ÉCRITURE

CatalogueFall 2013

Music 2-3 Young readers 12Essays 3-4 History 13Fiction 5-7 Psychology 13Fantastic 8 Cooking 14Creole literature 8-9 Well-being 14-15Thrillers 10-11 Spirituality 16

Founded in 1991, our group publishes approximately 200 titles per year. Books appear under four imprints :

• L’ARCHIPEL (mainstream, both fiction and non-fiction)• PRESSES DU CHATELET (spirituality, health, self development)• ECRITURE (literary fiction and essays)• ARCHIPOCHE (massmarket paperback)

New titles

MusicSaxo Promenade from my Life

(Balade en saxo dans les coulisses de ma vie)

Manu Dibango

2

Coming from a protestant environment, ManuDibango comes to France to continue his studieswith only 3 kilos of coffee to pay them. As astudent at the beginning of the 1950’s, hediscovers jazz music and learns to play the piano.While he is preparing the French Baccalaureate, hebecomes initiated to saxophone and starts toproduce himself in “clubs”. A long musical tripwill follow in Belgium and principally in theTabou of Brussels.This book is the self-portrait of a musician, whosetalent finally forces thanks to a factor that henames himself: luck. The process of this artist is apermanent paradox: in this Africa towards whichhe persists to devote himself, he was neverrecognize for what he’s worth; in France heremains an African before being a musician; but inthe rest of the world he’s a star.In this book, the patriarch looks into the achievedway and remembers the men and the spacestowards which the music brought him. Beyond hisstory, Africa, France, and America are appealedwith passion.

Publication: November 2013Pages: 304 c.

Born 12th December 1933 in Douala (Cameroons),Manu Dibango has published more than 20 albums.He has collaborated with many musicians, includingFela Kuti and Herbie Hancock. He is best known forhis 1972 afrobeat single “Soul Makossa”. He hasbeen appointed a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2004.

July 1974. Jacques Brel casts off his sailing boat for atrip that is going to lead him to the “treasure island”, ofwhich he has been dreaming since his childhood. He issoon alone with his partner Maddly, crosses the PacificOcean, and drops anchor in the Hiva Oa bay(Marquesas Islands). It should have been a simplestopover, but after a serious warning shot in the firstpart of the journey, it will be his last residence.Fred Hidalgo recounts the unknown – and passionate –story of a long-term sailor and big heart pilot. At thesame time report, biographical essay, novel, andinvestigation, his book reveals the secrets of the writingof the last album (in 1977) and follows the GreatJacques, step by step, until the end of his life.

Publication: Sept. 2013Pages: 384

Jacques Brel. The Adventure Begins at the Dawn(Jacques Brel. L’aventure commence à l’aurore)

Fred Hidalgo

Essays50 Innovations that will disrupt our life by 2050

(Les 50 innovations qui vont bouleverser notre vie d’ici 2050)

Eric de Riedmatten

Publication: October2013 - Pages: 304

To recover your eyesight, to treat yourself with medicinalcells, to live in bridges built with neo-concrete, to makesolid water raining to avoid harshness, to offer yourself agolden retirement in self-managed homes, to use plasticas solid as glass, to walk endlessly with shoes thatassimilate effort and fatigue…Before 2050, all these innovations will be part of oureveryday life. They currently lie dormant in theresearches centre of the big international companies.Some are embryonic; some others are nearly ready…Immediate boarding to 2050…The 50 innovations are chronologically presented, eachon 8 pages, classified by categories. The articles havebeen validated by a scientific committee. 3

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The Mistakes and Objections in the Bible(Contradictions et invraisemblances de la Bible)

Gerald MessadiéAn attentive reading of the Bible leads to reveal manycredibility gaps, mistakes and objections. So: Can Godbe seen? NO: “But it is not possible for you to see myface, for no man may see me and still go on living.”[Exodus 33:20] YES: “And Jacob gave that place thename of Peniel, saying, I have seen God face to face, andstill I am living.” [Genesis 32:30] Who excited David,Satan, or God ? “Now Satan, designing evil againstIsrael, put into David's mind the impulse to take thenumber of Israel.” [1 Chronicles 21:1] “Again the wrathof the Lord was burning against Israel, and movingDavid against them, he said, Go, take the number of

