Marie-Hélène Lafon, Histoire du fils (APRIL, 2025)

Marie-Hélène Lafon’s Histoire du fils is a poignant and beautifully crafted novel that traces the story of a family across the 20th century, weaving together memory, absence, and hidden truths. At its heart is André, a boy born in 1908 and raised by his aunt in Cantal, in the rural heart of France, while his mother, Gabrielle, leads a separate life in Paris. The absence of his father is a silent yet powerful presence in his life, shaping his identity and his understanding of love and belonging. Through a series of interwoven vignettes, Lafon masterfully reconstructs the destinies of multiple generations, offering a fragmented yet deeply emotional exploration of family bonds, secrecy, and the passage of time. With her signature poetic precision and spare, evocative prose, she captures the weight of unspoken words, the deep ties to land and heritage, and the quiet dramas that shape a life.

Beyond its intimate narrative, Histoire du fils resonates with universal themes of filiation, legacy, and the complex ways in which family history is written and rewritten over time. Lafon’s exploration of rural and urban divides in France, as well as her deep sensitivity to the landscapes of memory, make this novel a rich and immersive experience. Awarded the Renaudot Prize in 2020, Histoire du fils is a testament to the power of literature to illuminate the hidden corners of personal and collective history. Through its understated yet deeply moving storytelling, the novel invites readers to reflect on the ties that bind us across generations, the weight of secrets, and the ways in which identity is shaped by both presence and absence.