Tag: contemporary fiction

#BookReview Lean on Me by Serge Joncour @BelgraviaB

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Lean On MeAbout the Book

When a flock of crows invades their shared apartment block, farmer-turned-debt collector Ludovic and fashion designer Aurore speak for the first time. With nothing but the birds in common, the two are destined for separate lives, yet are drawn inexplicably together.

With one trapped in an unhappy marriage and the other lost in grief, the city of love has brought each of them only isolation and pain. As Aurore faces losing her business and Ludovic questions the ethics of his job, they begin a passionate affair. Love between such different people seems doomed to failure, but for these two unhappy souls trapped in ruthless worlds, perhaps loving one another is the greatest form of resistance.

Format: Paperback (384 pages)     Publisher: Gallic Books
Publication date: 3rd March 2022 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literature in Translation

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My Review

The menacing crows that inhabit the courtyard of the Paris apartment block where Aurore lives with her family reflect the current turmoil in her life. ‘The two crows embodied all the fears that were crowding in on her, everything that was going wrong, the mounting debts, her business partner who no longer spoke to her.’ Richard, Aurore’s husband, is distant and seemingly oblivious to her concerns about her business and the employees who depend on her. Making frequent trips abroad and spending more time on his phone making deals than listening to her, Richard thinks only in terms of numbers whereas, for Aurore, her design business is a very personal thing; apart from anything else, it carries her name.

It’s perhaps no surprise that, contrary to her initial instincts, she finds herself drawn to Ludovic, the neighbour who, unasked, takes practical steps to rid her of one of the problems in her life – the crows.  It’s not the last time he comes to her aid. When all about her seems on the brink of collapse, she comes to perceive Ludovic as unshakeable. ‘Perhaps there was such a thing as a man who could make you feel strong, a stranger who could lift you up when your family no longer even thought of doing so and you didn’t feel you could ask them.’ What’s more Ludovic seems to sense intuitively what Aurore needs without her having to say anything, whether that’s a shoulder to cry on or moral support at a difficult meeting.

Large of build, Ludovic may look unshakeable from the outside but inside he’s still grieving the death of his wife, haunted by the powerlessness he felt during her long illness and the sense that his physical strength served no purpose.  Perhaps that’s partly why he feels driven to help Aurore. She’s ‘a woman in peril’ and maybe this time he can be a saviour.

Paris, the backdrop to the story, is depicted as a teeming metropolis in which it’s possible to feel invisible or a perpetual outsider. That’s the way it seems to Ludovic, brought up in the country but having moved to Paris because he no longer feels there is a place for him in the family business. ‘Paris disturbed him. Since coming to live here, he found himself constantly knocking into people, barging into them without meaning to…’  For Aurore, it’s different. She feels reassured by being at the centre of things, surrounded by other people and absorbing the city’s energy.

I loved the insightful way the author explores the relationship that develops between Ludovic and Aurore. You get a real sense of what it’s like to be in the grip of a grand passion but also in a relationship which must remain secret: the weighing up of risk and reward, living in the moment and blocking out thoughts of the consequences of your actions whilst at the same time knowing you must ultimately face them. Although I could understand and empathise with Aurore’s situation, it was Ludovic who really touched my heart. A man who has grown used to living alone and has reconciled himself to a solitary existence – ‘The trouble with looking so strong was that nobody ever worried about him’ – yet shows infinite compassion for others such as his elderly neighbour. The subtle shift of the balance in the relationship between Aurore and Ludovic is deftly handled. When events reach a crisis point, Aurore realises she can reciprocate the help and protection Ludovic has provided to her.  ‘Ludovic, there’s something I’ve been wanting to say . . . Lean on me.’

I adored Lean on Me and was sad when my time with Aurore and Ludovic came to an end. It’s a love story which feels absolutely authentic and not romanticised in any way. Both Aurore and Ludovic have flaws, make mistakes and act at times without thinking, but that’s what happens in life, isn’t it?

I must praise the skill of the book’s translators, Jane Aitken & Louise Rogers Lalaurie, as the writing flows in such a way that I often had to remind myself I was reading a book originally written in another language. My thanks to Isabelle at Gallic Books for my review copy. I think this is the tenth book I’ve read published by Gallic Books and I haven’t been disappointed yet.

