'Blood Wedding' by Pierre Lemaitre
In the last decade or so, Pierre Lemaitre has established himself as one of the leading French crime novelists, having won the Prix Goncourt in 2013 for Au revoir là-haut (The Great Swindle). He is a passionate lover of literature, whose “jubilatory” books spring out of the fun and enjoyment of writing, rather than finding their source in tortuous introspection. With the recently published The Great Swindle, Lemaitre has moved away from crime fiction and seems to be embarking on a project of a series of historical novels. Today, however, we put the spotlight on one of these books that made Lemaitre’s fame, the crime thriller Blood Wedding, published by MacLehose press in July.
Blood Wedding is, as expected, concerned with seeking the truth about a series of murders. The twist, however, is that the crimes seem to have been committed by none other than the book’s protagonist, Sophie - a woman in her thirties who used to be married, and lives off childcare jobs. Sophie suffers from a deep depression, and at times questions her own sanity; one day she finds herself in front of a murdered child, who had been entrusted to her care. Living on the run for several months, Sophie’s path is littered with other violent deaths, yet she has no recollection of actually killing anyone… Lemaitre shows great proficiency in setting up a third-person narration for Sophie that is confusing enough to provide suspense and make the reader empathise with her situation, but is at the same time written in clear, lucid prose which makes it a real page-turner!
Blood Wedding, translated by Frank Wynne (MacLehose Press)
"Sophie is haunted by the things she can't remember - and visions from the past she will never forget.One morning, she wakes to find that the little boy in her care is dead. She has no memory of what happened. And whatever the truth, her side of the story is no match for the evidence piled against her.Her only hiding place is in a new identity. A new life, with a man she has met online.But Sophie is not the only one keeping secrets . . ."
"A gripping standalone psychological thriller about marriage, manipulation and murder by the internationally bestselling author of Alex."