Book Description

A lost young man and a corrupt politician deal with the legacy World War II has left them in this crime novel, by the author of Talking to Ghosts. 1950s Bordeaux is a city plagued by memories and scars of the Second World War. Meanwhile, across the sea, another war has already begun. The young men of France are sent in droves to Algeria, where they wage brutal battle in a conflict so new it has yet to be given a name. Albert Darlac, a corrupt police chief, fascist sympathizer, and one-time collaborator, will soon discover that not everybody has forgiven or forgotten his wartime crimes. Twenty-year-old Daniel has heard the stories of massacres and mutilations, of ambushes and patrols played out under a burning north African sun. The atrocious loss of his parents and sister in the war that has just ended haunts him. A series of explosive events will bring the destinies of these two men together in this uncompromising masterpiece set in a world driven by retribution . . . Praise for After the War “Graphic in its violence but rich in history and psychology, this novel is vivid proof that “after the war, sometimes the war continues.” —Kirkus Reviews “The writing of Hervé Le Corre has a musicality that verges on the poetic. He is the perfect portraitist.” —Le Monde (France) “Composed with all the skill of a virtuoso, mingling the colorful slang of bistros and bad guys with sensitive, sharp, crystalline prose that pierces you to the core. Superb.” —Télérama (France) “Full-blooded and uncompromising. Extraordinary.” —L’Express (France)