The story of Berlin in the 20th century
Charming novel set in Brittany (The Last Hours of a Love Affair)
7th May 2020
The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos, charming novel set in Brittany.
Who doesn’t love a feel-good novel that revolves around books?
In Brittany there is a library that stocks the books that nobody wants. It is of course an American idea. A chap called Jean-Pierre Couvrec set up a library (as a tribute to Richard Brautigan – look him up) where authors can deposit their books that have been rejected by publishers. The scene is set.
Delphine Despero is an editor at a publishing house and together with her beau, Frédéric, she visits the library and she happens to discover a fabulous manuscript that she just knows will be a success story if she were to publish it. It is up there with the works of J D Salinger et al. After a little research they determine that a local man wrote it, the eponymous but deceased Henri Pick of the title. It is time to share their findings with his wife Madeleine, who is utterly incredulous. Henri owned a pizza restaurant, he never even penned a birthday card to her, let alone would he be capable of crafting a masterpiece. When would he have written it? Whilst waiting for the pizza dough to rise? He was not an écrivain, absolutely not!
Once the story gets out, it causes a buzz of consternation and almost hysteria in the community, the impact has a marked ripple effect both positive and negative.
The serendipitous discovery and attribution, of course, make a fabulous storyline to promote the novel – The Last Hours of a Love Affair – and Frédéric, having had little success with his own book “The Bathtub“, is going to write about how the novel came to fruition.
Soon an investigative journalist is onto the story of this phenomenal book sensation, avidly pursuing his lines of enquiry. Did Henri Pick really write this book? Oui? Ou non?
This is a charming novel of writerly pursuits, books, writing and it is an affirmation that some of the best books initially get rejected (just think of Harry Potter, rejected 12 times before someone saw the quality!). It is written with wit and sagacity, it is beautifully quirky and makes for an entertaining dance through the world of books and people. Just lovely.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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