Delphine de Vigan

Michka est en train de perdre peu à peu l'usage de la parole. Autour d'elles, deux personnes se retrouvent: Marie, une jeune femme dont elle est très proche, et Jérôme, l'orthophoniste chargé de la suivre

roman

Les gratitudes

Book about ageing, about memory loss and deconstruction of the concept of the retirement home. Important to read.

Ekaterina Extermann

Elise

"Les Gratitudes" was a moving story with the language disorder aphasia and gratitude as central themes. Micka is an old lady after my own heart. I smiled and laughed (didn't cry although is was a bit sad) while reading this relatively thin book, but was actually hoping for a bit more romance. Despite the beautiful writing style, I was sometimes really annoyed by the many repetitions of events.

Ethel

A wholesome story about the true meaning of gratitude

Key words: contemporary fiction, novel, disease, aging, gratitude

I read this book in one go as it is very easy to read and short. At the beginning, I didn’t really know what to expect of the story. I thought it was going to be about people being grateful for others in their life. However, the story focuses on three different characters which a focus on Michka, the old lady. She is wholesome, I love her. There is also Marie, a young woman really closes to her, and Jerome, the speech therapist following her. There are very interesting and Delphine made a great job at making them reel. The story is raw, poignant, full of emotions. It talks about pain, grief and indignity. But there is also hope, devotion and happiness. It felt so authentic, I got into all three characters and endured everything with them. I cannot say I didn’t cry at the end. 

I totally recommend this book. 

4/5

Les gratitudes roman

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