Israel and Judah.” [2 Samuel 24:1] “And the hare, because the horn of its foot isnot parted in two, is unclean to you” [Leviticus 11:6] (yes but the hare is not aruminant). Right from the first pages, we find two different versions of thecreation of Eve: in the first one, she is created right after Adam; in the second one,she is created only after an indeterminate period, like a “help” for the first man.Book by book, from the Genesis to the Apocalypse, without forgotten theapocryphal Gospel, Gerald Messadié, like an exegete, reveals 216 anomalies inthe sacred book of the Jewish and Christians – which are most often due to thecopyists’ clumsiness or the translators’ ignorance.Publication: October 2013 - Pages: 336

500 Years of Scientific Impostures(500 ans d’impostures scientifiques)From self-hoaxing to on-going mistakes made out of ignorance,about ninety chronological entries with, as a title, a famous case or ascientific untruth and the date at which it was said.Rights sold in Turkey (Pegasus)Publication: March 2013 - Pages: 396

4000 Years of Historical Myths(4000 ans de mystifications historiques)

Gerald Messadié goes back over all “truths” that made up our historyand remained unproved. Years of research allowed him to reassess

legends, myths and hoaxes that we all take for granted.More than 10 000 copies sold.

Publication: September 2011 - Pages: 472

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FictionJacques Laurent

1800. Fulfilled by destiny, become Mme de Salanches, wouldCaroline have lost for all that her irresistible seductionpower? Not at all, and her husband will learn it at his expenseon the banks of Lake Como, in Italy.Handsome Livio only is, to the general de Sallanches, apopular rebellion’s chief. But Caroline, in the grip of a lovedisappointment, will see him as an attractive means ofvengeance. To the comely young madam, this is a whim; toGaston, this is a chance to pardon.When, on an impulse, Caroline decides to go to St.Petersburg, her pardon will depend on the fate of battles. Perilwill charge itself with remembering Caroline that she reallyloves one unique man: her husband…

Publication: October2013 - Pages: 400

Sweet Caroline’s Whim(Un caprice de Caroline chérie)

Sweet Caroline(Caroline chérie)

14th July 1789. As they are taking a walk inVincennes Park, Gaston begins to make Caroline deBièvre’s sentimental education. Walkers hearthreatening rumours coming from Paris.Soon, Caroline’s life is relentlessly mixed up withlove and policy. Fate will lead her to London,Cayenne, and Brittany. During her journey, ourheroin will successively be hunted by seducers’

Publication:April 2013Pages: 592and 608

desire and by the persecution of intolerant people. In order tosave her life and dignity, her strong temperament will encourageher to sacrifice some virtue… for the reader’s pleasure.

- a historical novel, absorbing and saucy written by a great author- a best-seller – more than 5 millions of copies sold – first published in 1947- translated into twelve languages, two film adaptations

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Tea Time(L’heure du thé)

Chantal Forêt

The Powerless Hearts(Les cœurs impuissants)

Valérie Hanotel

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Gabrielle and François Saint-Jean barely know eachother when they get married on the boat that bringsthem back in Saigon. François’s father has just had aheart attack and the young marine officer has to give uphis career to take back the reins of the family plantation.Excited by the exoticism, Gabrielle follows him. But in1910 her dream agonizes. As she is desperate to not be amother, she decides to get her couple out of theasphyxiation, buys a friend’s concession and, with somecoolies, cultivates acres of red ground by her own toplant rubber trees. When she gets sick, François hires ahalf-blood cousin, Arnaud Manville, to assist her. Hashe just introduced the tiger in the property? He wouldhave had the time to worry about it if his own plantationdid not threat to be on the rocks…

