Go out into the street and the first person you see will be the subject of your next book.
This is the challenge a struggling Parisian writer sets himself, imagining his next heroine might be the mysterious young woman who often stands smoking near his apartment … instead it’s octogenarian Madeleine. She’s happy to become the subject of his book – but first she needs to put away her shopping.
Is it really true, the writer wonders, that every life is the stuff of novels, or is his story doomed to be hopelessly banal? As he gets to know Madeleine and her family, he’ll be privy to their secrets: lost loves, marital problems and workplace worries. And he’ll soon realize he is not the impartial bystander he intended to be, but a catalyst for major changes in the lives of his characters.
The Martins is such a great read. A clever take on the blurred edges between truth and fiction.
(translated from the French by Sam Taylor)
