DECRYPTION – Winner of the Goncourt Prize 2018 for Their Children After Them, Nicolas Mathieu depicts the disenchanted world of “open spacein his new novel Connemara. An unvarnished description of managerial culture.
We have the impression of having already met Hélène, the heroine of Connemara. A mother and (above all) an ambitious consultant, her working days are getting longer like her dark circles. This hyperconnected 40-year-old scrutinizes her emails as she jumps out of bed. After dinner, Hélène still tries to get her daughters to recite their homework between two slides and a glass of whiskey. Through the portrait of this overworked executive, Nicolas Mathieu recounts, among other things, office life at the time of conf-calls and flex office.
Read alsoConnemaraby Nicolas Mathieu: a season upside down
“I find myself halfway between realism and satire. I try to capture a lot of what the world of work is like, unvarnished», explains the author. And he knows what he’s talking about. Nicolas Mathieu worked as a clerk in works councils in liquidation. An experience in which he drew abundantly.
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