After having been separated with her little sister sincechildhood, Nelly is getting ready to meet Anne in arestaurant. But Anne doesn’t show up. Worried by hersilence, Nelly goes to her sister’s home, in the centre ofFrance, to meet Anne’s stepfamily. In the darkness of amaster house, at the bottom of an abandoned park, PaulMaréchal, Anne’s husband, and Alice, his mother,welcome like a relative the woman, whose existencethey did not know of. The old lady in black learns toNelly that her sister killed herself three days earlier in acar accident… Despite her reluctance to share theintimate of these unknown people, the suspicion that shealready feels pushes Nelly to stay to find answers to thequestions that she’s obsessed with and to discover whatreally happened to Anne…

Publication: October2013Pages: 304

Publication: May 2013Pages: 320

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Does God Love Wagner?(Dieu aime-t-il Wagner ?)

Patrice Séry

The Translucent Mornings(Les matins translucides)

Philippe Lacoche

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September 1968. Delphine, blond brunches, green K-way,starts the school year in a small working-class town.Jérôme immediately falls in love with her. But she firstignores him, and their love will take years to appear.Many years later, Jérôme, a tired and sad 60-year-oldman, comes back to the place of this first love. Everythinghas changed. Why does their story come to a sudden end?Would it be because of Jean Martin, a weird seducer,passionate by theatre, which slotted into their couple? Orbecause of their uncles, local chiefs of the Resistance,jealous guardians of their past? To rise up these mysteriesand calm his remorse, on a morning of December 2012,Jérôme takes his car and drives to find Delphine and thekey place of their love. Maybe it is not too late tounderstand?

Publication: August2013 - Pages: 224

Publication:Septembre 2013Pages: 528

Who is Paul Florimond? To everyone, he is a nationalisthandsome writer concerned with his reputation, whocasually drives around – between an unsustainablelightness and hot flushes – in occupied Paris in his Bugatti.Secretly, he is a man whose sensitivity contains a crackfrom the First World War and who maintains an unstablecorrespondence with his Argentina former spouse whogave him a son. The arrest of his old Jewish master fromthe Ecole Normale, the criticism from his family whocame to visit him to Paris during the winter 1943-1944,plunge himself into a deep doubt about his commitment.He accepts to take care of the deported man’s grand-daughter, to protect her from the French Gestapo andJewish’s predators. She will be the cause of a disturbingfeeling in his heart, which will bring him, between desireand remorse, on the edge of the abyss.

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FantasticLast Short Stories from Hell(Dernières nouvelles de l’enfer)

Jérôme LeroyThis anthology of about fifty short stories deals withabout all the themes of fantastic, horror, science fiction,and dismay. It tells of vampires, ghosts, aliens, theDevil, children possessed by demons, mutants,psychopaths killers, and, of course, zombies… LastShort Stories from Hell is therefore a tribute to the greatpopular literature as used the Americans pulps, whichwere devoured by millions of readers. But Jérôme Leroyalso pays tribute to the great masters of the B – even Z –movies, like Georges Romero or John Carpenter. At thesame time, he has fun with making a radical changewith the codes of the fantastic genre and with givingback a different and critical view of our society throughthese short stories.Publication: May 2013

Pages: 290

Creole LiteratureThe Saint-Auberts

Raphaël Confiant

Raphaël Confiant, one of the most famousFrench Caribbean writer, offers a Creole frescoin five volumes, which covers Martinique’shistory from 1900 to 2000.We follow the Saint-Auberts’ story into acolonial world which is marked by the slaverytraces and by the strength of republican rolemodels of a social class that is looking forimpose through instruction and political action.

