In July 2025, I turned the last page of the adventure La Gazette Magazine. Although I was filled with a legitimate sense of sadness, I was above all driven by a keen desire for free and creative writing—something that has always been a part of me: the writing of contemporary novels. My latest work, *The Conductor*, takes you on a journey through Paris from May 1968 to the present day, weaving together the lives of Suzanne, Caroline, Nicolas, Marie, Jacques, and the others. Their secrets and sorrows, their love stories, their discoveries and revelations… Delphine Raimond
*Le chef d’orchestre* is, first and foremost, the story of an unwavering friendship between Suzanne and Jacques, two septuagenarians shaped by resilience. But it is also a contemporary account of the life of Caroline, a discreet and level-headed philosophy professor, and her two close friends: Isabelle, the math whiz, and Céline, the incorrigible gym teacher. At a crescendoing pace, the gentle moments of the present intertwine with flashbacks depicting the trials of the past. The reader is immersed, in turn, in historical events; the scents of wax, ink, and paper in Jacques’s bookstore; everyday life in Paris, tinged with humor and endearing characters; unique encounters; comical situations… all the way to the dénouement, which I wanted to be as unexpected as it is moving.
If writing is an author’s emotional reservoir, my hypersensitivity is probably my greatest source of inspiration. For me, a written work consists of an explosion of sensations, music, colors, and scents… coming to life in carefully depicted settings—revealing here my attachment to Paris—and in themes that are dear to me: nostalgia, friendship, sisterhood, camaraderie, tenderness, resilience, tolerance… I loved crafting every section, chapter, and paragraph of this ensemble novel. Living alongside my characters. Sketching out their emotions and feelings. Imagining them at the heart of simultaneous scenes, missed opportunities, lost hopes, and rediscovered paths… Pushing fate to intervene in the course of each character’s life, to change it forever.
To purchase the novel (Rs 1,000), please email me at: delfraim64@gmail.com
