The Friendly, hyper-secure residence for seniors brand new in the south of France, welcomes its first retired couple. Martial and Odette (especially Odette) were persuaded by a real estate agent with long teeth and a shiny glossy brochure. And everything looks perfect: the houses, the furniture, the garden, the guardian, the clubhouse and its array of meaningful activities. You bet ... For many weeks, Martial and Odette are alone, and the novelty soon gives way to idleness as heavy as the clouds hide the sun touted by the catalog. Finally, the arrival of a second couple is announced, and that's excitement. Maxime and Marlène land, and the two couples get to know and work to make friends despite the social differences. Then it was Leah who comes alone to settle in this little paradise. It intrigues the other 4: single, widowed, ...? Now they are 5, they will be able to claim the opening of the clubhouse. They are Nadine parachute, host "cannabisée" and not really thrilled with his new job. The cast of characters is completed by the keeper, more worrying than friendly, but hey, we do not ask him to sell vacuum cleaners ... There is then a camera in a dream setting where bit by bit, by little things, slowly but surely, tensions arise, bizarre behaviors appear ... Pressure mounts until the denouement, almost apocalyptic.
A sentence to illustrate the mood: "Yes, it was like living on vacation, with the difference that the holidays had an end whereas here there was not It was a bit like s'. they had paid eternity, they had no future. Proof that we could do without. "
Book short, easy to read. The humor is black, cynical tone, and fierce criticism of our fears (fear of aging, fear of strangers ...) I liked how the author to depict the shift of an appearance of normality to a not so gentle madness. But the brevity of the book is also its flaw: I remain a little on my hunger, so many things could have been deepened, the characters would have been less caricatured.
Still, it's an enjoyable read, perfect for the holidays.
