In 'Un Moment orange,' Simon Legré masterfully captures the anxiety of waiting for medical results

Simon Legré's debut novel, "Un Moment orange," delves into the suffocating anxiety that accompanies the wait for critical medical results. The narrative centers on a narrator grappling with a dual source of dread: the looming verdict of an HIV test and the unsettling appearance of a rapidly spreading mold on his bathroom wall.

The story begins when a doctor expresses a "small doubt about HIV," necessitating further blood tests and a four-day waiting period. This interval of intense psychological suspense forms the core of Legré's exploration. During these four days, the narrator experiences a profound sense of unease, feeling suffocated and oscillating between fear and nervous laughter.

His attention becomes fixated on a patch of dampness and mold blooming on his bathroom wall. Legré vividly describes its appearance as both lush and frightening, likening it to a mangrove or the map of an unknown territory. This encroaching organic presence serves as a powerful, unsettling visual metaphor for the narrator's internal state of fear and uncertainty.

The novel is praised for its moving and lush prose, with Legré skillfully capturing the disorienting effect of fear. The narrator's internal world becomes a landscape of anxiety, where the mundane details of his surroundings are amplified by his profound worry, creating a rich and affecting literary experience.