2018 School Spending Survey Report
Paris Twilight
Houghton Harcourt. 2013. 304p. ISBN 9780618113736. $25; ebk. ISBN 9780544003071. F
COPY ISBN
It's 1990, and demonstrations against the First Gulf War are rocking Paris. Cardiac anesthesiologist Matilde Anselm has been recruited by an enigmatic and elegant Arab diplomat to join an elite surgical team in the French capital for the purpose of performing a private heart transplant for an anonymous patient. While there, Matilde is also inexplicably contacted by an attorney who informs her that she has been named the executor of an elderly gentleman's estate, consisting solely of his small Parisian apartment. No sooner does she set herself up in this space than mysterious love letters addressed to the deceased man begin to arrive regularly. Compelled to find these letters' source, Matilde launches a quest that leads her to her unknown parentage and the cruelties of the Spanish civil war.
VERDICT Sure to appeal to lovers of mysteries and European modern history, this thrillingly intelligent debut novel by the author of the NBCC finalist Genie: A Scientific Tragedy and American Beach, set among the wonders of Paris and against a backdrop of war, provides a haunting, sensitive account of a middle-aged woman's unearthing of her past and the ambiguities of her own heart. [See Prepub Alert, 1/14/13.]
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
Thank you for visiting.
We’ve noticed you are using a private browser. To continue, please log in or create an account.
Comment Policy:
Comment should not be empty !!!