LES MOTS QU ON NE ME DIT PAS
WHAT THEY ARE NOT SAYING
Rights sold to China (Thinkingdom), Denmark (Arvids), Germany (Ullstein), Italy (Corbaccio), Spain (Nube de Tinta/Penguin Random House) and Taiwan (Aquarius)
Her parents are deaf mutes. She isn’t. She can speak and hear, very well. Too well sometimes. She hears everything, all the noise they make. Because, contrary to popular belief, deaf people do make noises. Noises when they drink and eat and sign. “Wet” noises, disturbing intimate noises. And then there are their funny voices, their grunts and groans.
As a little girl she was proud of her parents, parading their differentness like a badge of honour. With her teenage years came shame and fantasies of a “normal” family.
In 144 pages of razor-sharp writing, Véronique Poulain introduces us to the world of the deaf. Within the family, among friends, in the car, at the supermarket, on holiday, at a dance, at school, in the privacy of the bathroom, or bedroom… Sometimes amazed, often amused, we discover another language and another culture in which facial expressions and body language are full of imagery and devoid of taboos, and, rather than trying to replace our means of communication, they enrich and enliven it. Véronique Poulain’s funny and unexpected narrative is the result of this dual culture. Seeing her face light up gives a clue to the energy bundled into these pages.
Véronique Poulain lives in Paris and works in performing arts. She was stand up comedian Guy Bedos’s personal assistant for fifteen years. What They’re Not Saying is her first book.