“- Did you have a good week ?
I don’t know what to say. If I say yes, he’ll be sad – yes means it is no problem to live without him and the ‘Other’ is not so bad. If I say no, he’ll be very angry with Zélie and the ‘Other’ because I am unhappy. I say:
- So-so.”
Nine-year-old Ninon observes a world where adults don’t love each other anymore, where words are meaningless, a world replete with lies and resentment where everyone looks at her in disbelief and despair. Ninon decides to turn away from all this and to live with her father who has nothing left but her.
Together, they create the world anew. A house constructed out of thin air where they raise goats; they sell their products on the market, forget school and good manners, and do not worry about people’s opinion, and in particular about what the social worker, Madame Kaffe, thinks.
Say Yes, Ninon is a love story. The story of a little girl’s love for her father, and of a man’s love for his freedom.
Maud Lethielleux is a musician and theatre director.
Her writing is enriched by the encounters made and experiences gathered while living abroad. She has traveled from Rajasthan to Australia, Israel, Transylvania, New Zealand, Bosnia and India.