The words have come. After how many years? A walk in the wilderness. It’s this very book.
One night I get a message from the end of the world: I’m sitting beside Sarah.
I shiver.
My son is writing to me from Buenos Aires. He is with Sarah’s son. They barely know one another.
Charlotte’s son and Sarah’s son.
David and Carlos Jr.
They are young men now.
They walk along the main avenue of the cemetery like laughing children.
They go to your grave together.
They stay with you.
It seems that I can finally see that distant landscape, feel the southern heat, touch the grieving earth, watch the tall trees bending over you. It seems that I am getting close to you.
It seems that these words were not the hard road but a poem that was reaching out for you.
Sarah, you seem to be here: in this book, in these years, in this childhood, our childhood.
Sarah, you seem gentle, absent, joyful, and unforgettable, and those two young men, sitting on your grave in silence, have brought my poem to an end.
About the Authors and the Translator
Charlotte Rampling is an acclaimed English actor with a stellar career in international films across three languages, known for films such as 45 Years (for which she received an Oscar nomination), Swimming Pool, and The Night Porter. She lives in France.
Christophe Bataille is a novelist and publisher, and the author, with Rithy Panh, of Elimination (Grasset, 2012) which won the Elle Grand Readers’ Prize.
William Hobson’s translations include Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers and Samir Kassir’s Being Arab, winner of the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award.
Copyright
Published in the UK in 2017
by Icon Books Ltd,
Omnibus Business Centre,
39–41 North Road,
London N7 9DP
emaiclass="underline" info@iconbooks.com
Sold in the UK, Europe and Asia
by Faber & Faber Ltd,
Bloomsbury House,
74–77 Great Russell Street,
London WC1B 3DA or their agents
Distributed in the UK, Europe and Asia
by Grantham Book Services,
Trent Road,
Grantham
NG31 7XQ
Distributed in Australia and New Zealand
by Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd,
PO Box 8500, 83 Alexander Street,
Crows Nest, NSW 2065
Distributed in South Africa
by Jonathan Ball, Office B4,
The District, 41 Sir Lowry Road,
Woodstock 7925
Distributed in India
by Penguin Books India,
7th Floor, Infinity Tower – C,
DLF Cyber City,
Gurgaon 122002, Haryana
Distributed in Canada
by Publishers Group Canada,
76 Stafford Street, Unit 300,
Toronto, Ontario M6J 2S1
Distributed in the USA
by Publishers Group West,
1700 Fourth Street,
Berkeley, CA 94710
ISBN: 978-1-78578-193-3
Text copyright © 2017 Charlotte Rampling with Christopher Bataille
Translation copyright © 2017 Will Hobson
All photographs in this book are from the private collection of Charlotte Rampling, with the exception of the portrait appearing on page 87, which was taken by Tim Walker and is used with his kind permission.
The authors have asserted their moral rights.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Typeset in Granjon by Marie Doherty
Printed and bound in the UK by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
Design by Mecob
Back cover photograph by Irving Penn
Charlotte Rampling, New York, 2001
© Condé Nast
Back Cover
