LF201 Café Littéraire: The Life Before Us, by Romain Gary

The Life Before Us ("La Vie devant soi"), by Romain Gary (writing as Émile Ajar), is a tender, bittersweet novel about an unlikely family formed on the margins of Parisian society. The story is narrated by Momo, an Arab boy raised in the apartment of Madame Rosa, a Jewish Holocaust survivor and former prostitute who now cares for the children of other sex workers. As Momo grows, he pieces together the truth of his origins and struggles to understand a world marked by prejudice, poverty, and the lingering traumas of the past. What might sound bleak becomes, in Gary’s hands, deeply humane—full of humor, affection, and luminous moments of connection. The novel explores how love can take unconventional forms, how dignity can flourish despite hardship, and how two wounded people can become each other’s home. Poignant, funny, and quietly devastating, The Life Before Us invites readers to see vulnerability and compassion where society often looks away.

Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered before 13 February, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

The book group meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails, following registration.

Registration for the February meeting opens on Saturday, 17 January.