“It seemed like the obvious thing to do. I would use the village to provide the setting, tell an apparently harmless story, but, this time, with a very specific goal: pouring between the lines everything that I had thought it wise to hold in until then. Ana, you’re more than just a nurse; Ana, you’re not a roommate; Ana, you’re not a regular. Loving you is the first thing I’ve ever been sure of. Having done it badly is the second, wanting to write a book to change the course of our relationship is the last.”

A novel about a breaking point in a relationship, a sketchbook about a hometown, Tout ce qui manque takes stock of everything that matters. Like John Fante of the villages, Florent Oiseau adds a dash of melancholy to his style, whose phlegmatic sarcasm is as moving as it is delightful.