In literature, the art of satire isn’t easy to master, the author risks being too gentle with his characters, and the text may lose sharpness and acidity. Or on the other hand, if the author stays at too great a distance, his characters will sound cold and remain shallow stereotypes, hard to relate to.

In Monument national, Julia Deck hits that sweet spot in between, turning her novel into a cheerful achievement, one that you won’t put down before the very last page and many good laughs!

Iconic French actor, Serge Langlois makes the most of his retired life in his mansion in the Chevreuse Valley, with his wife, Amber, a former Miss Provence and current star of Instagram, their adoptive children, Josephine and Orlando, and their many domestics. But the chaos of the past 5 years — from shadowy drug deals and the yellow vest’s protest to President Emmanuel Macron and the Covid-19 pandemic — will invite itself into Serge‘s vie de chateau and threaten its peaceful but fragile existence…

Monument national seems to come straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. I can’t stress enough how pleasing it is to follow its Clue (Cluedo) like intrigue, this perfectly paced noir-dramedy, and will refrain from sharing any more details of it, except to sing the praises of Julia Deck’s paramount talents at capturing the current woes of French society.

Monument national, a novel by Julia Deck, Minuit.

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For more information

Listen to Julia Deck’s conversation with Olivia Gesbert, La Grande Table, France Culture.

Read Christine Mercandier’s review of Monument National in Diacritik.

Miriam Bridenne

After almost two decades of working in publishing, and a few round trips between Paris and New York, Miriam has decided to settle down at Albertine to do what she enjoys most: recommending books she loves. Somehow this also includes taking bizarre pictures for Albertine's social media outlets.

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