May 27, 2019
Intense nostalgia and simmering guilt drive this evocative mystery from Musso (Afterwards), a bestseller in France. In 1992, 19-year-old Vinca Rockwell, an American student at an elite boarding school in Anitibes, France, and her 27-year-old philosophy teacher, Alexis Clément, create a scandal when, as many believe, they run off together to Paris. In 2017, Thomas Degalais, a friend of Vinca who graduated from the same school 25 years earlier, knows this didn’t happen, because he killed Alexis, in the belief that the teacher abused Vinca, and walled him up in the freshly poured concrete of the new gym with the help of a friend’s father, a builder. Vinca was never seen again. At a reunion, the crime’s loose ends become an urgent matter for Thomas and two other friends of Vinca, Maxime Biancardini and Fanny Brahimi, who come to realize someone connected to those events is seeking revenge. Musso moves effortlessly between the violent past and the increasingly dangerous present as complicated relationships and tragic misunderstandings unfold. It’s all a tad melodramatic, but readers interested in the dark side of the good life on the Cote d’Azur will be satisfied.
June 1, 2019
News of a reunion at an international school on the C�te d'Azur is terrifying for two of its graduates. The planned demolition of the school's gymnasium is bound to reveal a decades-old secret that will irrevocably change the lives of Thomas Degalais and Maxime Biancardini. Best friends at school, the two haven't seen each other in 25 years, during which time Thomas has become a prominent novelist in America and Maxime a successful businessman and budding politician in France. What happened in 1992 is revealed gradually, revolving around vibrant, enigmatic Vinca Rockwell, Thomas' first love, who is still vivid in his memory. The close friendship that Vinca and Thomas shared in school had been marred, presumably by her relationship with 27-year-old philosophy professor Alexis Clement. Then one day Vinca asked for Thomas' help, made a confession, and disappeared, evidently to run away with her lover. She was never heard from again. Threatened by anonymous notes, Thomas and Maxime finally learn the whole story of what happened in 1992 and how it has continued to reverberate throughout their families. A fine tale of suspense from France's best-selling author.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)