The locomotiveRenata Solemare, Coraline’s mother
“Step forward and fear steps back!” (ch. 6 bis)
“Me, I like to plan everything and check that it all goes to plan, so I can sleep easy!” (ch. 6 bis)
“Right, that’s all very well, but time’s ticking, so I want to know what time it is! Jean, have you got the time?” (ch. 6 bis)
“That’s all your dad’s fault! He told me not to ring you. But you know me – just to be contrary, I rang you straight away. So there!” (ch. 3)
“He and I are the same. When he forgets, I remind him, to make him feel guilty. So there!” (ch. 6)
“I don’t trust people who pay compliments, they’ve always got something up their sleeve!” (ch. 6 bis)
“Well, there are worse things in life, darling, do you want my coca recipe?” (ch. 31)
“Yes, I’m an excellent swimmer, I’ll jump!” (ch. 42)
“Don’t worry, darling. When you hit the bottom of the pool, all you have to do is give a big kick and you bob back up like a cork.” (ch. 39)
“And what time are you leaving? Do you at least know where you’re going? And what time will you get there?” (ch. 43)
“Listen, I’m in a hurry, my 2-year-old daughter is ill. So just give me a GENERAL fine and let me go.” (ch. 42)
“10 days late, Doctor! Do you realise! I’ve done everything you told me… Nothing! So I jumped off tables to bring on the labour… Nothing! This can’t go on, Doctor! It can’t go on any longer! If you don’t step in right now, I’ll deal with it myself! So do something, but above all, do it fast!” (ch. 6)
“Jean takes care of everything, I supervise. It used to be the other way round, but since retirement, I’ve delegated.” (ch. 6)
Who is she?
Her look “That beautiful brunette with green eyes and a thunderbolt gaze, a dazzling smile, perfect proportions, always impeccable, even after a marathon… A modern Athena who turns his surgery into an arena the moment she walks in.” (ch. 6)
Her voice “A megaphone that drowns everyone out.” The doctor who delivered her baby still remembers it. (ch. 6)
The why
Uprooted, control is her way of loving and protecting the people she holds dear, for fear of losing them.
She has the time in her head and wants to know everything, so she calls them in the middle of a meditation, in the middle of an interview, in the middle of a negotiation.
The rest of her story awaits you in chapter 6.
Both pieds-noirs, French people born in Algeria, Renata and Jeannot lived through the same story: they understand each other.
What people say about her
“Mum is a force of nature. You have to keep up so as not to lose her. No choice, she moves with a turbo!” (ch. 6)
“Her valiant heart, full of boldness, races off fast, and charges bravely towards her destiny!” (ch. 6)
“A woman who superbly ignores anyone telling her how to behave, and charges into action with the energy of ten men.” (ch. 6)
“Nothing’s serious, you’ve got to play it down, and keep your balance.” (ch. 6 bis — her elder daughter says it, on set.)
“Her tiller for holding course? Always the happy medium! Critical mind and down-to-earth common sense, humour and self-mockery, love and control.” (ch. 6)
What makes her memorable
“Keep moving!” · “Step forward and fear steps back!”
“So there!”
“Here, I’ve made you each a coca, because I know the Viking likes it… And we’re not going to stay cross. It’s a pied-noir speciality, let me know what you think!” (ch. 6 bis)
Bonus
The cordon bleu cook
The author — My mother is a cordon bleu cook, the Vikings can’t compete, they’re not in the same league: their vegetables are full of water, not soaked in sunshine.
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