socket, or just… read a book, for the pleasure of escaping.
I literally devoured this novel.
I consider myself a slow-reader. I take the time to read every word to immerse myself in the story, and enjoy every chapter.
I know I’m hard to please.
I like Stephen King’s horror stories, biographies of existing characters (Memoirs of a Geisha by Yuki Inoue, Life by Keith Richards…) or fictional biographies (Because I Hate Korea by Kang-myoung Chang).
But also Jean-Christophe Grangé’s detective novels that take you to the bottom, and the terrible Le Chuchoteur: Dieu se tait. Le diable murmure by Donato Carrisi — which I fully recommend!
And last but not least, Haruki Murakami’s wonderful books, which transport you to metaphorical worlds.
I wanted a book that was easy to grasp, without unnecessary descriptions, without a multitude of characters — whose names I systematically forget.
I just wanted to read.
I let myself be sucked into Vive’s story, each page drawing me to the next, chapters flashing before my eyes.
The reading is accessible, the sentences short.
The vocabulary is precise and well-chosen.
Author Claire Berest plunges us into the minds of her characters. She unabashedly reveals their intentions and darkest thoughts.
Excerpt p. 71
It’s going well with Vive, we’re a solid couple, that’s what Étienne had been repeating to himself in petto at regular intervals for the past ten years. With Vive, we’re a solid couple,” he’d always say, with the knowing air of a connoisseur, when he indulged in a tiny personal confidence at the end of dinner with a friend. Solid was an adjective that Étienne appreciated; it had an ivory color, clean and deep.
This is a book I’d be happy to lend to a friend who needs to (re)live.
The book’s font, the quality of its paper and its cover make it an object as I like them. Pleasant to look at, touch and feel.
I discovered this book and its author, Claire Berest, on the October 14, 2023 literary program: L’essentiel chez Labro on Canal +.
Claire was accompanied by other public figures including Frédéric Begbedeir — I appreciate his outspokenness, his books and his longevity on our screens. My love of reading began with his book 99 francs.
During the interview, Claire Berest stated that investigative work is the minimum of honesty that writers owe their readers.
Funnily enough, I found this intention in her book, in Étienne’s posture, when he carefully corrects the novels sent by authors to the publishing house where he works.
It’s the same when Claire Berest answers the presenter’s question about her husband Abel Quentin’s work: “I’m sure my husband would hate me to talk about him, but I’m sure it will be an excellent story”.
This is why I like Claire Berest.
She has the right words, and the right ones.
My analysis of the novel
I liked “L’épaisseur d’un cheveu” for :
- The characters’ straightforward tone. When Vive thinks her husband is a jerk, she tells him so.
- Discovering the unmentionable thoughts of Étienne’s character. I wanted authenticity and wholeness. I got it.
- The love story, a modern story that speaks to and resonates with all of us.
I didn’t like it: I’m still searching.
The story is fast-paced, with each chapter taking us a step further down into the minds of the characters.
Little by little, we discover their aspirations and frustrations.
Excerpt p. 119
And Vive suddenly behaved in a frightening way, out of nowhere: she began to howl.
A great, deep, throat-scratching, vocal-cord-scratching, streetwise, shameless rattle; an explosion. Go ahead, Étienne, scream. You too, scream. For once in your life! Good God! SHOUT.
The style is polished and totally accessible.
I felt the influences of former French teacher Claire Berest, particularly in her precise choice of words and literary references, which deepen the story.
I felt immersed in Vive’s culture. I understand Étienne’s anguish over his perpetual need to honor the great authors of past centuries, and their arguments over the classification of works by genre in their library.
The view is omniscient, and we are in turn in the mind of each character, including the secondary ones.
A special mention for this passage, which made me laugh out loud! I myself have teenagers at home, and it’s fun to immerse myself in their minds.
The story is about love, married life and the individual within it.
Before you become a couple, before you let your “I” disappear into a duo, a “We”, for months or even years on end. There’s an “I”.
A single “Being” with personal aspirations, ambitions, wounds and fears.
To bury the “I” that we are too deeply, to forget it, is to risk its resurgence.
That’s how I understand this novel.
A stifled cry that resurfaces in the most violent and spiteful way possible.
Vive is a woman who wants to live in her own way, at her own pace, without having to put up with her husband’s decisions.
Étienne thinks things are set in stone.
He doesn’t realize that his wife aspires to something else, that she’s attracted by a stronger force that drives her.
Vive is an independent woman of our time, eager to invent a future of her own, alone and surrounded.
Quite simply, Vive represents what every woman wants: to form a couple with her loved one, while retaining her individuality and preserving her secret garden.
In 2023, women are dreaming of a partner who will understand them, who will have that touch of madness to brighten their daily lives.
Excerpt p. 128
- Have you been having a bad day for three years? Because you live with me? Is that what you’re implying?
- I’m sorry, I didn’t… No, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m brutal, because I’m tired. Tired… Étienne…
Who is this book for?
Claire Berest’s “L’épaisseur d’un cheveu” is for anyone who’s ever wondered about their place in a relationship.
We don’t yet know how easy it is to turn a life upside down, to slip gently into madness with one gesture or word too many.
Overall impression
All I want to do is discover Claire Berest’s other novels.
“L’épaisseur d’un cheveu” is an easy read, as much for its style as for the frantic race it takes us on.
I recommend it for anyone who doesn’t yet know the author, or who wants to put their love life or their madness into perspective.
I’m Carole Longe, Freelance Product Owner in System Design and expert in Mobile App projects.
I finalized this article on the train between Washington D.C. and New York.
I love reading, writing and sharing with the aim of creating connections with the World.
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Thank you for reading!
The names of authors and their works are linked to Amazon by a partner link.
The program quoted refers to its broadcast on the Canal + platform.
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