*Longlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Award 2020*
Sixteen-year-old Celine and her sister Jo, fifteen, dream of escaping to somewhere far from their daily routine, far from the suffocating atmosphere of their social housing estate in Luberon, France, and far from their surly, alcoholic father and uncaring mother, both struggling to make ends meet.
In this touristic French region, for those who live there year-round, it often means stifling poverty and boredom. Celina and Jo have grown up in a world where the main distractions are a hatred of Arabs and booze. When Celine falls pregnant, the devastating news reopens deep family wounds, and when Celine refuses to divulge her lover's identity, her father embarks on a drunken mission of revenge.
'With raw, chilling and incisive prose, Brunet takes us into a world of sectarian convictions dominated by the hatred of the rich, the bosses, the foreigners and the 'different'.' - L'Express
'With its intense rage, corrosive boredom and low-life scams, Brunet's South of France is saturated with broken dreams. And the last flickers of childhood are terrifying, proving that, even under the strong sun, social barriers remain implacable.' - Paris Match
'A story that is dark and luminous at the same time, dark following the slow unravelling of the crime story affecting Celine, and luminous in Joe's conviction that she will escape this sinister world. A novel that leaves you heart-stricken and seduced.' - Le Monde
Industry Reviews
GUARDIAN: "There's an appalling, slow-motion car crash inevitability to this concise and beautifully written novel, not only about the disastrous consequences of Manuel's idee fixe, but also about the identity of the real father and the guilt and shame that follow." THE TIMES (London): "Summer of Reckoning is a powerful portrait of disaffected youth, stunted lives and insidious racism. It portrays a Provence that few tourists glimpse and will have its expats wondering just what lies beneath the swimming pool. Marion Brunet reminds us that noir is a French word; that "life's not like a fairytale for silly girls. Life hurts." This is the first of her award-winning books to be translated into English. More, please, au plus vite!"
"With raw, chilling and incisive prose, Brunet takes us into a world of sectarian convictions dominated by the hatred of the rich, the bosses, the foreigners and the 'different'." --L'Express
"With its intense rage, corrosive boredom and low-life scams, Brunet's South of France is saturated with broken dreams. And the last flickers of childhood are terrifying, proving that, even under the strong sun, social barriers remain implacable."--Paris Match
"A story that is dark and luminous at the same time, dark following the slow unravelling of the crime story affecting Celine, and luminous in Joe's conviction that she will escape this sinister world. A novel that leaves you heart-stricken and seduced."--Le Monde
"Dramatic tension is evident from the very beginning of this fierce and dark novel, well served by terse, direct and brilliant prose. The characters are strong, seemingly right beside us, nervous, anxious, overworked, and perspiring under the southern sun." -- Le Temps
"Impresses with its mastery of rhythm and atmospheres, its acute powers of observation and the power of its writing, fierce, physical, and intense."- Telerama
