Monsieur Linh and His Child

Originally published in France in 2005, this novella describes the touching story of an unlikely friendship between two men, Monsieur Bark and Monsieur Linh. A recent refugee overwhelmed and bewildered by a foreign city, Monsieur Linh wants nothing more than to protect the baby granddaughter with whom he arrived. However, a chance encounter on a park bench with Monsieur Bark, a local man unable to find solace since his wife died, marks the beginning of a moving friendship that will form new patterns and memories from the confusion and sadness of both their pasts. Unable to speak each other’s languages, the two men communicate in sounds, tones, gestures and smiles to reach a mutual understanding that transcends language.

Avoiding the maudlin pitfalls of similarly tender tales, Monsieur Linh and His Child depicts the story of a refugee and his grandchild new to an intimidating city with reserved and simple warmth. Deliberately vague in its setting, the focus instead rests on the power of the unspoken, memory, and, above all, friendship in a novella with all the control and restraint of a short story. Indeed, the tale delivers a twist that would not be out of place in a short story, and which, whether the reader predicts it or not, makes for a sudden and emotive ending. The sustained distance between how the rest of the world sees Monsieur Linh and his grandchild and how we, the reader, see them creates a shimmering illusion that is skilfully broken down in the final lines of this novella.