Clay is a captivating tale of love, masculinity, and vengeance, where tensions boil over in a rural mountain community whose able-bodied men have left to fight in World War I.

In the heart of Cantal, in the heat of the summer of 1914, the men resigned themselves to going off to fight, far away. Joseph, just 15 years old, must take care of the family farm with his mother, his grandmother, and Leonard, an old neighbor who has become his friend.

On the property next door, Valette, kept away from the war due to an atrophied hand, dwells on his grudges and his rage. And now he has to take in his brother’s wife and daughter, who have sought refuge with him. The arrival of the two women will end up upsetting an immutable order and awakening buried passions.

Available from Other Press

Franck Bouysse was born in France in 1965. He began his writing career in 2007 after working as a biology teacher. His novel Born of No Woman (Other Press, 2021) won numerous literary prizes in France, including the Elle Readers’ Grand Prize, the Booksellers’ Prize, and the Prix Babelio. His following novel, Wind Drinkers (Other Press, 2023), won the Prix Jean Giono.

Lara Vergnaud is a translator of prose, creative nonfiction, and scholarly works from the French. She is the recipient of two PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants and a French Voices Grand Prize, and has been nominated for the National Translation Award. Her recent translations include The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (Other Press, 2023) and Demoiselles of Numidia by Mohamed Leftah (Other Press, 2023). She lives in France.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.