Three Days And A Life is a crime novel by bestselling French author Pierre Lemaitre. A portrait of a child's life, this might not have the intensity crime readers seek, but there is a satisfying slow burn.
December 1999. In the small French town of Beauval, the kids play freely. There is always an adult around. Since some kids got a Playstation, there are fewer who want to build forts with 12 year-old Antoine in the forest hills of Saint-Eustace. There is the local bully Theo, little Remi Desmedt who is only 6, and blond curly-haired Emilie, who is 12 as well, but it isn't the same, playing with a girl. He loves the neighbour's mongrel dog, and is devastated when the owner puts him down. In tears, he runs into the woods, followed by little Remi, who he lashes out at in an outburst of rage.
When he returns home, he finds the whole village turned over looking for Remi. He couldn't have gone far, he's only six years old. They prepare to drag the pond, the gendarmes arrive with the dogs. Rumour is a delicate sauce, the first ingredient accusations in all directions. Kowalski saw someone in the woods at the time, prompting a tear-filled Madame Desmedt to implore to the media: "Give him back."
A storm arrives (based on a true event) with gale-force winds, torrential rains, and flooding as the river breaks its banks. The village is demolished - the search for the missing boy is over.
We follow Antoine as he matures, living with his secrets. Visiting Beauval 12 years later brings two life-changing events: he reunites with Emilie, and an area redevelopment exhumes the body of Remi. After all this time, has the past returned to Antoine?
This slow moving tale of fate is filled with engaging writing. I wouldn't hesitate to read another novel by Lemaitre - whose detective series starring Camille Verhoven has been praised. This has little suspense, but the resolution opens more doors for the reader to ponder, which is always a good sign.
Pierre Lemaitre has received three Crime Writers' Association International Dagger awards, as well as France's leading literary award, the Prix Goncourt.
Three Days And A Life was made into an acclaimed 2019 French film Trois Jours Et Une Vie.
2016 / Tradeback / 288 pages
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