It was in 2021, during the funeral of his father, Paul Garde, an eminent linguist and academic, that François Garde realized that he was now "
the sole holder of the history of Australia's uncle
".
This uncle, Marcel Garde, was Paul's, and the latter only learned incidentally, at the age of 20, of the existence of his father's older brother.
A pact of silence had engulfed Marcel Garde, forced by his parents to leave his native Provence in 1900, at the age of 20, to go into exile in Australia.
A few lines in the
Souvenirs
of Paul Garde, intended only for the family circle, evoked the mysterious character, including a sentence tinged with regret:
“I have long dreamed of this uncle from Australia.”
In turn, for years, François Garde dreamed of the destiny of his great-uncle with the desire to “
bring Marcel back from the darkness
”.
To discover
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What fault or crime had merited such banishment with no prospect of remission or return?
How do you drive a son out of your home?…
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