Malika Ferdjoukh

Les sœurs Verdelaine, qui sont en fait cinq, vivent dans un univers comparable à une bulle, qui prend la forme d’une immense villa perdue en bord de mer, vulnérable à la pluie et au vent. Dans cette Vill’Hervé, comme elles l’appellent affectueusement, gravitent les planètes de leurs histoires, toutes entremêlées. Après le décès de leurs parents lors d’un tragique accident de voiture, il a fallu réapprendre à vivre. Redonner du sens à l’ordinaire, trouver de nouveaux repères.

Les récits enchâssés de Quatre sœurs nous rappellent Les Quatre Filles du docteur March, ou comment l’on peut être heureux-se lorsque l’on perd tout et que l’on n’a rien, si ce n’est le bonheur d’être aimé. Aux dures réalités de la vie et à ses difficultés, la maison répond par des airs de folie douce. Un lieu animé par une fausse légèreté et le gazouillis quotidien de ses habitant-e-s, animaux ou humain-e-s, spectres ou vivant-e-s, de passage ou résident-e-s. La villa devient finalement le personnage central, l’immobile repère des agitations des Verdelaine.… (meer)

I was so primed to like this. Five quirky orphaned sisters (I guess the title refers to the fact that they each have four sisters?) live together in a quirky old house under the guardianship of the oldest sister and an absent, quirky old aunt. I was hoping for something akin to the [book:The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy|266904] or maybe something even something on the darker and heavier side. What I got was a muddle that got mired somewhere in the gap between those two visions.

The girls are sad that their parents are dead. But, hey, the parents are still around as ghosts! But, hey, even though they talk to their daughters constantly, there seems to be no point for them to be in the story.

And the sisters are not so much quirky as annoying or one-dimensional. One's an outright mean girl who drags the story down every time she appears. Another is an adventurer who gets involved in a ghost mystery (not her parents, other ghosts) that goes nowhere important. The rest have nothing much to contribute.

I have only myself to blame for falling into this blah book, as I did not notice until I had finished the fine print on the title page that says that this is an adaptation of the author's French novel. Reading graphic novel adaptations when I have not read the original work rarely turns out well for me, and books like this prove the necessity of the boycott I usually practice. And maybe I need a second rule about French writers?

I like the art at least.… (meer)