A long Impatience

The following is a partial translation of French author Gaëlle Josse’s novel Une longue impatience (2018). It is the portrait of a mother, Anne, whose teenage son Louis doesn’t come home one April evening in 1950. After discovering that he’s signed on to the crew of a cargo ship to escape his stepfather’s abuse, she spends the rest of her life waiting for him to come back, going each day to stand on a cliff outside of their village in Bretagne, and staring out over the ocean, hoping to spot the boat that will bring him back to her. A Long Impatience is a story about love and grief, and it prompts us to think about relationship, forgiveness, and healing. It asks us to resist flattening these complex human experiences. The translation includes selected portions taken from throughout the novel to present a cohesive narrative.

The translation is preceded by a translator’s note, in which I discuss many of the novel’s themes and explain my approach to the translation of this novel, which is rooted in prioritizing the author’s poetic style. With this work, I hope to offer—to anyone who desires it—an opportunity to reflect on language, memory, and relationship.