The Wide World Paperback – 18 January 2024

I'd read a few books by this author and had been trying to work out which one to read next. Some are written as a series and his translations aren't published at the same time as the original French versions so it can be complicated.This book is 503 pages split into 49 chapters, using a fairly small font. It was published in France in 2022 then in the UK in 2023. On the firs page there is a brief biography of the author that says he has "thrice won the Crime Writers Association International Dagger". Of course, the awards is impressive but I was more excited by the use of the word "thrice" - shows imagination and made me smile. The translator is also introduced, with his chairmanship of the Booker jury in 2022 being a particularly impressive achievement.The chapters are all titled - small hints about what they will contain. Each part is additionally given a location and a date to set the scene.There is a curiosity created from the start that compels the reader to want to know more. Everything is slightly odd, particularly the people, and I wanted to know why. None of the characters are likeable but they are all engaging in some way.At times this can be an uncomfortable read which, strangely, made me want to read it more as it is great fun. I needed to keep going to make sure that they all got a degree of comeuppance.It is a book predominantly about the characters but the setting is also fascinating. I'm not familiar with the history of the countries involved during 1948 so I learnt loads.The author has a clever style of creating tension - often the last sentence of a chapter produces a shock which is not further revealed until a couple of chapters have passed. We know from the back of the book that there is a serial killer and high levels of tension are built around this in a very unusual way - clever writing!There is a third person narrator who seems to act as an observer - quietly judging the actions of the 4 siblings, gently nudging the reader to see them all as bad people. This is an unusual technique - I felt I was being manipulated and loved it.The details are analytical with the names standing out - I'm guessing they have been changed by the translator (congratulations to Frank Wynne - he's done an amazing job on this book.In a strange way this book has the feeling of a Wes Anderson film - things are constantly shifting away from the expected route but never far enough to be fantastical, just enough to keep the reader's attention.Towards the end the plot took some strange turns but I had got used to the weirdness so wasn't surprised by anything at that pointSwitching from his crime writing to this family saga in an interesting historical period was a great experience and showed the authors flexibility - I will seek out more from this man.In the Acknowledgements section there are some explanations about the factual elements used and the "poetic licence" that was employed for the sake of the story.

Another great story from my favourite writer PLM.Engaging from the start.Couldn't put it down!

Lemaitre wrote, what I consider one of the best historical novels ever, The great swindle. The Wide World is very much the same type of writing and is also a fascinating story.

A lot of twists and turns and surprising links to previous books. Thoroughly recommend, a good read, a page turner.

I don't think this qualifies as "as new"