Charloose
French, Éditions Cousu Mouche, 2024
“It’s exhilarating to constantly be in transit
We never hang on for long we leave people
stuck along the road
In their habits their little quirks
Their morning routines
Their non-negotiable sessions of jogging pottery Pilates
Mountain biking sewing salsa angling Christmas dinners
Or their traditional morning pint
In the same local pub
And we move on
we skim and we move on”
“Maybe I would have done well to sit smoking quietly in the hospital, go home a bit, wait for disability benefits to buy cigs. Show up at two or three exhibitions for friends who have broken into the world of culture to grab free glasses of fizz. To fear nothing, surrounded by my little mountains.”
Set free, torn apart, two lost souls in search of Rimbaud
In Charloose, Nina Pellegrino’s first novel, two drifting souls go in search of salvation. A little dishevelled fairy and an alcoholic in the throes of withdrawal rush from the psychiatric hospital to Rimbaud’s grave in Charleville, guided by the fragile hope of a fresh start. But they have never known how to go straight: their paths cross, go astray, collide and plot a path of raw and chaotic poetry.
The incisive and touching story is an unvarnished exploration of life’s twists and turns, abandoned dreams and small victories amid the chaos. With Charloose, Nina Pellegrino has produced a vibrant debut novel that defies categorisation and offers a real stylistic breath of fresh air.
- Title
- Charloose
- Publisher
- Éditions Cousu Mouche
- Translation rights
- Olivier Humbel, olivier@cousumouche.ch
- Publication date
- 2024
- Pages
- 268
- ISBN
- 978-2-940576-84-5
- Awards
- Prix Ève de l’Académie romande 2025
Author
Nina Pellegrino
Born in 1998 in Sion, Nina Pellegrino leads a life as eclectic as the characters she depicts. Between unlikely odd jobs—chairlift gate operator, boat repairer, masseuse, luxury burger maker, actress—and her study of literature, her life is one of contrasts. Currently based between Montreal and Valais, in Charloose, she delivers a novel that hits you right in the gut.
Photo: Public domain