Two volumes already available: 1st volume : November 2012 - 416 pages2nd volume : Spring 2014 - 416 c. pages

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Short stories from Creole Worlds(Nouvelles du monde créole)

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A teenager, Queen, in quest of her origins, hears her great-grandmother’s voice at night. It tells her in Creole herwoman life made of misery and toil at the time of “TheGreat Disaster”, the revolt that has marked, in Martinique,the awareness of the slaves’ situation and survival.Cut off her origins, Queen is unfamiliar with this past, butshe lets this voice guide her and she enters into the revoltmovement called “bellies’ revolution”. Its partisans are inquest of an identity, which has been stolen from them byyears of colonisation. Queen discovers her past, as somany horizons formed by sorrow and feelings, by coloursthat she wants to show. But how to express this story?

The Mazurka of Womenin Search of Love Affairs

(La mazurka perdue des femmes couresse)

Mérine Céco

Through this interlacing of women voices is developed a polyphonic novel, whichis in search of a language, a tone, a means of relating, of rebelling against theofficial History – the one of the winner – and against the agreed blindness of mostof the people. Another voice, the “critical voice”, accompanies the story withsociological, linguistic, and historical considerations.Publication: October 2013 - Pages: 144 c.

This book gathers ten emblematic short stories from thetoday Creole universe, by ten of its most memorable andpromising writers: Dominique Batraville (Haiti, 1962),Charles-Henri Fargues (Martinique, 1960), DanyLaferrière (Haiti, 1953), Dominique Lancastre(Guadeloupe, 1958), Catherine Le Pelletier (FrenchGuyana, 1958), Mérine Céco (Martinique, 1970), AniqueSylvestre (Martinique, 1946), Khal Torabully (Mauritiusisland, 1956), Karen Lauréote (Martinique, 1987), withoutforgetting Raphaël Confiant (Martinique, 1951), who is thecoordinator and preface writer of this anthology as well.Publication: November 2013 - Pages: 260 c.

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ThrillersMichel Embareck

Notice of Funerals(Avis d’obsèques)

Death Hurts(La mort fait mal)

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On an autumn morning, the corpse of Fabrice Kerbrian,alias “Fabulous Fab”, is found at the edge of a publicgarden. The autopsy reveals that he has been shot at pointblank range with a bullet behind the head. Surprising fact,the gun used by the murderer is a Japan gun from the40’s. For which reasons has this heir from a regional pressempire – on the brink of a bankruptcy – been murdered?And by who? A jealous husband – the man was arunner –, any unhappy investors? Or does a ghost fromthe past know about some heavy secrets of the Kerbrianfamily? Under the pressure of a careerist procurer, thepolicemen from the Criminal Investigation Departmentfollows up many leads…

When the commercial centre of a small country town isdestroyed by flames, the insurance company asks to VictorBoudreaux – a former hammer thrower with an impressivestature, now a private “psychopath and suffering frommigraines” detective – to find out the origin of theaccident.Boudreaux – who lost his family in a fire and had sworn tonever again take charge of this sort of affairs –nevertheless accepts the mission. Doesn’t he have anyaffair to discuss with the little middle class of this town?On site, he will make the acquaintance of JulietteBaumann, a journalist who also weighs for the criminalact. But their investigation interferes with the juicyproperty scheming of some local bigwigs…

Publication: August2013 - Pages: 304

Publication: August2013 - Pages: 288

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Black Widow(Veuve noire)

Michel Quint

Paris Chaos

Noël Simsolo

*

In the night of the Allies’ landing in Normandy (5th-6thJune 1944), Jean Leblanc keeps a watch on the Germanofficer Friedrich Wolf when he goes out of the Pigallecabaret to steal him an envelope. But the officer is shotdead before his eyes by a man who runs away on a bike.A young member of the Resistance, Paul Saltion, goes outof a carriage door, picks the victim’s pockets, and takesaway the envelope that Leblanc wanted and that containsthe picture of a Velasquez’s painting, strategicdocuments, and the list of conspirators who are preparingan attack against Adolph Hitler.While the thief is tracked by the Gestapo, the Frenchpolice, the underworld, and the Resistance, Leblanc, whois working for a German collector who is in the service ofGoering, finally recognizes him among the extras of TheDevils envoys by Carné…

