06 September 2014

The Foundling – Agnes Desarthe


Genre: Fiction

Translated from French, the story follows the life of Jerome, a divorced father whose daughter is suffering the loss of her boyfriend, who was killed in a motorcycle accident.  While trying to help her cope, Jerome must also face his own childhood ghosts, that of being a foundling, and the mystery thereof.  He befriends a retired policeman and together they gather more information on his adoptive parents and investigate his daughter’s dead boyfriend.


Although the ending was a bit placid [for lack of a better word] the story line was strong throughout the novel.  The mystery and suspense, as well as the relationships between the various characters keeps you curious and entertained and needing to read more.  Regarding the ending, I can’t help but wonder if anything was lost in the process of translation.  Something small and subtle like the emphasis or nuance on certain words, which may have played an important role in making the ending seem more alive.  All in all I rather enjoyed this book and hope to find more of Desarthe’s works translated to English.  I would happily recommend this book to any one wanting to read something different.




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