Lucy Scholes takes a closer look at Ladivine, an unsettling masterpiece from the precociously talented French writer Marie NDiaye, which was longlisted for the International Booker Prize
- Longlisted
- The Man Booker International Prize 2016
- Published by MacLehose Press
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Marie NDiaye’s harrowing and subtly crafted novel of a woman captive to a secret shame that ensnares three generations
Clarisse is an orphan. Or so she tells her husband and daughter. But every month she makes a secret visit to her mother Ladivine - a poor Black housekeeper. This 25-year deception takes its toll. Her husband leaves her, frustrated at the gulf of silence that has grown up between them. She finds solace in another man, but this peace comes at a terrible price. It will be left to her daughter - also called Ladivine, without knowing why - to work out who her mother was and what happened to her.
Marie NDiaye
Marie NDiaye was born in France and published her first novel at the age of 17
More about Marie NDiaye 
Jordan Stump
Jordan Stump has translated many authors into English from French, including Marie Redonnet, Eric Chevillard, and Honoré de Balzac
More about Jordan Stump Other nominated books by Marie NDiaye
A mediocre witch, in a mediocre marriage, tries to pass on her gifts to her twin daughters, who, it becomes apparent, have skills far beyond her own
Other nominated books by Jordan Stump
A mediocre witch, in a mediocre marriage, tries to pass on her gifts to her twin daughters, who, it becomes apparent, have skills far beyond her own
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