Fic­tion

Lit­tle Jewel

  • From the Publisher
June 29, 2016

For long stand­ing admir­ers of Modiano’s lumi­nous writ­ing as well as those read­ers encoun­ter­ing his work for the first time, Lit­tle Jew­el will be an excit­ing dis­cov­ery. Unique­ly told by a young female nar­ra­tor, Lit­tle Jew­el is the sto­ry of a young woman adrift in Paris, impris­oned in an imper­fect­ly remem­bered past. The city itself is a major char­ac­ter in Modiano’s work, and time­less moral ambi­gu­i­ties of the post-Occu­pa­tion years remain haunt­ing­ly unresolved.

One day in the cor­ri­dors of the metro, nine­teen-year-old Thérèse glimpses a woman in a yel­low coat. Could this be the moth­er who long ago aban­doned her? Is she still alive? Des­per­ate for answers to ques­tions that have tor­ment­ed her since child­hood, Thérèse pur­sues the mys­te­ri­ous fig­ure on a quest through the streets of Paris. In clas­sic Modi­ano style, this book explores the elu­sive nature of mem­o­ry, the unyield­ing pow­er of the past, and the deep human need for iden­ti­ty and connection.

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