Crazy Genie
by Inès Cagnati (Génie la folle, 1976)
translated from the French by Liesl Schillinger
NYRB Classics (2026)
160 pp
A few years back, NYRB Classics published Inès Cagnati’s debut novel, Free Day (1973), and last month we got her second novel, Crazy Genie (1976), both in lovely translations from the French by Liesl Schillinger. Cagnati wrote four novels, and if these first two are any indication, I really hope we’ll see the others soon!
Crazy Genie is a sad story told by the young Marie, whose voice reminded me of the plainspoken yet profound narrator of Our Spoons Came from Woolworths by Barbara Comyns. From the beginning we come to understand that pretty much the only thing Marie wants is affection from her mother, whom the rest of the community calls Crazy Genie. Her mother, though, is more often than not distant, brushing Marie off, telling her to get out of her hair.
Yet Marie loves her. More than that, Marie simply loves. Starved for love in return she turns to a few pets, forming bonds that sustain her slightly while her mother works endlessly for villagers who can’t believe that a woman from one of the “best” families has fallen so far.
Marie, so often left outside, uncertain of her heritage or what might happen next, is essentially an unreliable narrator when it comes to details. But reading between the lines we understand well enough the ongoing tragedy. And then there’s always Marie’s yearning underlying it all:
I always wanted to tell her that I was there waiting for her, that I was so happy, so happy that she had come back this night again, that me, I loved her. but her face was full of silence.
How Cagnati managed to convey a heart so full of love and the desire to be loved amidst so much ugliness…amazing.
