“Ne pas ouvrir”, the latest novel by Jean-Louis Sarrato

Toulonnais by birth and Revestois by adoption, Jean-Louis Sarrato, after a career as a primary school teacher, now devotes himself entirely to writing, a passion of his youth that endures. A student at Lycée Jean Aicard in Hyères, at the age of 16 he wrote “Et le combat cessa”, a detective play performed as part of the theater club. He then flew to the island of La Réunion, where, as a correspondent for a local newspaper, he gathered stories, tales, and legends. He left La Réunion for Paris, where he pursued a dual career as an actor, director, and author. He thus wrote a play, “Où étiez-vous quand Noémie s'est cousu le vagin?”, which Jean-Michel Ribes, then director of the Théâtre du Rond-Point, selected for the “Mardis midi des textes libres”.

RETURN TO THE VAR

Back in his native Var, he wrote several novels, including the noted “Faits Divers” and “Le premier domino”. Passing through Le Pradet, he enthusiastically presented his new novel: “Claire Dutilleul, a meticulous librarian and mother of two, leads an orderly existence: a husband, children, a highly organized daily routine... and, every night, her secret writing ritual, alone in a closed room. Until the day when, without explanation, an anonymous envelope lands in her mailbox. Inside: a photograph of her, taken without her knowledge. Soon, a second image. Then a third. No words accompany the mailings. No clues. Only this obsessive feeling of being watched, relentlessly. Certainties crack. Familiar faces become suspicious. The shadow of doubt spreads... and everything seems to lead to L'Œil, an elusive figure with a thousand faces. Who is following her? A stalker? A witness from the past? And above all: why?” A truly intriguing beginning for an excellent novel that drags us into a paranoid spiral and leads us, just like the heroine, to doubt everything and everyone. For those who were not at the launch evening, many catch-up sessions are planned between now and the end of the year. His recognizable silhouette, wearing his iconic red hat, can be spotted in many bookshops in Var or the Bouches-du-Rhône. •

The author will be at the Fête du Livre du Var at the Palais Neptune in Toulon (November 21, 22, and 23) at the stand of the Le Bateau-Lavoir bookstore.