Scene of the Crime
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A Novel
Patrick Modiano; Translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti
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Format: HardcoverPrice: $25.00
A haunting novel that probes the enigmas of time and memory, by Nobel Prize-winning author Patrick Modiano
In his acclaimed semi-autobiographical novella Suspended Sentences, Patrick Modiano recounted a dramatic season in his childhood, of the home he shared with sinister surrogate parents, the mysterious events that took place there, and an infamous heist that was never solved.
In Scene of the Crime, Modiano conjures the aftermath of those years. A decade has passed, and Jean Bosmans, now in his early twenties, becomes aware of a set of disturbing coincidences involving an elusive woman, his childhood home, and a host of disquieting characters who seem inordinately interested in his past, for reasons he can’t fathom. As he journeys into the echoes of memory, past and present become increasingly intertwined, forming a web spanning half a century.
With the taut suspense of a detective novel, this book slowly peels away layers of time and forgetfulness to reveal the haunting, threatening, ultimately tragic legacies of what we think we know about our lives.
Patrick Modiano, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, in 1945, and published his first novel, La Place de l’Etoile, in 1968. His previous books include Invisible Ink, Sleep of Memory, and Family Record. He lives in Paris. Mark Polizzotti has translated more than fifty books from French. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
“Perhaps Modiano, a young man of 76, has never been so close to Proust: not in the phrasing, but in this particular way of telling—of finding—his lost time.”—Fabrice Gabriel, Le Monde
“Modiano delivers a summary of his novelistic imagination. Masterful.”—Samuel Dufay, L’Express
“Modiano blurs trails and exploits the precarious balance between reality and dream with the consummate art of a shaman.”—Isabelle Lesniak, Les Echos
Publication Date: January 17, 2023
1 b/w illus.
