The Secret Life of Writers by Guillaume Musso
In 1999, after publishing three cult novels, celebrated author Nathan Fawles announces the end of his writing career and withdraws to Beaumont, a wild and beautiful island off the Mediterranean coast. Autumn 2018. As Fawles' novels continue to captivate readers, Mathilde Monney, a young Swiss journalist, arrives on the island, determined to unlock the writer's secrets and secure his first interview in twenty years. That same day, a woman's body is discovered on the beach and the island is cordoned off by the authorities. And so, begins a dangerous face-off between Mathilde and Nathan, in which the line between truth and fiction becomes increasingly blurred...
As this is my fifth time picking up a Musso book I guess it's safe to say I'm a fan of his work. I like to think of him as equal to those titans of American crime fiction. But it wasn't until all the recently that I became acquainted with his work. This is in part down to a lack of his work in translation. So each time I know see his name come up on the pre-order list I'm sure to check out the blurb to see if it's worth me picking up a copy. This time things sounded like they were all getting a bit meta what with him writing about an author at the top of his game. You have to wonder how much Musso sees himself in his creation. But maybe he hasn't gotten that old a bitter yet, lets hope he never does. After all, there is nothing worse than finding out your favorite author is a bit of a dick, but any way to the matter at hand.
As I have come to expect with Musso you kind of have to keep your eye on the ball. And here we have no exception. With multiple characters and timelines to keep track of it gave me all the glorious complications, I could hope for in what is a relatively short novel. For the most part, our time is spent with cranky old Falwes and desperate Mathilde. The former whats nothing to do with anyone and could quite happily spend his remaining days hidden from the world. There is a definite touch of j.d. Salinger here. A man who would appear to be tormented by his own fame, looking for nothing more than to be forgotten to the annals of time. But there is a fat chance of that when Mathilde turns up hungry to get to the bottom of his disappearance. They definitely have their own rhythm with each other, these little sparks of moments between them. Mathilde, all ways pushing and pushing in the hopes that Falwes flood barrier will break and all the answers she is fighting for will come spilling out. With this tale, it is a definite battle of wills each trying to outdo the other in the hopes of getting the upper hand. To me, it felt like a much more cerebral affair than some of his other books. And in doing so it takes on a much dark and more ominous tone than some of his others.
Musso has once again delivered with his trademark wit and amazing ability to confound us at each turn. This novel builds like an opera with each act spilling its secrets just to double down and leave me still clasping at straws as to exactly what is going on. His novels are so beautifully written that it feels like the best game of cat and mouse he is playing with us the readers. The author has this way of building mystery out of his character's very souls. We pull at their threads trying to grasp a better understanding of the situation. But as with all of Musso's previous works, The Secret Life of Writers also aims to teach us a little about what it means to be alive. That no matter how much we think we have things figured out, life is always far messier than we would hope for. This in turn leads to blurred lines and us questioning at times who the real bad guy of this piece really is. But as is so often is the case with this author he does his best to wrap up the big strand. So we are left satisfied but only just. As in real life, we are never going to get the whole picture. And in part that is what I really enjoyed about this book, just like life we are left a little confused.
So having completed book number five I am no less enamored with this author than before. He creates worlds that I am more than happy to get lost into. There is a mystery to be found from the get-go and I was more than happy to dive into it. Exploring each corner and crevis in the hopes of getting to the bottom of who these two were and what brought both of them to this tiny island. Be it curled up by a cozy fire or catching some rays by the pool this book will no doubt feed that hunger for the perfect mystery.
Comments
Post a Comment