The Kites

Unbelievably, two-time Prix Goncourt winner Gary's luminous last work is only now appearing in English, but it was worth the wait. Introducing us to Norman lad Ludo Fleury; his only presumably batty uncle Ambrose, the maker of magnificent kites; Lila Bronicki, the imperious Polish girl whose family has an estate nearby; and extended Bronicki family members, including German cousin Hans, Ludo's rival for Lila's affections, Gary chronicles a fraught love affair with the ominous buildup to World War II as a backdrop. Then he roars absorbingly into the war itself and its counterbalance, the Resistance. Ludo's determination always to love glorious drama-queen Lila, even as her family scorns him and war's tragedies unfold, echoes the steely certainty of local chef Marcellin Duprat, who serves Germans at his Michelin-starred restaurant during the occupation to demonstrate that French honor and standards will not bend. Gary uses limpid, accessible language (deftly translated) to deliver certain truths: memory can ground us or blind us; imagination, perhaps even a bit of craziness, is essential for survival; and we cannot easily be divided into heroes and villains.