Thanks so much to Isabelle over at Gallic Books for my copy of this fantastic book!
I absolutely loved it! Obviously it’s a French author so I start biased but I just adore Antoine’s books !
Quick (only 182 pages), easy and so so gripping it’s just perfection !
Violaine Lepage is a woman of many vices. And after a near death experience during a plane crash, she seems to have forgotten them all! Somehow the accident makes her a better version of herself. She doesn’t smoke anymore, she no longer is unfaithful, but what else might have she forgotten…
Through the pages, Antoine Laurain pays homage to many authors, and especially Proust. Violaine cannot remember aspects of her life, but rather than reminiscing with a taste, smell or other sensations, her madeleine is actually Marcel Proust himself, philosophising with her.
Such a clever book! A mystery with a pinch of romance, philosophy, psychology, identity, sprinkled with inexplicable events, leaving you wondering, triggering your imagination and opening up your power of interpretation!
A wonderful nod to books and their magic, conjured up when a reader picks them up. Books have a life of their own…
It is a book that you will want to read several times… at least I know I will!!
For my French friends, you can find this beauty published under the title “Le Service des Manuscripts”.
With Love
AGJ
Out now
— Synopsis—
When the manuscript of a debut crime novel arrives at a Parisian publishing house, everyone in the readers’ room is convinced it’s something special. And the committee for France’s highest literary honour, the Prix Goncourt, agrees.
But when the shortlist is announced, there’s a problem for editor Violaine Lepage: she has no idea of the author’s identity. As the police begin to investigate a series of murders strangely reminiscent of those recounted in the book, Violaine is not the only one looking for answers. And, suffering memory blanks following an aeroplane accident, she’s beginning to wonder what role she might play in the story …
A.G-J BOOKS & GEMS 