What is this about?: Credule Grand-Duc is an investigator tasked with finding out the real identity of a baby that survived an airplane crash 18 years ago. The book opens on the night that he intends to committ suicide because he has failed, but then he finds something and everything changes.
What else is this about?: Lylie, the baby in question, is all grown up and dealing with the consequences of her relationship with Marc, who at the same time is trying to figure out the mystery behind Credule Grand-Duc’s suicide and what that means for Lylie.
Stars: 3/5
Blurb: On the night of 22 December 1980, a plane crashes on the Franco-Swiss border and is engulfed in flames. 168 out of 169 passengers are killed instantly. The miraculous sole survivor is a three-month-old baby girl. Two families, one rich, the other poor, step forward to claim her, sparking an investigation that will last for almost two decades. Is she Lyse-Rose or Emilie?
Eighteen years later, having failed to discover the truth, private detective Credule Grand-Duc plans to take his own life, but not before placing an account of his investigation in the girl’s hands. But, as he sits at his desk about to pull the trigger, he uncovers a secret that changes everything – then is killed before he can breathe a word of it to anyone…
After the Crash has been on my radar for awhile, in fact I recced it back in January. This is one of those books that makes me wish I could read French, because translations, I find, are so difficult to review. There’s so much you miss in a translation, I think, and I regret that, especially here because I came away for a bit feeling like the writing was uneven, and now I’m not entirely certain it’s a factor of the translation.
But on to the story — it starts strong, laying the puzzle pieces out of the story through Credule Grand-Duc, an investigator who has been searching for firm evidence of who Lylie is. You have to keep in mind this happens in a time when DNA testing didn’t exist, and even when it does, it’s in its infancy. But, on the night he ends his life — or was he murdered? — he finds something that brings the truth to light.
He is a compelling character, broken down by the weight of his investigation and the responsibility that comes with it. From there, we’re taken back through the case, to the two families who claimed the baby as their own, and lengths to which both will go to keep the baby. It’s vicious and ugly and weighed down by the grief each family is going through.
At the same time that we meet Credule, we meet Lylie and Marc. Seen through the eyes of a waitress, who ponders whether they are family or not, lovers or not. It’s an excellent plot device that highlights the questions around Lylie’s identity. What’s another brilliant part of this book is that it continues to play with readers’ perceptions of who she is until the end.
So, there are two stories: one tells the story of the case in the past up to this point, and the other is Marc who is racing to find Lylie. On the morning we’re introduced to them, she leaves him Credule’s diary, the one he was writing in before he died and came to her the night before her 18th birthday. It lays out the truth of his investigation. But, as he begins to read, Marc begins to worry about Lylie, who is not answering her phone, and most especially when he finds out that Credule has died.
Marc grows more and more concerned for Lylie as the book progresses, attaining a manipulative ally in the form of Malvina, who could have been Lylie’s sister. She has lived and continues to live under the shadow of Lylie, even though she went to a different family after the case was all said and done — Malvina’s family never stopped thinking that Lylie was theirs. Together, and aided by Credule’s diary, their search for her becomes a search for the truth of her identity — which you know, would be improbable given Credule has been searching for that for 18 years , but the beauty of this narrative is that the improbable works.
Neither Marc’s nor Credule’s story is without flashbacks, and this is where things begin to lag for me. It’s not that all the flashbacks are problematic, but there’s a point when I’d just had enough. That said, the conclusion of the book made me go back and look through those flashbacks.
This is a story that is filled with truths and half-truths, that keep readers guessing about who Lylie is. More importantly though, the revelations in the conclusion throw the entire narrative into a different light by the end. It’s a masterful ending, even if the body of the work is not without problems.
This premise sounds totally amazing but I understand your criticism of the flashbacks — I think the focus also would have been better on the present action. Great review!!
YESSS! Exactly! The present was already a complicated, intricate and engrossing plot that got lost in the wealth of flashbacks, sadly. Books like this REALLY make me wish I knew French so I could read the original!
This does sound really fascinating- I like the premise. Sorry it felt a bit off though, probably because of the translation, like you said. I find some translated books are smooth reads, but it’s not always the case.
You’re right, a smooth translation isn’t always the case — there’s the desire to stay true to the author’s orginal work, but then also there are bits that could work better with just that much editing, you know? This one though, man, the ending!
ooh, this seems super interesting! I haven’t heard of this one before! Although not surprising, because I usually bury myself in mostly YA. XD But I love the name Lylie! 😀 And I lvoe books with unreliable narrators and great plot twists. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by @ Paper Fury!
The ending is one of the best twists I’ve read in a time when every book thinks they’re doing the best twist ever. It’s up and down for me because of the translation, but it’s an impressive tale at it’s core.
Well I’m glad you enjoyed the ending. It is difficult when a book is translated because I always wonder what different in the original language. Lol!
Me too! And this time, I wished so much I could read this in the original language — it’d make such a difference I think!