At thirty-nine years old, Romane’s life largely revolves around her work as a GP and her father. It is a steady but dull existence, crippled somewhat by Romane’s anxieties and hypochondria, but when one of Romane’s patients insists that she saw Romane at a hospital on the other side of the country, she decides to investigate and what she finds reveals deep-set secrets and lies at the heart of her family.
Romane is thrust into another world, another life, but huge questions and doubts abound, and, ultimately, Romane has a life-changing choice to make.
In just two books, Julien Sandrel has quickly established himself as a master storyteller of emotionally rich and poignant novels, and this latest offering lives up to the billing. The story itself takes the reader down multiple unexpected avenues and though at times it strays into the improbable, it maintains its emotional reality and hold on the reader.
Told largely from Romane’s perspective, with a few additions from her father, I would have loved to have at least a few chapters from the perspective of the secondary central character and I did feel like this was a noticeable absence. However, that aside, this is an intriguing and thought-provoking read and I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up Sandrel’s next book when it’s released. (JC)
