EXCERPT: The three figures in the photograph are frozen forever, two men and a woman bathed in sunlight. All three are dressed in white and holding tennis racquets. The young woman is in the centre; the man on her right - who is quite tall - is leaning towards her as if poised to tell her something; the second man stands on her left at a slight remove, bending his knee and leaning on his racquet in a playful Charlie Chaplin pose.
They all look about thirty, but the taller man is possibly a little older. The tree-covered Alpine slopes in the background are partially blocked out by a sports centre, and the snowcapped peaks on the horizon led the scene an unreal picture postcard feel.

ABOUT 'THE PEOPLE IN THE PHOTO': The three figures in the photograph are frozen forever, two men and a woman bathed in sunlight . . .

The chance discovery of a newspaper image from 1971 sets two people on the path to learning the disturbing truth about their parents' pasts.

Parisian archivist Hélène takes out a newspaper advert calling for information about her mother, who died when she was three, and the two men pictured with her in a photograph taken at a tennis tournament at Interlaken in 1971. Stéphane, a Swiss biologist living in Kent, responds: his father is one of the people in the photo. Letters and more photos pass between them as they embark on a journey to uncover the truth their parents kept from them. But will the relics of the past fill the silences left by the players?

MY THOUGHTS: The People in the Photo is told in a series of newspaper cuttings, letters, emails and postcards. It is a gently rambling story of a woman trying to trace the life of her mother who had died when she was quite young and who was not spoken about by her father or his second wife who had been her mother's friend.

Along the way she picks up the support of Stephane, whose father is also in the photograph. The People in the Photo chronicles their quest to get to know their parents as they sift through letters and journals left to them and to close friends.

The story is beautifully written; it tells of secrets being slowly revealed that have been hidden for decades and chronicles the effects these revelations have on Hélène and Stephane and their burgeoning relationship. It is a story of love, of blame, of forgiveness (or not, as the case may be).

There were occasions that I felt my heart was about to break as Nataliya, or Natasha as she is known, endeavours to build a life with her husband while pining for the man she was not allowed to marry. She leads a tragic life, a sad life, and yet I was fascinated and lingered over little details.

Poignant and beautiful.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.4

#ThePeopleinthePhoto #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Hélène Gestern (born 1971) is a French writer. One of her favorite themes is photography, and the power it exercises over memory.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Gallic Books via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The People in the Photo written by Hélène Gestern and beautifully translated by Emily Boyce and Ros Schwartz for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

At the start is one photograph with three people on it.
When Hélène posts a newspaper advertisement asking about the photo, she awaits some basic information at the best. But Stéphane is a son of one of the men in the photo - as Hélène is a daughter if the lady on the same photo. They start the correspondence - a polite one at the start, but soon they start to open to each other. About the loneliness from never having the true loving relationship with the said parent (Hélène's mother died young, Stéphane's father was cold and restrained) and how their family dynamics severely missed something. And how the key to these broken relationships might lay in the relationships of Nathalie and Pierre, their respective parents.
So what has happened in the past? And what can happen in the present?

If only the charm and gentle tenderness if the relationship of Hélène and Stéphane could translate into the other relationship! Because their slow, honest and charming pen-palling is very charming. They are around 40, they are satisfied in life professionally yet maybe a bit lonely, they have their own burning questions and doubts - and they just click together. This slow-burning romance is the best part of the book - maybe because they truly care about each other even without seeing each other. They can be vulnerable to each other - and not just because the safety of the anonymity, but because they are serious in this unknown, yet fulfilling relationship.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the "great love that could not be" - the charm turns into the pathos and the honesty turns into the phrases and clichés. There is certain shallowness. Also I am not fan of the cheating and the irresponsible lover could hardly be more man in my eyes than the husband, who is only *loving and boring*.

But what the authoress gets right for me is the pain of loneliness and the toxic family dynamics and the slow building of love what comes maybe later in life, yet is very fresh (and refreshing). 3.5 stars for that.

I thought the cover was extremely interesting, but as I read the first few chapters, I unfortunately could not get into the voice and therefore, could not finish. I was not the right reader for this novel so I would really not like to rate it unfairly.