Marion Brunet's «Ne cherche pas le chaos» Confronts a Pinochet Survivor's Silence

Published by Albin Michel, Marion Brunet's novel «Ne cherche pas le chaos» follows Victoria, who travels to Chile — her father Pablo's homeland — after he withheld his past from her. Pablo never spoke of Pinochet's dictatorship, his political commitments, his imprisonment and torture, or the reasons he left Chile for France, where he rebuilt his life with Florence, Victoria's mother. The book is as much a love story between father and daughter as it is a study of silence; their bond is sustained by horses and by poetry, the one Chilean inheritance Pablo passed on. Verses by Victor Jara, Pablo Neruda, Fernando Alegria and Violeta Parra shape the characters and score a trail of clues from Santiago to Valparaiso that Pablo must follow when, after more than 30 years of exile, he returns to Chilean soil. Brunet, honored in 2025 with the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award — often described as the «Nobel» of children's literature — gradually lifts the veil on Pablo's ghosts with sobriety, reserve and tenderness, and the closing chapters explain why Victoria bears her name. The novel ends as José Antonio Kast, a far-right president who openly admires Augusto Pinochet's legacy, is elected — a reminder that nations do not always learn from history. The review ran on RFI on 17 October 2026.