Publication: October2013Pages: 242

Publication: Sept. 2013Pages: 352

11th of November 1918. Léonie Rivière, a young warwidow who hopes to subsist by becoming a reporter,encounters Edgar Prouville, a demobilised soldierfurther to a wound. They quickly start a passionate affairand Prouville, who is starting a career as paintingbroker, stores at Léonie’s home, in Montparnasse, astock of artists’ canvas, of which he hopes it would havea good rating: Modigliano, Picasso… But he disappearsand leaves his canvas. Helped by Norbert Rameau, aphotograph who was gassed in the front, Léonie willinvestigate through the post-war years Montparnasse.An investigation who will lead her to a quadruplemurder committed in spring 1917 on the Chemin desDames…

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Young readersPascale Perrier

Publication: October2013 - Pages: 192

We are five years after Happiness in Five Letters. Chloéis 20 years old, she now has a boyfriend, Benjamin, butshe still does not know what to do with her life.Indeed, it is a pity that all has not become easier.One would even say that the limits are shaky. Must wealways say all the truth to find happiness? Benjamin doesnot want at all his parents to discover the existence of hisgirlfriend, but why? And what is Sacha – Benjamin’sbrother – hidding? Concerning Marjolaine, she putsherself in a difficult situation and will ask Chloé to take iton in her place…Among lies and daily little cowardice, life goes on untilreaching a climax that will blow up landmarks andchoices.

Happiness in Five Lies(Le bonheur en 5 mensonges)

Publication: March2013 - Pages: 208

“Mom is dead. A month ago, everything was fine. It hadonly needed four weeks and bam, it was over.”Chloe, fifteen years old, will learn how to live alone.Well, not really alone. There’s Josephine, her big sister,who becomes her legal guardian. There’s also Gaspard,her brother who loves video games and operas. And let’snot forget her father who lives in a hut in Polynesia withhis new wife, their four sons and their environmentalwhims. And last but not least, Marjolaine, her best friend,whose family is so perfect (especially if you don’t looktoo closely at it)...During five years, on the day of her mother’s deathanniversary, Chloé receives a letter entrusted to asolicitor.

Happiness in Five Letters(Le Bonheur en cinq lettres)

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HistoryKennedy or the Invention of Lie

(Kennedy ou l’invention du mensonge)

Stéphane Trano

Publication: Nov. 2013Pages: 320 c. Psychology

Cease Sacrificing Yourself, Start Thinking About You(Se sacrifier, à quoi ça sert ?)

Gene Ricaud-François

Publication: Sept. 2013Pages: 240

Love, affection, dependence, guilt, disappointment, afraidof abandonment: emotional and love relationships areformed by ambivalent feelings. The newborn baby’sphysical and psychological dependence evolves into anemotional dependence in adulthood, and that sometimesleads to sacrifice oneself to keep love for each other.However it is essential to make a difference between love,self-sacrifice, and renouncement that leads to frustrationand resentment.By studying the different variants of sacrifice, within acouple, a family, or in society, Gene Ricaud-Françoisreveals the unconscious schemes, the hidden benefits, thecollateral sufferings, and offers ways to free oneself fromthis form of alienation.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy has been the first politicianinvented by the new post-war dominating media – thetelevision – and modelled by marketing.After his death, his legend has been carefully kept up byhis family, and then conveyed by historians. Though – hisobsession with women, his dangerous relations, themisguided ways of his political opinion, the resources ofhis rise to power – he represents all that America dislikes:concealment, perjury, disloyalty, corruption.Fifty years after his death, the mystery that is best hiddenfrom the American icon does not lie in his murder, but in arealness completely occulted by the myth.

