The Confidant

by Hélène Grémillon

Book Overview

"A gripping first novel" (Le Figaro Litt raire) and an award-winning international sensation as haunting and unforgettable as Suite Fran aise

Paris, 1975. Camille sifts through letters of condolence after her mother's death when a strange, handwritten missive stops her short. At first she believes she received it by mistake. But then, a new letter arrives each week from a mysterious stranger, Louis, who seems intent on recounting...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143121561
• ISBN13: 9780143121565
• Release Date: October 2012
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Paris start of world war ll

Ok..This is a hard book for me to write a review on...and I don't know why ! First ..and MOST important...it was a very well written mature story...a most Interesting story, you connect with the characters, it has suspense, and passion, and heartbreak...yet...I can't put my finger on it..maybe the way it starts in the very beginning that makes me hold back from it...Its far from boring and uninteresting..I think in the beginning I just found it alittle hard to follow..kinda jumping around from person to person..incident to incident...But ..HOLD ON..SERIOUSLY..by the middle...to the very end it Comes together so nicely..you now get the whole picture ...in an easier, less work to understanding the story !!. Maybe that's it..I felt like in the very beginning it was a bit of work to keep the story line and characters all straight. But I even hate saying that, it's not broken into chapters and the flow just keeps going from Paris before the war to the now 1975 Paris. It starts out where a girl Camille, finds in her letter box after work, condolence letters that are handwritten...more like in a story form, after the recent death of her mother Annie. This is in Paris in 1975..the letters continue week after week..from a man named Louis, who fell in love with her mom, just before world war ll. He tells about the very young years that they became friends, up until they are each others first love. Then he loses Annie, to a wealthy couple, who are trying to have a baby..but years go by with no luck.The wealthy women who is known as Madame M, is so desperate to have a baby, she comes up with a plan..for Annie and her husband Paul to be together, and try to conceive a baby. Annie wants to please and help Madam she agrees to the arrangement. But it all turns out with devastating consequences for all the grown ups involved! It is about the cruelty of their love, the passion and heartache. It's really a very Fascinating read..quite different from anything I've read .Its full of intense revenge, and mystery..and sorrow, in a mature context. I can 100% say I am NOT sorry to have read this book...I would love to know what others thought of it. The ending will surprise you..leave you heartbroken and find it a story you just can't put down !!!