French Rhapsody – Antoine Laurain

Middle-aged doctor Alain Massoulier has received a life-changing letter—thirty-three years too late.

Lost in the Paris postal system for decades, the letter from Polydor, dated 1983, offers a recording contract to The Holograms, in which Alain played lead guitar. Back then The Holograms had believed in their cutting-edge sound. However, the music industry remained indifferent, and eventually the band split up, each going their own way.

Alain is overcome by nostalgia, and is tempted to track down the members of the group. But in a world where everything and everyone has changed . . . where will his quest take him?

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I’m not sure exactly why, but I loved this book. It’s an effortless read and very entertaining.

Alain Massoulier is a middle-aged doctor who leads a comfortable, if perhaps predictable, life in Paris.

Out of the blue he receives a potentially life-changing letter that had been posted 33 years earlier and had languished in the French postal system all these years. In 1983 he had been a member of a band The Holograms and the letter was from Polydor offering them a recording contract – 33 years too late as having failed to make a name for themselves as a band, they all went their separate ways.

Alain is thrown by this letter and becomes quite nostalgic, searching the house for a box of band photos and a cassette recording, desperately wanting to listen to a particular track that had been playing in his head since the letter’s arrival.

As he reminisces we learn how the five band members from very diverse backgrounds got together to form the band. The more he thinks of the past and the letter, the more he experiences feelings of fury and injustice. He has thoughts of what might have been. I liked the lines in the book, “You think you have buried your youthful dreams, that they’ve dissolved in the fog of passing years and then you realise it’s not true! The corpse is still there, terrifying and unburied.” He decides to search for his former bandmates and try to make contact to tell them what has transpired. He is also hoping that one of them will have a copy of “Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On”, the track that had impressed the record company.

I was never in a band, I’m not a doctor, I’m not even in my 50s (I’m older than that) but somehow I could connect with the story – maybe it’s wondering what might have been if another path had been taken? The book is funny, nostalgic, charming and at there’s a bit of satire in there too. It’s well written and has some great characters.

The characters are all very diverse. Some have made a name for themselves in the 33 years that have passed. They are all interesting and well drawn. I love how the present and the past are interwoven almost seamlessly. Oh yes, and there are a couple of nice twists in the story.

The book was translated from the French by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce. Publication date is 11 October 2016 but it is available now from Gallic Books

(My thanks to NetGalley and Gallic Books for providing me with a review copy)

Holding – Graham Norton

Graham Norton’s masterful debut is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets and loss.

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn’t always been this overweight; mother of­ two Brid Riordan hasn’t always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn’t always felt that her life was a total waste.

So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke – a former­ love of both Brid and Evelyn – the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.

Darkly comic, touching and at times profoundly sad. Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of loveable characters, and explore – with searing honesty – the complexities and contradictions that make us human.

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I like Graham Norton and I like his humour and his chat. Holding is his debut novel and I wasn’t sure what to expect. However I really enjoyed it. He tells a very good story.

Duneen is a sleepy Irish village where nothing much happens and the residents go about their daily routines although everyone seems to very interested in everyone else’s business. Graham sets the scene beautifully in the first few chapters, describing various locations in the village and the inhabitants. It is easy to picture the people and places. The story is told with humour but Graham doesn’t poke fun at anyone. There are several threads to the story but all cleverly connecting in some way.

The local guard is 53 year old Sergeant P J Collins who is very overweight, unfit and single. There has never been much crime for him to deal with until human remains are uncovered on an old farm by builders and he has to investigate. In fact it’s his first major case although he has to involve colleagues from Cork.

As the investigation proceeds we learn more and more about the various characters and the dark secrets they have been holding on to for a very long time.

There’s Brid Riordan, a wife and mother, who drinks more than she should;

Mrs O’Driscoll who has the local shop/post office/cafe.

The three unmarried Ross sisters  who lived together in the family home just outside the village.

Mrs Meany, the old lady who is Sergeant Collins full time housekeeper and cook.

Susan Hickey, a bit of a busybody and gossip.

Although much of the book centres on the human remains found and the investigation by Sergeant Collins and his colleagues from Cork, I wouldn’t say it was a crime thriller. It is a murder mystery but I feel the story is more about the people and how their pasts connect, and the secrets that are revealed.  I felt quite sad for some of the characters and annoyed at others. Parts of the story made me chuckle as I pictured the scene.

It’s a cosy, satisfying read – and very enjoyable and I hope I get to read more novels by Graham Norton.

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a review copy]