The Wide World: An epic novel of family fortune, twisted secrets and love - the first volume in THE GLORIOUS YEARS series

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'Literature with conviction; a furious talent' L'Obs

The first volume of THE GLORIOUS YEARS series, translated by Frank Wynne

Beirut, 1948. The Pelletier family returns...

The Pelletiers are a prominent French family living in Beirut. The patriarch, Louis, has built a successful business manufacturing and exporting artisanal soaps. He hoped to pass the business on to his eldest son, Jean, but Jean doesn't have the sharpness or aptitude for such an enterprise. After nearly running the company into the ground, Jean marries a money-grubbing young woman who quickly makes him miserable, and they emigrate to Paris. But there's another reason Jean must leave - he has committed a terrible crime...

His brother, Etienne, travels to Saigon, where he soon uncovers irregularities in the local currency office and begins investigating what he believes is a scheme to channel smuggled goods and cash to the Viet Minh. It is evidence that presents a real threat to his own life.

Fran ois, the middle Pelletier brother, has gone to Paris, ostensibly to study, but finds himself working as a journalist. His career flies when he reports on the brutal murder of an actress in a cinema ladies' room. It seems a serial killer is on the loose.

'You have the ingredients Balzac would have cooked with. And it is exactly those great 19th century novels that Lemaitre will remind you of' Sunday Times

'Pierre Lemaitre skilfully captivates and stuns the reader' Le Figaro

Reviews

Pierre Lemaitre does not spare his characters or twists. Dumas is not far away, Zola remains in ambush with Hugo, leaning on the shoulder of a Lemaitre who is bickering while winking at his readers * Telerama *
Pierre Lemaitre finds his legendary verve [...] to crunch with relish the follies of the time * Les Echos *
Pierre Lemaitre skilfully captivates and stuns the reader * Le Figaro Litteraire *
Storytelling with never a dull moment * Le Figaro *
You have the ingredients Balzac would have cooked with...and it is exactly those 19th century novels that Lemaitre will remind you of * Sunday Times *

Author Bio

Pierre Lemaitre was born in Paris in 1951. He worked for many years as a teacher of literature before becoming a novelist.

He has won the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger three times, once alongside Fred Vargas, for Alex, and twice as sole winner for Camille and The Great Swindle. In 2013 The Great Swindle (published in French as Au revoir la-haut won the Prix Goncourt, France's leading literary award.

In addition to his Brigade Criminelle novels starring Commandant Camille Verhoeven, Lemaitre writes standalone thrillers including Blood Wedding.

Frank Wynne is an award-winning writer and translator. His previous translations include works by Virginie Despentes, Javier Cercas and Michel Houllebecq. He chaired the jury of the 2022 Booker International. Most recently his translation of The Art of Losing won the 2022 Dublin Literary Award.