LITERARY FICTION
THE BEAST WITHIN HER
Marie has left her native countryside, and has taken a summer job in a Parisian brasserie. Staying with her parents’ friends, the husband regularly abuses her. So, she silences her shame and her pain, which leads the beast inside her to grow…
Camille Lysière
FORMAT: 148 x 207
PAGES:
WORDS: 64 000 approx.
PUBLICATION DATE:
PUBLISHER: Eyrolles éditions
ALL RIGHTS AVAILABLE
The Work
Marie has just graduated from high school. She leaves her hometown and takes a summer job in a Parisian brasserie. During her stay, she is hosted by a couple, her parents’ friends. He is a shadowy journalist. She is a frustrated housewife. Marie, who dreams of a future in literature, is honored to have Olivier take an interest in her. He enjoys chatting with her, he takes her seriously. Marie feels important when he invites her to his office for a private chat. But this beautiful relationship gradually goes off track. There is that one time by the library when he holds onto her a little longer than necessary. Should she have said or done something? Since then, Olivier comes to her room to talk. The first time he sits on the bed, imploring. The next time, she struggles, but it is not enough. And every other night he comes back. Marie is devastated. Had she seduced Olivier in spite of herself? So she silences her shame and her pain, which leads the beast inside her to grow. Marie is not alone. In 2009, she is experiencing what other 17-year-old women like her have experienced in another times. Claudine in 1937, Isabelle in 1973 and Amandine in 1990. Travelling through time, this striking novel gives us the same story: the tragedy and the arbitrary nature of rape that shatters destinies.
The Author(s)
Camille Lysière is a short story writer, novelist, and teacher in Pau, France. She won the 2017 Gérard de Nerval short story contest. She is also the winner of the 2018 Melusine Prize for her collection of short stories Compte petite, et deviens (Éditions Moires, 2017), the SAPC Melusine award, was finalist for the Augiéras award and the 2018 SGDL award for the best collection of short stories. She regularly participates in short story contests and received the 1st prize of the 2019 Don Quixote Award for her short story Le porteur de peine.
Key Sales Points
– A audacious form for an ambitious project, to show the universality of rape: each chapter unfolds the same story, but the time, the setting, and the main character is different.
– A work that triggers a raw emotion, carried by a lively, eloquent and intimate writing.
– The theme (rape, control) is contemporary and at the heart of recent bestsellers.