Onitsha

Onitsha is the name of a small river port on the Niger, the central setting of the initiatory journey undertaken by Fintan, a twelve-year-old boy. Boarding the ship Surabaya with his mother Maria Luisa, known as Maou, on 13 March 1948, they set out to join Geoffroy, husband and father to the two of them. The narrative is partly autobiographical, since Le Clézio himself, at the age of six, made the reverse journey. In reading Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Le Clézio no doubt drew much of the material for this wonderful mosaic, this mythological and historical portrait of a West Africa combining dream and revolt.

A good copy with a fine provenance: Sylvie Genevoix.

A discreet but influential figure in French letters, Sylvie Genevoix, after studying classics at the Sorbonne, began a career in publishing. She started at Plon as a press attaché for the éditions 10/18, then coordinated the literary departments at Plon-Perrin-Julliard, becoming literary director at Julliard. From 1992 to 2005 she was literary director at Albin Michel, before being appointed to the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), where she worked on the development of local television and the accessibility of programs for people with disabilities. She also chaired the mission for the French language and Francophonie. She grew up at Les Vernelles, the family home acquired by her father Maurice Genevoix in 1927, where she developed a deep attachment to the Loire and to family memory, which she recalled in La maison de mon père (2001).