Press
excerpts for Anouar Benmalek’s Irina, un opéra russe
Ed.
Emmanuelle Collas (2025)
Critical
Acclaim & Press Reviews
Major French Outlets
- Télérama: Rated TTT (Excellent).
"A beautiful tale of amorous passion... spanning several
decades" — Gilles Heuré.
- Le Figaro Magazine: Rated ***
(Excellent). "A vertigo of love... A delightful surprise... Great
talent... Captivating... A profound connoisseur of the Slavic world"
— Elisabeth Barillé.
- RFI: "In the purest tradition of the great
Russian novels". "Anouar Benmalek delivers a great novel of
modern times, powerful and poetic, wherein social realism mingles with the
marvels of the everyday, in the vein of Tolstoy, Pushkin, Bulgakov, and
other masters of Russian literature" — Tirthankar Chanda.
Literary
Journals & Cultural Media
- Mare Nostrum: "One of the major novels
of this literary season" — J-J Bedu. "A work of singular
ambition and architecture... a total opera where individual destinies,
caught in the ice of the Neva or the fatal steppes of Kazakhstan, become
the tragic arias of a History whose anonymous and brutal choruses still
resonate" — Raphaël Graaf. "A vast, intense novel that is
listened to as much as it is read".
- Femme Actuelle: "A Russian heroine... A tragic, romantic destiny... of unheard-of cruelty" — Cécile
Pivot.
- VLEEL: "If you love the great
Russian novels, this one will take you on a journey, lead you through a
multitude of emotions, and keep you hoping until the very end".
"At the height of his art, he employs an exceptional imagination and
powerful language to write these lives that speak of the splendor and
misery of Great Russia. A text of profound contemporary relevance" — Anthony Lachegar.
- Radio Orient: "The great novelist
Anouar Benmalek has just published Irina, un opéra russe... A long
love story set against a backdrop of political turbulence" —
François-Xavier de Calonne.
- En attendant Nadeau: "Rich in
historical references and eminently dense in literary emotion" —
Faris Lounis.
- COLLATERAL: "Aragon's verses often
came to mind... as the profound theme of the fiction: to seek, on the
threshold of old age, the woman loved forty years prior: 'One fine evening
the future is called the past. / It is then that we turn and see our
youth'" — Christiane Chaulet Achour.
International
& Regional Perspectives
- Le Matin d'Algérie: "The 2025 literary
season in France opens under the sign of Russia and timeless passions... A
must-read of the season" — Djamal Guettala. "Anouar Benmalek
signs a work where memory, pain, and exile intertwine like the invisible
threads of a human tragedy".
- Arts et Lettres du Monde:
"Anouar Benmalek, a marvelous novelist whom one never tires of
reading, time and again" — Kima Mori.
- Kapitalis: "An expansive and deeply
moving novel, traversed by the pain of exile, fidelity to memory, and the
fragile beauty of love... An intimate meditation on the human condition" — D. Guettala.
- El Watan: "Anouar Benmalek’s work
bears witness to a powerful will to interrogate the obscure zones of our
existences... its historical and emotional density undoes all
Manichaeism" — F. Lounis.
Bookseller
Commendations
- Librairie Antipodes: "Anouar Benmalek
offers us a powerful fresco on the hold that the past and its ghosts have
over our lives. This magnificent novel, with its delicate and mastered
prose, will resonate long within you".
- Librairie Mollat: "A novelistic opera where
love defies the tragedy of history, from Russia to Central Asia".
Author
Links
- Official Website: http://anouarbenmalek.free.fr/
- Blog: Blog Link
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram
Below is a structured Book Fair Catalogue Page
for Irina, un opéra russe, consolidating the critical acclaim and
technical details into a professional layout for international scouts and
publishers.
FOREIGN RIGHTS CATALOGUE: LITERARY FICTION 2025
Irina, un opéra russe (Irina, a Russian Opera)
Author: Anouar
Benmalek
Publisher: Éditions
Emmanuelle Collas
Publication Date: 2025
Category: Literary
Fiction / Historical Epic
Synopsis
A monumental fresco of the 20th century, Irina, un
opéra russe follows the tragic and romantic destiny of a Russian heroine.
Spanning several decades, the narrative moves from the frozen banks of the Neva
to the lethal steppes of Kazakhstan in the 1930s. It is a story of
"unheard-of cruelty" and "political turbulence," centered
on a man’s poignant quest at the threshold of old age to find the woman he
loved forty years prior. Benmalek delivers a "total opera" where
individual lives become tragic arias against the brutal choir of History.
Key
Selling Points
- A "Must-Read" of 2025: Hailed
as an "incontestable highlight" and one of the "major
novels" of the French literary season.
- Literary Pedigree: Written "in the
purest tradition of the great Russian novels," drawing direct
comparisons to Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Bulgakov.
- Critical Consensus: Awarded the highest
distinctions from France’s leading cultural authorities: TTT (Très
Bien) from Télérama and *** (Très Bien) from Le
Figaro Magazine.
- Universal Themes: A powerful exploration of the
"pain of exile," the "fragile beauty of love," and the
"emprise of the past".
