Pour unique soleil tells the fascination that can exert one being on another, and the misunderstanding that can generate our imagination when it prevails over reality. Playing sometimes the register of humor, sometimes that of drama, Joseph Agostini (clinical psychologist and former journalist) is interested in idolatry and its excessive feelings. The plot takes place in the late 90s, pre-digital era when the small screen still reigned in homes. Daniela Lumbroso made the rain and shine on the "PAF", and the cover of all the magazines. A time that the less than twenty years old can not know…
Daniela for ever
Pour unique soleil is the story of Cathy, a young woman in need of a female model, and who has been nurturing a real passion for Daniela Lumbroso for years. So far nothing very serious (it is believed). Except that one day Cathy crosses the path of Ludivine, the look-alike of her idol. Convinced that she is the famous journalist, she sets out to enter her life and be loved by her. Ludivine, who is going through a period of profound questioning, gets caught up in the game of idolatry. The situation could have ended there if Cathy had not met Diane, Daniela's assistant, herself in adoration in front of her "boss". A few unfortunate words from Cathy are enough to plunge Diane into deep disillusionment, and tragedy occurs.
Dream vs. reality
Pour unique soleil paints a portrait of women whose lives should never have crossed paths, and who share a certain taste for chimeras. Cathy, Ludivine and Diane try to escape a reality that does not make them happy, and dream of being another. They all end up identifying with the bubbly Daniela Lumbroso, public figure, model of femininity and success. To finally realize that all that glitters is not gold, and that one cannot live forever in a dream. A tribute to the small screen Why did Joseph Agostini choose a former TV star as the "subject" of his novel? First because he was himself a fan of "the Lumbroso". He describes her as "a complex television personality, a mixture of great funny, real intelligence and this art of never taking yourself seriously". In 1999, at the time of the novel, Daniela Lumbroso was the first woman to host prime-time variety shows. Pour unique soleil takes us back to a time when there was no Internet (it seems so far away…). The small screen attracted millions of viewers, and the presenters of the "JT" (PPDA, Claire Chazal …) were real stars. His novel speaks quite accurately of "our false perceptions of the other, of ourselves, often amplified by the magic of television". And by the magic of the star system in general, conducive to idolatry.
A Women's Story
The author explores the often ambiguous relationship between women, a mixture of fascination, the need for identification and jealousy. But also the relationship to motherhood. One evening, Ludivine watches Daniela interview Elisabeth Badinter. : "We only talk about the joys of pregnancy, the maternal instinct (…). If I were Simone de Beauvoir, I would scream!" In front of her TV Ludivine is jubilant, she who has never really felt comfortable in her role as a mother. That evening, she understands the admiration of some for Daniela, "this auburn woman with the smile of Mona Lisa, maternal at will, inviting the public to curl up in her chest (...) ". Motherhood is especially at issue in Cathy's disastrous relationship with her mother. Relationship at the origin of his obsession with the journalist. Daniela is the woman they all wanted to be, and the mother they all wanted to have. Joseph Agostini's style is simple and lively, with dialogues that are not lacking in bite. But the end leaves us hungry. We regret that the author did not explore more deeply the relationship between Cathy and Diane, the two groupies. And above all, we were looking forward to a confrontation between the real and false Daniela. Instead, he opts for a somewhat simplistic morality: "The irony is that sincere beings are in the same boat as liars, and that sometimes there is no more sincere than a lie." Either… Will his goal of introducing the general public to psychoanalysis, a discipline so arduous, be achieved thanks to this book? One thing is certain, Pour unique soleil makes you want to watch Daniela Lumbroso's shows again. For the pleasure of nostalgia. 
Published in May 2021 by Envolume editions.EUR 18.90. From the same author: Handbook of an uninhibited shrink, Dalida on the couch. Want to go to the cinema? Discover the review of Céline Sciamma's new film, Little Mom.
