Le compagnon idéal par Isabelle Minière

Abstract

Reviewed by: Le compagnon idéal par Isabelle Minière Eilene Hoft-March MiniÈre, Isabelle. Le compagnon idéal. Serge Safran, 2022. ISBN 979-10-90175-97-6. Pp. 176. "Love in the time of lockdown" could arguably serve as this novel's subtitle. Readers are hauled back to the inauspicious spring of 2020, confronted with our shared pandemic history, especially its European version: le grand confinement with its circumscribed mobility, restaurant closures, télétravail, and runs on toilet paper and pasta. "Comme si c'était la guerre" (34) observes the narrator of the world's resigned conformity to a common misfortune. While recent history undergirds almost every page, title, and cover suggest a different, less realistic story. Its vintage image straight from an early 50s romance novel illustrates the title's "ideal companion," a suited young man in the driver's seat of a convertible, arms in a proprietary embrace of a young woman. The image's outmoded romanticism constitutes a conspiratorial wink at readers. The narrator, Eva, certainly seems an unlikely proponent of such archaic claptrap. Clear-eyed and self-aware, she knows herself to be mildly unhappy, socially inept, and constitutionally timid. Eva traces her self-diagnosed behaviors to unhealthy family dynamics: a cold and critical mother, a sister who ranks as Mother 2.0, and a father who, she fantasizes, might be affectionate, though she has no proof of his disposition toward her. Eva prefers, in family or social gatherings alike, to withdraw from events undetected ("s'éclipser" 9). Equipped with just such a strategy, Eva attends her boss's birthday party, positioning herself on the periphery preparatory to her usual discreet exit. Enter the fortuitous "companion," her boss's brother, Jimmy (or perhaps Jeff, hesitates the narrator). A very brisk courtship ensues—texts, flowers, dinner, lovemaking, and a hasty decision to live together in Eva's apartment. That these events are all compressed into a few days speaks to those peculiar times when many were propelled by the decree of quarantining to choose almost irrevocably between virtual exile and overly cozy cohabitation. But Jimmy proves indeed to be the title's ideal companion. His personality conforms snugly to Eva's own, matching her every mood and supporting her every decision; there is no daylight between them. Here is where the plot begins to thicken and where the reviewer needs to hold back to avoid spoiling readerly pleasure. The narrative obliges attention to clues scattered throughout the text, further obliging a reassessment of characters and plot. Beyond reviving the history of a global pandemic most likely seared into this generation's memory, Minière projects the psychological wages of isolation that may be with us for years to come. Her novel is a quick, enjoyable read, but nowhere near as lightweight as its cover illustration projects. [End Page 243] Eilene Hoft-March Lawrence University (WI) Copyright © 2023 American Association of Teachers of French