This Little Family by Inès Bayard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Three bodies around a dining table. Marie, her husband Laurent and their little toddler, Thomas, in his high chair. All three of them have been poisoned by Marie. But why?
I really struggle sometimes with how to rate a book on the star system here. This definitely wasn't a five star book for me and the rating of 3 states suggests I liked it. It feels wrong to say that when the subject matter is so dark. The blurb on the back of the edition I have outlines the opening chapter detailing the deathly scene of a family who have been poisoned by the Mother.
The rest of the book details what led to this awful tragedy.
The blurb also suggested to me that this is a crime thriller/mystery but it's not. It's the chronicle of the Mother's (Marie) breakdown after a shocking event of sexual violence. Strangely though it's told from the POV of the third person rather than first. I think it would have been better in the first person.
It's definitely shocking and very graphic in places. I liked that it challenged me as it's far removed from most of the books I read. (It's translated from French too.) It's quite short which was good because it was compelling. I didn't want to put it down although some aspects of it didn't feel credible to me, certainly not if the events had taken place in the UK.
Would I recommend it? Only with a big dollop of caution to any sensitive readers.
And for anyone wondering why I wanted to read this book, it was gifted to me.
I always appreciate your reviews.
ReplyDeleteI just finished, The Women of Chateau Lafayette, I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars. Let me know if you read it.
Carla
Thanks for the review, Wendy. I'll pass on this one, I think. xo
ReplyDeleteGood review. I think I will pass on this one as well. Thanks.
ReplyDelete