“Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.”

— Patrick Modiano, Rue des Boutiques Obscures

“Many years afterwards, we attempt to solve puzzles that were not mysteries at the time and we try to decipher half-obliterated letters from a language that is too old and whose alphabet we don't even know.”

— Patrick Modiano, So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood

“Nuestro acercamiento no sólo cambió su futuro, también transformó nuestro pasado.”

— Édouard Louis, Lucha y metamorfosis de una mujer.

“Nous sommes une communauté de désirs, non d'action.”

— Annie Ernaux, Regarde les lumières mon amour


“Perhaps it was one of those mild, sunny winter days when you have a feeling of holiday and eternity-the illusory feeling that the course of time is suspended, and that you need only slip through this breach to escape the trap that is closing around you.”

— Patrick Modiano, Dora Bruder


“Sauver quelque chose du temps où l'on ne sera plus jamais.”

Annie Ernaux, Les Années

“I realize that I have left part of myself in a place where I shall probably never come back.”

— Annie Ernaux, Shame