When I was planning which books and publishers I wanted to spend time with during #ReadIndies month, I had a pretty good idea of what I intended to read and cover. However, there’s always a spanner in the works – and in this case it was a very good one! I was approached by Influx Press, who I’ve encountered before when I read “Plastic Emotions”; and they kindly offered a review book of a new book they were issuing, “Self Portrait in Green” by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump. The description sounded very enticing, and as NDiaye is a new author to me, I was happy to accept – and I’m very glad I did!
Marie NDiaye is a French author with an impressive record; longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker International Priz, she’s also been awarded the Prix Femina as well as being the first Black woman to win the Prix Goncourt, which is the highest honour a French writer can receive. The author of a dozen plays and works of prose, her book “Self Portrait in Green” is a novella length piece of fiction, and it’s absolutely mesmerising.
The book is told in the form of non-chronological diary entries, and the unnamed narrator seems to be a troubled and perhaps unreliable one. The novella opens with the Garonne River preparing to flood – it’s a place that will haunt her throughout the book – and the narrator goes on to relate a series of encounters with mysterious green women. Whether taking her children to school, visiting her estranged family members, or conversing with a suidical woman who may or may not already be dead, the image of green women possesses her. Real or unreal, as the narrator explores her life and her past, the idea of women turning into these strange and elusive green females becomes an obsession, and in the end it’s hard to know whether they’re part of her imagination or whether they really exist…
“Self Portrait in Green” is beautifully written and as haunting as the women it portrays. The constantly shifting locations and imagery are unsettling, the prose hints at things which aren’t seen and it’s a book that raises many questions but leaves the reader with no real answers. There’s a hint of the Gothic, a sense that the narrator may be projecting her anxieties onto these other women and a real feeling that her perceptions are unreliable. It’s a fascinating piece of writing and of course the title does suggest that the narrator is as much a women in green as the others she encounters, whatever the significance of that colouring is… Is the green the environment, the threat it’s under or the threat it brings? Green is of course the colour connected with jealousy, and that *is* an emotion which appears in the book. It’s all very intriguing, and open to interpretation, which I rather love.
On the evidence of this, Maria NDiaye is an author whose work I really would like to explore. As I said above, the writing is quite beautiful, the shifting atmospheres she creates convincing and the nebulous reality discomforting at times. I’ve no idea if this is typical of her work, but it’s a remarkable book and I’m very glad that I had the chance to include it in #ReadIndies. “Self Portrait in Green” is published on 25th February, and I highly recommend it!
Feb 22, 2021 @ 09:46:12
An author I’ve yet to read, even though she’s been on the periphery of my radar for quite a few years. This does sound haunting and beautifully written, a suitable introduction to her work!
Feb 22, 2021 @ 10:35:11
Well, you’re ahead of me, because she was completely new to me! It’s a wonderful and hypnotic read and left me with many questions – I like a book that unsettles like that. Happy to pass it on to you if you like – it’s a slim one!
Feb 23, 2021 @ 08:44:43
That’s very kind of you, Karen! I’ll send you a DM. X
Feb 23, 2021 @ 10:17:31
😀
Feb 22, 2021 @ 11:59:53
It sounds intriguing,though I’m not sure if I can cope with being unsettled.
Feb 22, 2021 @ 14:57:53
It’s unsettling in the sense that she’s a bit of an unreliable narrator. She doesn’t seem sure of the reality of what she’s experiencing, and neither do you. But it’s quite fascinating and beautifully written.
Feb 22, 2021 @ 12:13:39
I think I have seen this novel on Twitter. It certainly sounds poignant and very well written.
Feb 22, 2021 @ 14:56:39
It’s beautifully written and very intriguing. An unexpected treat! 😀
Feb 22, 2021 @ 15:10:04
This does sound interesting, I like the idea of non-chronological diary entries, being unsettled by a text is brilliant when it’s well written and you care isn’t it?
Feb 23, 2021 @ 10:20:47
It is – she regularly unsettles you as you read and the slippery quality of the narrative does I suppose reflect the river she’s so focused on!
Feb 22, 2021 @ 17:52:59
I’ve run across her name quite a bit recently (maybe the Prix Goncourt?) but haven’t read anything of hers. An interesting voice to be sure.
Feb 23, 2021 @ 10:19:53
Yes, a very individual writer and the prose is quite beautiful and very atmospheric. She definitely does deserve those awards!
Feb 22, 2021 @ 18:54:46
I’ve had one of hers in the TBR for years … and over 1000 (other) excuses of why I’ve never got round to reading it. 🥴
Feb 23, 2021 @ 10:19:19
LOL. I feel your pain… So many books still waiting unread!
Feb 22, 2021 @ 19:25:28
After your review I looked up Marie Ndiaye’s details and she is certainly prolific, with the synopses of the novels suggesting tantalising stories waiting to be explored. Thanks for drawing attention to her via this title!
Feb 23, 2021 @ 10:18:58
Most welcome! I wish I’d come across her work before, because on the strength of this she’s definitely an author I want to read more of!
Feb 22, 2021 @ 21:59:44
That does sound powerful and intriguing and another great indie!
Feb 23, 2021 @ 10:18:19
It is! I can’t believe I haven’t come across her work before because it’s excellent!
Feb 23, 2021 @ 01:41:03
Wow! This sounds absolutely intriguing! I’m going to see if I can find the original in French. Thank you for yet another amazing review!
Feb 23, 2021 @ 10:17:52
Most welcome! I wish I was able to read it in the French but the translated version is amazing!
Feb 23, 2021 @ 19:23:28
I’ve read a few of NDiaye’s books – Ladivine was great. This has already been published in the US but luckily I don’t have a copy – though, as I was saying on Twitter, I’ve another two of her books to read first!
Feb 23, 2021 @ 20:54:06
LOL! Well, you’re more up on her work than I was. But this is great so I really do need to track down more!
Feb 26, 2021 @ 19:42:18
This sounds amazing and I’m so happy to see that it’s available through my public library (via a US edition, published by Two Lines Press, another indie). Assembling a narrative via the reading process: love it. Her other books look really interesting too: thanks.
Feb 26, 2021 @ 21:19:07
Oh excellent! I hope you enjoy it – I really do want to explore more of her books, such an interesting writer!
Dec 31, 2021 @ 07:02:06