The book Robert des noms propres is a fictionalized biography of the singer RoBERT, written by Amélie Nothomb and published in 2002 by Albin Michel. Author, composer and performer since the early 1990s of seven albums, of which her husband Mathieu Saladin is very often composer, RoBERT is a tormented angel with a crystalline and captivating voice that tells us at the same time childhood, love and death.
A deep friendship
Amélie Nothomb's novel was born from a solid friendship that has developed between the two women since 1997. Amélie Nothomb signs the lyrics of the song "L'appel de la succube" on the album Princesse de rien, as well as those of six songs on the album Celle qui tue de RoBERT. In the latter in particular, the song "Requiem for a lost sister" refers to their friendship and lays the foundations of the novel Robert of proper names:
"I shouldn't have, Amélie
Tighten my hands on your neck.
It is a noxious habit
to strangle those you prefer."
This is how Amélie wrote the biography of RoBERT, inspired by her real life but also fictionalized.
A broken dream
Inspired by the difficult childhood of the singer, RoBERT of proper names draws the journey of a young child who dreamed of becoming a professional ballet dancer. Pushed by her mother, Plectrude (pseudonym attributed to Robert by Amélie in the book) sacrifices everything to her passion, including her physical health.
"Don't you think I'm pretty, like that?
Not. You're fat.
Finally, Mom! I weigh forty kilos."
She gradually sinks into anorexia, until the day when, too weak physically, an accident forever prevents her from realizing her dream. Disowned by her mother, now unable to live vicariously, she becomes an actress and loses all taste for life.
A story of love and life
Beyond the broken dream of the young dancer, the heartbreak caused by the abandonment of her mother and the despair that follows, Amélie Nothomb tells us a love story just as touching as that of Romeo and Juliet. Having lost sight of each other in a small school, then secret lovers, Mathieu Saladin poses as the savior of the pretty Plectrude, saving her in extremis from a fatal choice by confessing his love.
"Plectrude discovered a surprising thing: you could be happy as an adult."
It was then that he and Plectrude launched into music for the wonder of all.
Linking both the real experience of a sweet and touching RoBERT, full of will, accompanied by the talented Mathieu Saladin, and the friendship to life and death that she shares with Amélie, Robert of proper names is a book both funny and intelligent that teaches us a lot about one of the most talented French singers of our time.
