Obviously this is a work of fiction, but it goes further
than you’d think at first glance. The translator’s afterword states that Brunet
(how close to Burnet that is!) wrote the book in 1982 and it became a cult hit
and later, a film. Brunet’s life is given in short form. But this is illusion;
there was never any Brunet. He is as fictitious as Adele Bedeau and the others
in the story.
Adele is on the stage very little in this short novel. The
two main characters are Manfred Baumann, a banker, and Inspector Gorski, of the
local PD. Baumann is a regular customer at the café where Adele works. When she
disappears, Gorski at first does not suspect Baumann. But Baumann, an introvert
with no social aptitude, no love life, no hobbies, and no friends, lies about
having seen her the night she was last seen. It’s a harmless lie; he has
nothing to do with her vanishing. But once he’s lied, he finds himself getting
deeper and deeper into a web of falsehood, until his nerves give way. Inspector
Gorski, meanwhile, discovers information about a case that’s haunted him for 20
years. The ending has a couple of twists.
It’s a bleak story, set in a small town that’s not doing
well. No one is happy. It’s an interesting story, but one that gave me a bad
feeling. It’s not a fun read, but it is a well done one. What’s weird is that I
had the feeling that I’d read some version of this before- many years before.
No idea where that idea came from! Four stars out of five.
The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents.
I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for an unbiased review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
Not reading bleak stories at the moment.
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