The French Father

A fictional account of a conversation between Elkann's father and his neighbor in the cemetery, the Jewish artist Roland Topor

 

Two men are buried alongside each other in the cemetery of Montparnasse. One strict, upper middle class, a firm adherer to the values and principles of the bourgeoisie, the other an unconventional man whose exuberant lifestyle and creative imagination echoed in his roaring laughter. Having now become companions in the afterlife, under the ironic and tender smile of the sculptured angel guarding their tombs, this novel describes the dialogue these two men might have had. Elkann finds harmony in the clashing proximity of his father, a man of stern measures, and the unruly artist. What could have been a story of grief becomes one of peaceful vitality united through a shared inheritance and faith.