The Red Sofa

In The Red Sofa, we meet Anne, a young woman setting off on the Trans-Siberian Railway in order to find her former lover, Gyl, who left twenty years before. As the train moves across post-Soviet Russia and its devastated landscapes, Anne reflects on her past with Gyl and their patriotic struggles, as well as the neighbor she has just left behind, Clemence Barrot.

Rocked by the train’s movements Anne is moved by her memory of Clemence, who is old and whose memory is failing, but has not lost her taste for life and adventure. Ensconced on her red sofa at home, Clemence loves to tell Anne her life story, mourning lost loved ones and celebrating the lives of brave, rebellious women who have gone before them. Eventually, Anne’s train trip returns her home having not found Gyl, but having found something much more meaningful—herself.
 
“A luminous novel about desire, a clear text about the joy of living.”—Prix Pierre Mac Orlan 2007

Michele Lesbre is a French writer living in Paris. David andNicole Ball have translated many books from French, including We Are the Birds of the Coming Storm, also published by Seagull Books.