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This poignant World War II historical fiction unearths and honors the life of a young French Resistance fighter—from the
Struck by a name written on a facade of his new home, acclaimed author Hervé Le Tellier embarked on a quest to recover the history of André Chaix, a resistance fighter, a maquisard, killed at the age of 20 in August 1944.
Deftly combining historical fragments into a vivid narrative, Le Tellier invites us on a journey through one of the most troubled times: the inexhaustible Second World War. While avoiding simplistic, romantic tropes, he evokes the courage of a young man taking up arms, like many others, in what is also the story of a magnificent love with an equally impressive young woman, Simone.
Made even more powerful and necessary by the current rise of fascism,
About the author
Hervé Le Tellier is a writer, journalist, mathematician, food critic, and teacher. He has been a member of the Oulipo group since 1992 and one of the “papous” of the famous France Culture radio show. He has published numerous books of stories, essays, memoir, and novels, including the Goncourt Prize–winning The Anomaly, which has sold more than one million copies worldwide, All Happy Families, Electrico W, and Enough About Love.
Adriana Hunter studied French and Drama at the University of London. She has translated more than ninety books, including Marc Petitjean’s The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris and Hervé Le Tellier’s The Anomaly and Eléctrico W, winner of the French-American Foundation’s 2013 Translation Prize in Fiction. She lives in Kent, England.
Summary
Autofiction meets historical investigation in this compelling ode to a young French Resistance fighter killed during World War II—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Anomaly.
Struck by a name written on a facade of his new home, acclaimed author Hervé Le Tellier embarked on a quest to recover the history of André Chaix, a resistance fighter, a maquisard, killed at the age of 20 in August 1944.
Deftly combining historical fragments into a vivid narrative, Le Tellier invites us on a journey through one of the most troubled times: the inexhaustible Second World War. While avoiding simplistic, romantic tropes, he evokes the courage of a young man taking up arms, like many others, in what is also the story of a magnificent love with an equally impressive young woman, Simone.
Made even more powerful and necessary by the current rise of fascism, The Name on the Wall gives voice to the ideals for which Chaix died and questions our deepest nature, this desire to belong to something greater than ourselves, which leads to the best and the worst.
