Mirror of our Sorrows

"Tremendous and enjoyable" - La Libre Belgique

"A great success" - La Croix

April, 1940. Louise Belmont runs, naked, down the boulevard du Montparnasse. To understand the tragic scene she has just experienced, she will have to plunge into the madness of the 'Phoney War', when the whole of France, seized by the panic of a new World War, descends into chaos.

Alongside bistro-owner Monsieur Jules, new recruit Gabriel and small-time crook Raoul, Louise navigates this period of enormous upheaval and extraordinary twists of fate, for as the Nazi's advance, the threat of German occupation will uncover long-buried secrets and make strange bedfellows.

With his characteristic wit and verve, Pierre Lemaitre chronicles the greatness and decline of a people crushed by circumstance. In Mirror of Our Sorrows, the final novel in the Paris between-the-wars trilogy, is an incandescent tale that is both burlesque and tragic.

Translated from the French by Frank Wynne

“Spectacular”

A great success La Croix
Lemaitre's new historical chronicle possesses the desperate irony that made the early volumes so successful BibliObs
Pierre Lemaitre brings his brilliant interwar trilogy to a close Le Journal de Quebec
Tremendous and enjoyable La Libre Belgique
Great characters and a roaring pace Le Monde
Le Soir
A vibrant tapestry of a decayed and defeated France Financial Times

Pierre Lemaitre was born in Paris in 1951. He worked for many years as a teacher of literature before becoming a novelist. He was awarded the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger, alongside Fred Vargas, for Alex, and as sole winner for Camille. In 2013 his novel Au revoir la-haut (The Great Swindle, in English translation) won the Prix Goncourt, France's leading literary award.

"Tremendous and enjoyable" - La Libre Belgique "A great success" - La Croix April, 1940. Louise Belmont runs, naked, down the boulevard du Montparnasse. To understand the tragic scene she has just experienced, she will have to plunge into the madness of the 'Phoney War', when the whole of France, seized by the panic of a new World War, descends into chaos. Alongside bistro-owner Monsieur Jules, new recruit Gabriel and small-time crook Raoul, Louise navigates this period of enormous upheaval and extraordinary twists of fate, for as the Nazi's advance, the threat of German occupation will uncover long-buried secrets and make strange bedfellows.With his characteristic wit and verve, Pierre Lemaitre chronicles the greatness and decline of a people crushed by circumstance. In Mirror of Our Sorrows , the final novel in the Paris between-the-wars trilogy, is an incandescent tale that is both burlesque and tragic. Translated from the French by Frank Wynne

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