The 6:41 to Paris

Perfectly written and a remarkably suspenseful read, though there's nary a crime in sight, this European best seller from French author Blondel opens with the stylishly appointed, nearly 50 Cécile boarding the 6:41 morning train for Paris. She's just spent another dreary weekend with her parents in a provincial town to the southeast, and she's mulling over thoughts of family and work (she owns an upmarket chain of boutiques) when a man occupies the seat next to her. It's Phillippe Leduc, with whom she had an affair in her university days, when he was a golden boy and she mousy and insecure but with her own distinctive temperament. He eventually betrayed her so painfully on a trip to London that she cannot bear to return to the city. Phillippe recognizes her, too, but neither acknowledges the other. Will they eventually speak? What really happened in London? Is reconciliation possible—or desirable? These questions crash through the reader's mind as the narrative races along, unfolding tensely and effectively in she-remembers, he-remembers chapters that reveal not just their affair but details of their respective lives since.