"[Vallès] is a more reliable witness of his society, or at least certain sectors of it, than many more renowned but less involved writers of his age."
– Walter D. Redfern,
Times Literary Supplement "Essentially autobiographical, Vallès's 19th-century novel charts the author's experience of growing up in an emotionally distant family obsessed with social status."
–
The Guardian "The author of
The Child is one of the masters of French prose. There's no denying that. But his work shouldn't be considered an exercise in virtuosity. It has an exact and terrible significance. His work stands as an act of liberation. Vallès is the man who liberates us from the family, who liberates us from our father and our mother, who says to us: 'judge them and, if there is cause to, condemn them'."
– Maurice Barrès
"A true book, a book composed of the most exact, the most poignant human documents. It's been ten years since a work has moved me to such a degree."
– Émile Zola
