Novel set in ANNAPOLIS, Maryland
Short novel set in PARIS
1st September 2026
Just A Little Dinner by Cécile Tlili, short novel set in Paris
TR: Katherine Gregor
Shortlisted for the 2024 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman
Winner of the 2023 Prix Littéraire Gisèle Halimi for Women’s Writing
Claudia and Etienne have invited two of the latter’s good friends, Johar and Rémi, to dinner. Claudia is cooking and finding the whole process to be quite a trial. As the clock strikes 20.00, Etienne suggests – perhaps more firmly than is needed – that Claudia should take a shower so that she is in a fit state, ready to welcome his friends.
Claudia is a physio, who is managing her workload and the prospect of trying to become pregnant. She feels a little down trodden, undoubtedly garnering the sympathy of the reader. The invited couple arrives separately and although Claudia may have a little news of her own, they prove to have larger than life information to share that somehow drowns the whole evening. Etienne finds himself trying to manage his growing discontent.
What starts as a just a little dinner with friends, turns into an unexpectedly fraught evening, with ripple effects that steer lives onto new trajectories.
The nuanced interactions and emotions are beautifully handled, as the story almost filmically slides around the room, focussing on different characters and their individual drives. Add in the sense of Summer heat at the end of August, with cloying big city compression, noise and humidity and the story gradually turns into a simmering pot of feelings and angst. Backstories fuel the fire and it is quite evident that this supposedly quiet evening will be a pivotal point in the lives of these four people.
Beautifully translated by Katherine Gregor, this novel probes the emotional crevices of the characters as they move through the evening.
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