Eat Him If You Like
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- £4.49
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- £4.49
Publisher Description
Jean Teulé reconstructs each step of one of the most shameful stories in the history of nineteenth-century France in this 'engrossing book' [Kirkus Reviews].
'Terrifyingly convincing’ Financial Times
A true story.
Tuesday 16 August 1870, Alain de Monéys, makes his way to the village fair. He plans to buy a heifer for a needy neighbour and find a roofer to repair the roof of the barn of a poor acquaintance.
He arrives at two o’clock. Two hours later, the crowd has gone crazy; they have lynched, tortured, burned and eaten him. How could such a horror be possible?
With frightening precision, Jean Teulé reconstructs each step of one of the most shameful stories in the history of nineteenth-century France.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A true incident from the Franco-Prussian war inspired this unnerving little tale of unthinking mob violence from Teul (The Suicide Shop). One hot summer day in 1870, Alain de Mon ys, the new deputy mayor of Beaussac, sets out on horseback for the nearby Saint-Roch fair. En route, he sees friends and neighbors, including farmers, artisans, a ragman, and the schoolmaster's wife, with whom he exchanges pleasant words. Alain happens upon his outspoken cousin, Camille de Maillard, who's engaged in a heated argument about the war. When Alain tries to defend Camille, his words are misunderstood. Neither civil nor religious powers are willing or able to defend Alain after he's subjected to punches, stabs, lashes, and endless humiliations by the same people he so recently greeted. Teul 's vivid account of ordinary folk inexplicably transformed into monsters resonates long after reading.
