Le Journal

Feigel uses her own experience as a starting point to examine the past, present and future of separationThis book about child custody is, unsurprisingly, full of pain. The pain of mothers separated from their children, of children sobbing for their mothers, of adults who have never moved on from the trauma of their youth, and of young people who are forced to live out the conflicts of their elders. Lara Feigel casts her net across history and fiction, reportage and memoir, and while her research is undeniably impressive and her candour moving, at times she struggles to create a narrative that can hold all these tales of anguish together.The book begins with a woman flinging herself fully clothed into a river and then restlessly walking on, swimming again, walking again. This is French novelist George Sand, driven to desperate anxiety as she waits to go into court to fight for the right to custody of her children. But almost immediately the story flicks away to Feigel’s own custody battle, and then back into the early 19th century, with Caroline Norton’s sons being taken away in a carriage in the rain by their father. Continue reading...

Avec Maudite soit la guerre, Gwenaël Bulteau signe un polar historique publié par La Manufacture de livres, attendu en librairie le 5 mars 2026. Situé dans le Paris éprouvé de 1917, le roman mêle enquête criminelle et drame intime sur fond de Première Guerre mondiale, en suivant des personnages pris entre élans patriotiques, secrets enfouis et choix impossibles dans une ville sous tension.

It may not have lived up to its celebrity offspring, but this season has offered brightness in the January gloom. Plus, David Baddiel meets Wilfred the ugly cat. Here’s what to watch this evening8.30pm, BBC OneA secret Traitor. Fiona v Rachel. The family tree theory. And a contestant with a naked handstand Instagram account. It may not have reached the sensational heights of the recent celebrity series, but The Traitors has delivered on the naughty thrills we need in January. It’s also given us a good bunch of Faithfuls who have actually sniffed out Traitors – but will they make it to the end? Get ready to scream at the screen throughout the final. Hollie Richardson Continue reading...

Une certaine tristesse, de Mattis Savard-Verhoeven, paraît le 5 mars aux éditions La Peuplade et suit Noé, un enfant qui, après un exercice de simulation de fusillade dans son école, choisit de ne pas retourner en classe et de prendre la fuite pour écrire son histoire, celle d’un garçon marqué par la mort récente de sa grand-mère et hanté par une question simple et vertigineuse : comment faire pour ne pas disparaître.