A somewhat didactic early chapter describes the explosive (and real-life) arrival in 2001 of the French reality show “Loft Story,” in which everyday contestants spend 70 days trapped in a surveilled house together before being released back into reality, fresh prey for their newfound fans.
In de Vigan’s novel, both Clara Roussel and Mélanie Claux were schoolgirls when they watched its finale.
“They’d believed that Big Brother would be incarnated in an outside power, authoritarian and totalitarian,” de Vigan writes of Clara’s family.
“But Big Brother hadn’t needed to use force.
Their paths cross when Mélanie’s daughter, Kimmy, disappears outside her home in November 2019.
Persons:
Delphine de Vigan, Alison Anderson, “, ”, Delphine de Vigan’s, Clara Roussel, Mélanie, “ They’d, Vigan, hadn’t, Big Brother, Clara
Organizations:
YouTube, Paris
Locations:
Delphine, Vigan, French