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A Very Long Engagement by Sebastian Japrisot,

Whew, talk about culture shock! After all those charming little books about British country life, this one was a bit tough slogging! Actually though, I think it was a case of reading the right book at the wrong time. I've been awfully tired lately and very distracted by my yard (I looooooooove yardwork even more than I love books!) and this book deserves more attention than I was willing to give it just now. However, it's a borrowed book and I always feel as though borrowed books should be read (and returned!) promptly if possible.

The premise of the book is this: Five French soldiers are marched to their own front lines where they will be tossed into no man's land with their hands tied behind their backs. Their crime? Three of them had attempted to escape the atrocities of World War One by purposefully injuring their hands. One injured himself as a form of protest and one was actually injured in an accident. However, self mutilation to escape active duty is considered treason. Five bodies are recovered and the men's families are notified that they were killed in the line of duty.

Mathilde is the fiance of one of the condemned men. She cannot accept that her Manech is dead and so she begins a search to find out the truth of what really happened that fateful night.

The story, originally written in French and translated to English in this version, is told through a series of flashbacks, letters, memories and real time occurences.

As I said above, if I'd had more time and fewer distractions, I think I would have loved this book. Especially as my great grandfather is rumoured to have been a French defector. Our story is a bit jumbled and confused, but it seems he married my great grandmother, had a son (my grandfather) and then disappeared. Or was found and taken back to France to be similarly dealt with. Either way I felt a connection to this story.

The story is beautifully written and very intersting. And the ending was (in my opinion) very satisfying (though not a Hollywood ending). I think I'll have to try to find the movie version - if nothing else to watch the beautiful Audrey Tatou play Mathilde.