Serge Joncour

A well translated mystery – or is it contemporary fiction? There’s one mystery, but it’s not a who-dunnit, it’s simply what happened to the people who owned and who own the house on the hill above an abandoned village. There are two stories in alternating chapters, the first, the mystery which takes place in 1914 and 1915 and the second story, which takes place in 2017 when a couple rent the house for three weeks.

There is quite a bit of buildup on both stories, as jealousy, meat show more shortages, WWI, and unexpected love occur in the first and the evolution of the man from town-dwelling-cellphone-wielding producer to cunning adversary in the second. There are some beautiful descriptions and interesting perspectives on how people reacted to the Great War early on in a small village and interesting perspectives on Lise and Franck’s marriage and what motivates each in the isolation of the house on the hill. I couldn’t imagine how each story would resolve, which kept me reading although there was such detail and focus that it had to be read with deliberation and a slow pace in order to fully appreciate the nuances. show less

Ludovic and Aurore couldn't be more different. He is an ex-farmer turned debt collector, while she is a fashion-designer. He hates life in Paris, and wishes he didn't constantly have to channel a frightening bully, while she just loves the hustle and bustle of the big city, and doesn't mind pulling an all-nighter right before launching a new collection.

They don't even like one another that much, each one high on the other's list of pet peeves. Yet, a chain of (mostly) innocent events throws show more them in much closer proximity, leading to an eventual secret romance. Everything hints towards a quick , blink and you'll miss it, affair... yet the deadline somehow never really sets in.

I was all but ready to dismiss the story based on the official summary, and the numerous run-on sentences looked keen to enforce my decision. But I couldn't seem to get around to taking a break. With every chapter finished, my curiosity just kept growing.

Even with fully immersive reads, I tend to relate to only one of the characters... generally the one that every other reader hates. In here however, I could see myself sympathizing with both Ludovic's hatred of constantly having to pretend to be someone else, and Aurore's wish to put off dealing with unpleasant situations for as long as possible.

My main dislike was strictly related to the writing style. Or maybe just the translation? As I don't actually speak French, I can only reference the Romanian translation: an exercise in crafting the longest possible run-on sentence. Perhaps it's ironic, seeing as my own reviews often sport horrendously lengthy phrases, but at least I try to rephrase them at every edit. In here though, it sometimes felt like phrases would have additional secondary sentences solely to spite the reader.

A young woman gets on with a baby carriage, people crowd in, but there's still not enough space, a recorded voice asks passengers to please move towards the rear end of the bus, the driver gets up and starts gesturing to emphasize his words, everyone crowds in, inside the atmosphere becomes suffocating, then Ludovic exits, evacuating from the impatience filled bus.

Score: 3.6/5 stars

A very atmospheric read, that made me long for aimless walks around Paris. Most surprisingly however, it also made me root for Aurore and Ludovic's affair, all while totally getting the woman's reticence in giving up her marriage and current status-quo. And that's saying something, what with cheating being a serious trigger point for me.

Despite my sincere enjoyment of every bit of atmospheric fluff that this book had to offer, I can't say I'll be rushing out to buy up all the French literature I can get my hands on. First, because bookstores have now moved online, and second, it was quite depressing. As soon as I finished it, I got hit with a pressing need for some good comedic banter. show less

This was much better than I was expecting. The story was interesting and the ending wasn't entirely predictable. I'm not usually a fan of the two stories from different eras that end up meeting up at the end, especially if one of those stories is modern and the other from WWI or WWII, but for this book it worked well. Overall I enjoyed it and am glad to have received an early copy.

It's difficult for me to judge a translated work because I don't necessarily know which aspects are inherent to the original text. In this case I was definitely conscious the entire time that I was reading a translation -- in many places it felt clunky and occasionally even incomprehensible. (That's not to suggest it's all bad. There were also some really beautiful moments in the text, eg "They paced nervously up and down in a sort of symmetrical dance, the choreography of famished beasts.") show more I also felt that the story itself was rather repetitive. I love a good slow burn (and I also like unlikable characters!), but just because the action is taking a long time to build doesn't mean I need to hear the characters' motivations repeated endlessly. I almost think this story might work better as a slow film, where strategic silence could be used effectively in place of such circular storytelling. The plot itself had a strong appeal for me and I would like to find a copy in the original French to see the difference. show less