The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair: A Novel. Joel Dicker. Penguin Group (USA). May 2014. 656 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780143126683.
Marcus
Goldman one year ago was a famous writer whose name and appearance on stage, in
stores, in the press, or anywhere one could imagine was bound to draw huge,
immense crowds. He’s now a wealthy man
but is about to lose it all because he has a very serious case of writer’s
block, an insidious disease that seems to increase with time and pressurized
attention. He fears failure and
especially fears the disappointment that will be his mentor, Harry Quebert’s
probable response. But Harry Quebert is
about to have another far steeper problem to worry about than Marcus’s brain
freeze!
The
nightmare of the discovery of Nola Kellergan’s body after a thirty-year
disappearance begins a spiraling journey involving the battle to determine
Harry Quebert’s innocence or guilt. Yes,
Nola was last seen running through the woods of Somerset, New Hampshire and now
she’s found with Quebert’s manuscript next to her very dead body! Quebert is arrested and Marcus decides to
investigate every single facet of Nola and Quebert’s affair, if one could call
it that guilt-laden term. That search is
absolutely riveting and productive in so many unexpected ways involving
unexpected characters.
This
is the story of what fuels the imaginations of great writers and how success
can stymie even the most creative artist.
It’s about infatuated love from and between several characters that
quickly moves into the dangerous territory of obsession. It’s about guilty by association, betrayal by
those suffering from unrequited love; and it’s about how delightful it is for
the media to damn an alleged criminal because of an ill-timed association and
the sensationalism that fuels public attention.
But
much, much more than that this novel is about the depths of friendship, trust
and loyalty that surmounts the fickle public and even private moods and
opinions of former supporters. It’s a
magnificent novel that should be a best seller, a story that not only will
remain in the public’s attention but deserves to be credited with a more
truthful approach to guilt and innocence needing remediation in so many places
and times! Terrific thriller, crime
fiction, Joel Dicker!
