Calamity and revenge

 All Human Wisdom by Pierre Lemaitre     

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Whoever said ‘vengeance is a dish best served cold’ absolutely had Madeleine Péricourt in mind.

Set in prewar France of the late 1920’s, Madeleine is the heiress to a premier banking family.

On the day of her father’s funeral, inexplicably her beloved son Paul defenestrates himself out of the second storey onto his grandfather’s coffin.

When Madeleine’s fortunes suffered a reversal bought about by her jilted fiancé Gustavo Joubert (her father’s trusted senior executive) and aided by her companion Léonce, Madeleine throws off her cloak of despondency and takes action. She sets in place an involved and torturous revenge. For her lover Andre she has something else in mind.

The man who helps her, Monsieur Dupré is an interesting foil to Madeleine.

The pace is s_l _o_w to start with, but by the middle I was caught up in political, economical and social doings of the times, particularly as Hitler’s Germany is looming on the horizon like a dark cloud. France’s tax laws have the spotlight of history on them. Her Uncle Charles is involved.

Paul’s relationship with singer Solange Gallinato is pure opera. I loved it.

Vladi his polish nurse/assistant is a breath of fresh air.

Meanwhile Nazism and Fascism are murmuring in the distance, whilst Madeline makes her play.

Strangely beguiling. By the end I was hooked.

A Mobius Books ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.