- Author Stature: Anouar Benmalek is described as
being at the "summit of his art," offering a "powerful and
poetic" meditation on the human condition.
Critical Acclaim
"An opera where love defies the tragedy of
history." — Librairie Mollat
"A work of singular ambition and architecture...
hauntingly relevant today." — Mare Nostrum
"Rich in historical references and eminently
dense in literary emotion." — En attendant Nadeau
Author
Information & Media
- Official Website: anouarbenmalek.free.fr
- Social Media: Presence on Facebook and
Instagram.
"Irina,
un opéra russe", Anouar Benmalek,
Éditions Emmanuelle Collas ( 2025)
Extraits de
presse
ü TELERAMA
le note TTT (Très Bien)
ü Le
FIGARO Magazine le note ***(Très Bien)
ü RFI: "Dans
la plus pure tradition des grands romans russes"
ü "Un des
grands romans de cette rentrée littéraire" (J-J Bedu, Mare Nostrum)
ü "Un beau
récit de passion amoureuse... sur plusieurs décennies" (Gilles Heuré, Télérama)
ü "Vertige de
l'amour... Heureuse surprise... Bien du talent... Captivante... Fin connaisseur
du monde slave"
(Elisabeth Barillé, Le Figaro Magazine)
ü "Anouar
Benmalek signe un grand roman des temps modernes, puissant et poétique, dans
les pages duquel le réalisme social se mêle au merveilleux du quotidien, dans
la veine de la tradition des Tolstoï, Pouchekine, Boulgakov et autres grands
romanciers russes" (Tirthankar Chanda, Chemins d'écriture, RFI)
ü "Une œuvre
d’une ambition et d’une architecture singulières... un opéra total où les
destins individuels, pris dans les glaces de la Neva ou les steppes funestes du
Kazakhstan, deviennent les airs tragiques d’une Histoire dont les chœurs
anonymes et brutaux résonnent encore" (Raphaël Graaf, Mare Nostrum)
ü "Une héroïne
russe... Destin tragique, romanesque... d'une cruauté inouïe" (Cécile Pivot, Femme actuelle)
ü "La rentrée
littéraire 2025 en France s’annonce sous le signe de la Russie et des passions
intemporelles avec le nouveau roman d’Anouar Benmalek... Un incontournable de
la rentrée littéraire" (Djamal Guettala, Le Matin d'Algérie)
ü "Si vous
aimez les grands romans russes, celui-ci vous fera voyager, passer par
plusieurs émotions et espérer jusqu'au bout" (Les rencontres littéraires
VLEEL)
ü "Un roman vaste, intense, qui s’écoute
autant qu’il se lit" (Youtube, Mare Nostrum)
ü "Le grand
romancier Anouar Benmalek vient de publier Irina, un opéra russe...Une longue
histoire d'amour sur fond de turbulences politiques" (François-Xavier de Calonne,
Radio Orient)
ü "Riche en références historiques et
éminemment dense en émotions littéraires" (Faris Lounis, En attendant
Nadeau)
ü "Anouar
Benmalek, un merveilleux romancier qu'on ne se lasse pas de lire, encore et
toujours"
(Kima Mori, Arts et Lettres du Monde)
ü "Un roman
ample et bouleversant, traversé par la douleur de l'exil, la fidélité à la
mémoire et la fragile beauté de l'amour...Une méditation intime sur la
condition humaine" (D. Guettala, Kapitalis)
ü "Souvent des
vers d’Aragon me sont venus à l’esprit à tel ou tel passage du roman, comme le
thème profond de la fiction : rechercher, au seuil de la vieillesse, la femme
aimée quarante ans avant : « Un beau soir l’avenir s’appelle le passé. / C’est
alors qu’on se tourne et qu’on voit sa jeunesse »." (Christiane Chaulet Achour,
revue COLLATERAL)
ü "Anouar
Benmalek signe une œuvre où la mémoire, la douleur et l'exil s'entrelacent
comme des fils invisibles d'une tragédie humaine»." (D. Guettala, interview, le
Matin d'Algérie)
ü " L’œuvre
d’Anouar Benmalek témoigne d’une puissante volonté d’interroger les zones
obscures de nos existences... sa densité historique et émotionnelle défait tous
les manichéismes»." (F. Lounis, interview, El Watan)
ü "Un opéra romanesque où l'amour défie
la tragédie de l'histoire, de la Russie à l'Asie centrale" (Librairie Mollat)
Ses
éditeurs
Les éditeurs en français: Fayard, Pauvert,
Calmann-Lévy, Emmanuelle Collas, Le Livre de Poche, Le Grand Livre du Mois,
France Loisirs, Pocket, Magellan, Le Monde Éditions, Librio, Zelliges, Sédia,
Apic, Enal, Casbah, Naaman Québec, A vue d'œil, Eden...
En d'autres langues: Harvill, Grijalbo, Debolsillo,
Luchterhand, Graywolf, Tammi, Vintage, Psichologios, Circulo Leitores,
Meulenhoff, Pax Forlag, Akal Literaria, Dar Farabi, Marsa...
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