Men

A French actress living in Los Angeles falls hard for a Cameroon-born actor whose obsession with directing a film adaptation of Heart of Darkness leads them both to his home country.Readers looking for a feminist hero probably won't find her in Solange, the white film actress at the center of Darrieussecq's (All the Way, 2013, etc.) exploration of race, celebrity, and (mostly) unreciprocated love. Solange is instantly smitten when, at a party thrown by her friend George (as in Clooney, surname implied), she sees Kouhouesso, whose mere presence reduces her to "to silence and solitude. Soon she's sleeping with this handsome, self-serious man, whose "big idea"--a film version of Heart of Darkness, shot in Africa--will always, it's clear from the start, be his first priority. Kouhouesso will disappear for days in between their encounters, texting occasionally but generally aloof. And so it goes: he works, she waits, and though their relationship turns more serious, it never really evolves. As a commentary on race, Darrieussecq's novel doesn't always break new ground ("Up until now she had scarcely thought about Africa, other than to send off a cheque"). As a chronicle of the humiliations and occasional joys of loving someone whose own feelings are more ambiguous, though, it feels queasily accurate. The story works especially well once the narrative shifts to Cameroon, where the details of the film shoot, from an ill-fated attempt to get a group of Pygmy girls to perform for the camera to various prop and costume setbacks, add some real comic edge to the proceedings. A sometimes biting, often sharply observed take on a relationship one would surely rather read about than be part of. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2016
It's love at first sight for French actress Solange when she lays eyes on enigmatic Cameroonian actor Kouhouesso at a party in the Hollywood Hills. Solange takes him to bed but wants more than a tryst, much more. But Kouhouesso remains elusive, focusing his energies on his passion project: directing a new version of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. As Kouhouesso begins putting together financing and casting the film with high-profile actors whose status will help get the movie off the ground, Solange angles for the role of the Intended, Kurtz's fiancee, who appears in only one scene. Kouhouesso considers several better-known actresses before finally settling on Solange. And so lovesick Solange follows Kouhouesso to his native Cameroon, hoping the film shoot will allow her to peel back his protective layers and truly bring them closer. Though readers might be tempted to slip Solange a copy of He's Just Not That Into You, they'll find themselves enchanted by Darrieussecq's silken, dreamy prose and this sly exploration of female desire and interracial couplings.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)