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CookingYiddish Cook

(Cuisine Yiddish)

Alain Taubes

Well-beingCook Pleasure

(La cuisine plaisir)

Marie Borrel

Publication: Sept. 2013 - Pages: 320

Publication: October 2013Pages: 144Collor illustrations: 150

With this book, we discover a new way to eat fond offood, with balanced meals, without any forbidden orfrustration.To make up with taste and be regaled without any guiltyfeeling, Marie Borrel first reminds of all three principalideas: our health is in our plate, we have to learn how tosavour, our food is full of symbols and feelings.Anti-stress, anti-cholesterol, anti-virus, anti-age, anti-diabetes, anti-tiredness, anti-insomnia food… Beyondtheir tastes, all the foods have particular virtues. We haveto learn how to use them to improve our health.This guide includes practical advice, tests and exercises.

Sweet and sour gherkins, stuffed carp,minced liver, marinated herrings, veal injelly, “pikl fleysh”… As much typicalplates of Yiddish cook.From first course to dessert, thisillustrated guide gathers 180 traditionalrecipes, but also hand-turns and grand-ma secrets. Specialities names appear inHebraic letters; at the end of the book, alexicon explains the main Yiddishwords.

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Blooming Sexuality in 15 Stages(Sexualité épanouïe en 15 étapes)

Claudie Caufour

Gourmet Steam Cooking in 15 Stages(Cuisine vapeur gourmande en 15 étapes)

Marie Borrel

*

Publication: October2013 - Pages: 160 c.

Publication: October2013 - Pages: 160 c.

This guide offers a process at the heart of the physical andemotional reality of the feminine sexuality.In 15 progressive stages, the author suggests to betterunderstand the sexuality of every woman, by firstanalysing her sexual experience, to then assimilate newphysical know-how. She also puts the emphasis on theunderstanding of the cognitive mechanisms – knowledge,believes, value judgements, thought systems… – thatrestrain the access to pleasure. The emotional dimensionof sexuality also is tackled.These benevolent advices, without any taboo or sham,will help each woman to replace her body at the centre ofthe experience of sexual excitation and delight.This book is to enable every woman to put back sexualityat the heart of her life.

What could be healthier than steam cooking? It respectsfood and their nutrients, without the need of any fats. Intothe bargain, steam cleanses the contents of our plates bytaking away a part of polluting substances!Steam cooking looks boring? It goes with diet andconvalescence? Not at all! Because steam also is thecooking method which preserves products’ flavour best:meats, poultries, fishes, crustaceans, vegetables, fruits; butalso herbs, or spices…This book offers a 15-stepped process to become a “chef”while having a good time…It first presents the numerousbenefits of steam cooking, then gives the key to success.Finally 90 salty or sugary recipes throughout the bookreveals that health does not go with greed!

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SpiritualitySecrets and Mysteries from Easter Island

(Mystères et secrets de l’Île de Pâques)

Gilles van Grasdorff

Forthcoming titlesJanuary-February 2014

* * *

Publication: Sept. 2013Pages: 368

Originally a few hundred inhabitants lived alone to Mata-Kite-Rani, the island where eyes look at stars. They arealone but protected by the moai, limestone colossusesstanding facing the ocean.On 6th April 1722, the Dutch sailor Jacob Roggeveenlands on this island lost in the middle of the ocean. He isat the origins of a legend that never ceased to develop andthat attracts on the island sailors, then missionaries,colonists, and explorers. Nowadays, geographers,ethnologists, and archaeologists succeed each other.Gilles Van Grasdorff investigates on those who helped inknowing better the Easter Island’s secrets and mentionsthe recent discoveries on the moai.

EssaysVenise, Devils and Wonders (Venise, démons et merveilles) by Marc AlynGrace Kelly’s Last Night (La dernière nuit de Grace Kelly) by Bertrand TessierAllah’s Rebels (Les rebelles d’Allah) by Martine Gozlan

HistoryRasputin, Prophet or Impostor? (Raspoutine, prophète ou imposteur ?) by Luc Mary

NovelPublisher! (Editeur !) by Emile Brami

Well-beingDetox Recipes in 15 Stages (Recettes detox en 15 étapes) by Marie Borrel

SpiritualitySecrets and Mysteries from Noah’s Ark by Gilles Van Grasdorff