The Silence and the Rage
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The Silence and the Rage
Buy Now for £18.89
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Narrated by:
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Philip Bird
About this listen
'A novelist at the height of his powers' La Croix
'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
It is 1952 and the Pelletier family have returned to a life in France...
Patriarch Louis Pelletier, a successful businessman with a dark past, has remained with his wife in Beirut, but his family have settled on French soil. Jean, the menacing eldest brother, hides a terrible secret and is trapped in a stifling marriage, though his life is enriched by his love for his three-year-old daughter. François, an up-and-coming reporter, is caught up in a volatile love affair; and Hélène, their younger sister, strives to make her own way as a journalist, but as a woman in a man's world, she faces extraordinary challenges as she fights to expose a vast industrial scandal.
Filled with twists and turns, dark and compelling, yet ripe with wit and surprising cliffhangers, The Silence and the Rage is the story of one remarkable family against the backdrop of France during one of its most thrilling and turbulent periods.
'Lemaitre's hard-boiled style of writing is perfectly matched by his translator, Frank Wynne' Financial Times
Amusing expose of everyday French lifestyle
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My biggest criticism would be Genvieve, wife of the oldest son. I don't think I've cone across such a 2 dimensional character in the whole of literature. She is a monster through and through, selfish, vindictive, cruel, lazy, dishonest. Not a single redeeming feature. How did she get that way? We are never told.
Lesser niggles - clichés (a rumour spreads "like wildfire*) and anachronisms ("how long have you two been an item") one chapter asks a couple.
I think it was a mistake to have a book where the female characters are so prominent narrated by a man. Some accents seemed a bit random. Was Denisov American? I don’t remember this being said. And surely even a provincial school mistress (one who uses the phrase "as will I") would be quite well- spoken rather than sounding like one of the less affluent characters from The Archers.?
disappointing
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