Têtes hautes
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Summary:
In 1924, six years after the war ended, life goes on. Two sisters live in Paris and two others in Douarnenez. Yarig and Angèle are sardine workers and have a hard life at the factory. Angèle is called upon to work as a maid for the sisters Carole and Suzanne, who come from the lower middle class and are students in Paris. Angèle is mistreated and suffers from homesickness. As for Yarig, she becomes one of the first fervent female strikers in Brittany. Carole regularly dresses up in drag and goes out to gay nightclubs in Paris. Suzanne, who wants to become a mosaic artist, a profession dominated by men at the time, will do everything she can to achieve her goal.
Edited by: Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
Comment:
The narrative alternates between chapters set in Paris and chapters set in Brittany, giving the novel a good pace. The characters of Yarig, the sardine seller, and Carole, who is transgender, are particularly well described and developed. Carole, in particular, regularly dresses as a man and asks herself many questions about her gender and sexuality.