Mister Memory
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In the idyllic early summer of 1914, life is good for the de Witt family. Rudolf and Verena are planning the wedding of their daughter Emmeline, while their eldest son, Arthur, is studying in Paris, and Michael is just back from his first term at Cambridge. Celia, the youngest of the de Witt children, is on the brink of adulthood and secretly dreams of escaping her carefully mapped-out future and exploring the world.But the onslaught of war changes everything and soon the de Witts find themselves sidelined and in danger of losing everything they hold dear. As Celia struggles to make sense of the changing world around her, she lies about her age to join the war effort and finds herself embroiled in a complex plot that puts not only herself but those she loves in danger.With gripping detail and brilliant empathy, Kate Williams tells the story of Celia and her family as they are shunned by a society that previously embraced them, torn apart by sorrow, and buffeted and changed by the storms of war.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fin de si cle Paris provides the backdrop for this outstanding thriller from Sedgwick (A Love like Blood), who creates a sense of intimacy with the reader through darkly humorous omniscient narration reminiscent of Dumas ("Paris at that time can be described as a fairy tale; assuming it's understood that fairy tales are brutish, dark and violent"). One night, Marcel Despr s, a man with a photographic memory, comes home to his studio apartment to find his wife, Ondine, in bed with a male acquaintance of theirs. The police arrest Marcel soon after he shoots Ondine dead. The motive eliminates the risk of execution, but Insp. Laurent Petit, a dedicated policeman haunted by the death of his fianc e, is shocked when he learns that the murderer has been summarily declared insane and transferred to the asylum of Salp tri re. Petit's quest for the truth behind Ondine's murder coincides with the efforts of Dr. Lucien Morel, an alienist at Salp tri re, to understand Marcel's phenomenal gift. Sedgwick thoughtfully explores fundamental questions about the relationship of memory and identity.
