The French Father

Book excerpt: The French Father centres on a dialogue between two men buried alongside each other in the Parisian cemetery of Montparnasse – now companions in the afterlife. One man, the author’s father, is strict, upper middle class, and a firm believer in the values and principles of the grande bourgeoisie. The other is the artist Roland Topor, screenwriter of Polanski’s The Tenant – unconventional, exuberant and creative. Elkann finds harmony in the clashing proximity of his stern father and the unruly artist. What might have been a story of grief becomes one of peaceful vitality united through a shared inheritance and faith.