You can read Serge Jouncour’s thoughts here about the book’s themes of isolation and the natural world, as well as learn about the writers he has recently discovered.

In three words: Tender, insightful, moving

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Serge JoncourAbout the Author

Serge Joncour is a French novelist and screenwriter. He was born in Paris in 1961 and studied philosophy at university before deciding to become a writer. His first novel, Vu, was published by Le Dilettante in 1998. He wrote the screenplay for Sarah’s Key starring Kristin Scott Thomas, released in 2011.

His 2016 novel Repose-toi sur moi won the Prix Interallié. (Photo/bio: Publisher author page)

#BookReview Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

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Mouth To MouthAbout the Book

A struggling author is stuck at the airport, his flight endlessly delayed. As he stares at the departure board and browses the shops, he bumps into a former classmate of his, Jeff, who is waiting for the same flight. The charismatic Jeff invites the narrator to drinks in the First Class lounge, and there, swearing him to secrecy, begins telling him the fascinating and disturbing story of his life, starting with a pivotal incident from his youth.

Alone on the beach, he noticed a man drowning in the rough surf, his fate resting in Jeff’s hands. Overwhelmed but ultimately determined to help, Jeff rescued and resuscitated the unconscious man. Unexpectedly traumatized by the event, Jeff develops a fixation on the man he saved, sure that they are now inextricably linked. Upon discovering that the man, Francis, is a renowned art dealer, Jeff finds a job at his gallery in hopes of connecting with Francis and processing the event. Even though Francis seems to have no recollection of the incident, he takes Jeff under his wing, and Jeff becomes increasingly involved in Francis’s life, dating his daughter and attending important art world parties. As the two grow closer, Jeff notices some of Francis’s more unsavoury characteristics – his tendency to cheat artists and carry on affairs – but, convinced that their encounter on the beach is fated, brushes his concerns aside and continues to pursue a deeper connection with Francis, even as the nature of their relationship grows darker…

Format: Hardback (192 pages)      Publisher: Atlantic Books
Publication date: 3rd March 2022 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery

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My Review

My first thought is that I’m not sure the long blurb does the book any favours – personally, I would have limited it to the first paragraph – as it discloses quite a lot of what happens although, admittedly, not the final climactic reveal. Having said that this is a novel which exudes a pervading air of menace and in which the author skilfully ratchets up the tension bit by bit.

Jeff’s perhaps natural desire to find out more about the man whose life he saved becomes more than mere curiosity but something bordering on obsession. Jeff finds himself drawn closer and closer to Francis Arsenault, an art dealer with a supposed remarkable ‘eye’ for what will sell, a skill that doesn’t seem to extend to recognising the man who saved his life.  However, as Jeff discovers, Francis is a master in the art of maintaining a double life (Francis Arsenault isn’t even his real name) and of using others for his own ends. The world of art dealing thus makes the ideal environment for him to inhabit. ‘The only reason Francis is in this business is because it’s the most easily manipulated market in the world, and he’s a master manipulator.’

The book is in essence about consequences as Jeff finds himself carried along by the train of events, events in a way he enabled by saving Francis’s life. As he confides, ‘I wanted him to be good, though, I wanted to feel that I had done a good thing not only for him but for all the people he came in contact with.’ As Jeff’s life becomes more closely intertwined with Francis’s through his relationship with Francis’s daughter, Chloe, he finds his loyalties tested and begins to wonder just what he unleashed when he saved Francis’s life. What if Francis is far from good? Is Jeff then implicated in Francis’s deceit?

But, of course, we only have Jeff’s word for all of this. The narrator begins to wonder about Jeff’s motivation for telling him the story. ‘Was it excavation, though, Jeff getting everything off his chest? Or was he painting for me a kind of self-portrait? And what is a self-portrait if not self-serving?’

Mouth to Mouth is a compulsively readable, deliciously disquieting little novel with a sting in its tail.

I received a review copy courtesy of Atlantic Books via Readers First.

In three words: Taut, compelling, dark

Try something similar: The Executioner Weeps by Frédéric Dard

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Antoine WilsonAbout the Author

Antoine Wilson is the author of the novels Panorama City and The Interloper. His work has appeared in the Paris Review, StoryQuarterly, Best New American Voices and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications, and h is a contributing editor for A Public Space.  A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and recipient of a Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin, he lives with his family in Los Angeles.

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