Wërra

Federico Jeanmaire

NARRATIVE. ANAGRAMA, 2020. 408 PAGES.

Wërra is a Germanic word, from which the Spanish "guerra" derives, as well as the French "guerre", or the English "war". And indeed, Jeanmaire‘s new novel is a literary "attempt at war". He describes a British attack on the French port of Saint Nazaire, occupied by the Germans, on 27/28 March 1942. As he reconstructs the events step by step, his gaze expands in different directions, falling on Combat!, the American TV series of his childhood, the Argentinian- British Falklands War of 1982, or the current combat missions of French pilots in Syria. Wërra focuses on those killed in the surprise night attack of 1942, their names give name to the chapters of the novel, which thus becomes a requiem. But Jeanmaire not only dismantles the myths of heroism and bravery, he also creates alternative ideas for human acting. A very personal book, a book against oblivion, an important book for our time.

«Jeanmaire speaks in this epic war novel of hatred, courage, common sense and responsibility that can be found behind the horrors of conflict.»
EL PAÍS

 

«With Wërra, the author performs a splendid exercise in style in which he brings together anti-war literature, memory and reflection. It is one of those works, in a very personal style, which catches and difficult to put down.»
DIARIO VASCO

 

«This is an innovative idea in which constructive ingenuity is used to take a particular approach to warfare. The approach has an avant garde dimension that, interestingly, is combined with the presence of an omniscient narrator like that in a nineteenth-century novel who explains what he is going to do and interferes in the narrative, sometimes advancing it, other times glossing it.»

ZENDA LIBROS

 

«His attention was caught by a hunched old man who, when putting on a military jacket, stood up straight like a child. The story was right before his eyes. The result is a delicious book, Wërra, in which Jeanmaire recreates the British attack and reflects, of course, on peace and war, but also on courage, madness, nationalism, religion and hate.»
CLARÍN

 

PUBLISHED BY: Spanish worldwide ANAGRAMA | Greece OPERA

Other titles from Federico Jeanmaire:

Share ·

Provença 293, 4-1 - 08037 · Barcelona +34 93 832 70 88 · · Member of ADAL

Tres Tristes Tigres