An explicit sex scene in a newly published novel by the French economy minister has left the government facing fresh accusations it is not listening to the concerns of the country just as it tries to contain anger over the unpopular rise in the pension age, reports The Guardian.
The toe-curling sexual descriptions in the novel, Fugue Américaine, written by the economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, have angered opposition politicians and inspired anti-government slogans and graffiti at street demonstrations as the government struggles to contain the political crisis over Emmanuel Macron raising the minimum pension age to 64.
The novel was published hours before the credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the country’s debt worthiness last week, feeding accusations from leftwingers that writing the novel had taken Le Maire’s focus off the economy and inflation.
The minister’s book is a fictionalised account of the pianist Vladimir Horowitz, told through the story of two brothers who travel to Cuba to attend one of his concerts. But it was a sex scene in chapter 11 that has gone viral and prompted French satirists and protesters to ridicule Le Maire.