The Front Seat Passenger
Pascal Garnier, Jane Aitken (translator)
Gallic, Sep 9 2014, $13.95
ISBN 9781908313638
After visiting his père in Normandy, Fabien Delorme returns to
Paris to an empty house. He actually is
pleased though surprised his wife Sylvie is not home as their relationship has
drifted apart. Fabien soon learns that
Sylvie and her lover Martial Arnoult died in a car accident in Dijon.
Instead of grief, Fabien obsesses over his spouse having a secret
lover she concealed from him. In Dijon
to identify Sylvie’s corpse, Fabien notices a woman do likewise with Arnoult’s
body. Obviously he concludes she is Arnoult’s
widow, Martine. Ironically in spite of
her cuckolding him, Fabien misses Sylvie who kept him anchored. Thus he decides since Arnoult stole his wife,
he will do likewise with the other man’s widow.
Stalking Martine, Fabien becomes part of her life and that of her
companion.
The latest Gallic translation of a Pascal Garnier suspenseful
French middle class tragedy (see Moon in a Dead
Eye, The Panda Theory and How’s the Pain?) is another superb dark surrealistic novella.
Character driven by an unlikable but realistic three degrees of separation
quintet, readers will appreciate the impact on their respective mates by the
deaths of The Front Seat Passenger and the driver.
Harriet Klausner
No comments:
Post a Comment