Malicroix

“[A] charming back-to-nature fantasia … even the strange blood feud bequeathed from Malicroix against a neighboring clan has a timeless, romantic quality.” —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

“Readers partial to philosophical tangents will find much to enjoy here… . [A] work of tremendous lyricism.” —Kirkus

”[A] gothic historical par excellence … Bosco’s atmospheric investigation of the relationship between environment and mentality successfully merges haunted-house tropes and high modernism.” —Publishers Weekly

“In this vast prose-poem … the author takes the time to show the harrowing of space in which the house is to live like an anguished heart… . The real drama of Malicroix is an ordeal by solitude.” —Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space

“[Malicroix is] about solitude, and the anticipation of salvation … Bosco’s book is stranger than I’d anticipated. ‘Islands favor the moon,’ someone warns him as his residence on the island is about to begin. ‘Dreams form over water, peopling it with unreal, captivating shapes; and if you dream too much, Sir, you will never leave this isle of magic.’ I’ve read elsewhere that we’re all having strange dreams at this moment; if for some reason you aren’t, Malicroix approximates that experience.” —Rumaan Alam, The New Republic’s Critical Mass: Text Message

“The psychology of isolation, described with keenly observed interiority, fever dreams, and exalted, nearly animistic descriptions of nature are the highlights of these pages… . There is an almost mythical family curse at work on our narrator, but the real thrill of this book is the poetic power of the writer.” —David Todd, Booktrib (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

“Bosco is sometimes thought of as kin to his near contemporary Jean Giono … [Malicroix] is both exciting and philosophical. The perfect book for a time when so many of us are thinking a lot about place.” —Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau

“Henri Bosco has done a masterful job of creating a sense of place … I loved this book, for the beautiful writing (and translation!) allowing me to contemplate the slow pace that we ourselves are now living … It is a time of seclusion that proves Martial’s worth, as he must overcome severe adversity and his fears… . perhaps we, too, would be well-served to sit quietly by the fire, calmly reviewing our lives.” —Dolce Bellezza

“Bosco sustains a feeling of eerie uncertainty… [Malicroix’s] atmosphere … is of a sinister dream-fog.” —M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review

Henri Bosco (1888-1976) was a French writer nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. His family was of Provençal, Ligurian, and Piedmontese origin, and much of his work focused on Provençal life.

Joyce Zonana is a writer and literary translator. She is the author of the memoir Dream Homes: From Cairo to Katrina, an Exile’s Journey. Her writing has been published in Hudson Review, Signs, and Meridians, among other publications. She received an ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship for her translation of Malicroix.

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