Pushkin Press | 2 September 2021 | 304 pgs
Source: Library
Translated from the French by Louise Rogers Lalaurie
The blurb read like a psychological thriller but it was actually more like a noir fiction centering on domestic abuse and the interactions between the perpetrator and the victim.
Sandrine has a low self-esteem and often views herself as a fat and ugly woman. Constrained by the harsh society's standard and her self loathing views (much often contributed by her unhappy childhood), she lives her life miserably alone until she meets Langlois; a man whose wife has mysteriously gone missing and is left with their young son, Mathias. For a while, Sandrine is happy living with them as Langlois seems to be good and attentive to her. But, Sandrine does wonder about his missing wife at times and how she's the "Second Woman" given her plight. It's not long when Langlois becomes a selfish and manipulative man who starts controlling Sandrine, leading her to become submissive and always wary of his moods and behaviours. The story then starts to shift when Langlois's missing wife returns.
I've to admit this story was hard to read in so many ways. First off, the extensive self-loathing thoughts of Sandrine and the abusive relationship between her and Langlois. Then, there's the omission of quotation marks (in which I'm not a fan of) and also the story is more "telling" than "showing" but I understand the latter as a form of writing style given the first person narrative. In spite of the darkness of the story, little Mathias was the saviour to me as his appearance and his child innocence lit some light during my reading journey. This is not a book for everyone yet it's an important subject which we cannot ignore or turn away from.
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