People Like Them by Samira Sedira is a short but powerful book based on a real event in 2003 when a family of 5 were killed by a man in a French Village.
In this fictional account that village is Carmac, a remote mountain village where very little changes and the locals have all known each other for years..
Into this sleepy backwater move the Langlois family,Bakary, Sylvie and their 3 children, the first black to live in the village.
While it takes some villagers longer to get accustomed to their new neighbours than others they're befriended by the Guillots ,Anna,the book's narrator,Constant and their 2 daughters. As time and circumstances change so does the relationship between the 2 families with the affluent Bakarys flaunting their wealth while the Guillots feel first snubbed and humiliated then victims,which is when Constant snaps.
This is a quick read but a powerful one that I can see splitting opinions. If what I read was a true reflection of the "real life" incident I'd suggest that Constant's,totally out of character as he originally almost idolises Bakary, racist utterings are nothing to do with the tragic outcome. Bakary is a despicable and callous character. Ms Sedira says in her author's notes at the end of the book that the 2003 murders were never reported as racially motivated,I'd suggest that if the book is a close but fictionalised account of that incident that could well be because it wasn't. In Constant's precarious mental state the outcome would have been the same whatever the colour of his tormentor, the trigger is the deliberate action that destroys Constant's life,not the race of the person quite cold-bloodedly doing so.
Of course any book that makes you think hard and sticks in your mind when you've finished it has done its job.

In an author’s note at the end of her book, Samira Sedira tells us that People Like Them (originally published in French as Des Gens comme Eux) is inspired by an event of “true crime” – a homicide committed in 2003 in a village in France’s Haute-Savoie region, in which a man killed a family of five. Sedira observes that a point which the media had not picked up was that the father of the massacred family was black and that the murder was committed in an area totally unused to so-called “foreigners” – even those born and bred in France. Sedira’s novel is an exploration of the factors which may have led to the murder, including the explosive mix of casual racism and class discontent. To this end, she weaves elements from the real-life murder into a fictional account narrated by the murderer’s wife Anna Guillot.

At under 200 pages, People Like Them is a quick read, but it is hard-hitting and thought-provoking even while delivering the excitement of a thriller (credit for this also goes to Lara Vergnaud, whose translation feels entirely fluid and authentic) . The novel is particularly effective because, being told from the perspective of Anna, it presents a nuanced portrait of Anna’s husband Constant Guillot. The narrative does not try to whitewash the victims, especially the charismatic but scheming Bakary and his wife Sylvia who is portrayed as a classist snob. Indeed, at some points we’re drawn into sympathizing with Constant. And that’s precisely where the genius of the novel lies. I am a middle-aged white reader who thinks of himself as open and tolerant, but these moments of sympathy with Constant and his lot immediately raised an uncomfortable and guilty reflection. Was I rooting for a mass murderer? Am I tainted by unconscious racism? Worse still, could I have ever acted like Constant were I placed in his position?

Sedira herself spells out this point in her conclusion: Criminals – even murderers – serve as mirror images; they reflect our own fallibility. Viewing them as monstrous aberrations prevents us from understanding human nature. There’s no such thing as monsters. Only humans.

Anna and Constant Guillot live with their two daughters in the peaceful, remote mountain village of Carmac, largely deaf to the upheavals of the outside world. Everyone in Carmac knows each other, and most of its residents look alike--until Bakary and Sylvia Langlois arrive with their three children. Wealthy and flashy, the family of five are outsiders in the small town, their impressive chalet and three expensive cars a stark contrast to the modesty of those of their neighbours.

This book is based on true events of a quintuple homicide in a french small town. The language is beautiful and despite the premise of the book, the flow keeps going. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

I nearly said the only thing I didn’t like about this book was I wish it was longer, but while that is true, it’s a tight, searing, devastating novella and I absolutely loved it.

This is the kind of book you want to read in an afternoon. It’s impossible to put down and I was completely gripped.

It’s written in a mix of first and second person, and I love the use of second first in the opening chapters, where our narrator, Anna, sits in court, watching her husband who is on trial for racially-motivated murder.

This book is dark and horrible and shocking and real. I was not surprised at all to find out the plot is based on a real news story in France.

This book is a masterpiece. I cannot recommend it more.

5 stars

This is an immersive short book. As the reader you’re dropped right into the action. You hear the defendants thoughts and what is been asked of them on trial. The tone of the book is amazing at making you feel like the characters.

This book is based on true events of a quintuple homicide in a french smalltown.

Anna and Constant Guillou have two kids together and live in Carmac a secluded village, where everyone knows one another. One day the family of five - the Langlois (the first black family in town) move in next door inside of the breathtaking chalet. All eyes are on them and the whole village envies them for their lavish lifestyle. The families get to know each other and after a not so easy start they become friendly. But soon the neighborly friendliness of Constant starts to quake and his decisions will not only destroy his own life, but rather those of every one in his surrounding.
The narrator of this story is Anna, the wife of the assassin Constant Guillou.
„People like them“ is a great character study of the mind of a perpetrator and the effects of the crime act. It’s interesting how the tipping point of an unhealthy mind can be so small to amount such a vicious and horrible crime.

Thank you NetGalley / Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me with this e-arc in return for a honest review.

#PeopleLikeThem #NetGalley
A good read.
Anna and Constant Guillot and their two daughters live in the remote mountain village of Carmac. Everyone in Carmac knows each other – that is until Bakary and Sylvia Langlois arrive with their three children, the first black family to have lived in the village.The new family’s impressive chalet and expensive cars are in stark contrast with the modesty of those of their neighbours, yet despite their initial differences, the Langlois and the Guillots form an uneasy friendship. But when the Guillot's finances come under strain, the underlying class and racial tensions of their relationship come to a breaking point, and the unthinkable happens…
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for giving me an advanced copy.