In bookstores: Pierre Assouline, Alexandre Lasheras, Etienne Balibar…

He says he "spent half a century not writing this book." It feels nourished by personal experiences, deep reflections on Judaism and war, and that's what makes it a precious testimony. But it's also a true novel with a terrible final twist and, above all, a wildly romantic plot. The narrator draws a parallel between October 1973—the Yom Kippur War, launched against Israel by a coalition of Arab countries—and October 2023—the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. In 1973, he was a student in Paris, galvanized by support for the young Hebrew state, and volunteered to help it fight its neighbors. There, he met a young girl named Esther, whose mission was to inform the families of the death of one of their own in combat. But he returned to Paris at the end of his mission without giving her any news. In 2023, he returned to Israel to show his support. And, by chance, he met Esther again. This Announcement , crossed by the unexpected memory of Leonard Cohen singing for the soldiers of Tsahal, is a kind of homage to the Israeli writer David Grossman and his wonderful A Woman Running Away from the Announcement (translated by Sylvie Cohen, Seuil, 2011). AS

In South America, the paths of three courageous women who have nothing in common will cross in the turmoil of a major migration crisis. Yumina, the Venezuelan, crosses the Andes mountain range in the hope of offering a