Opening in Paris, 1970, but with its origins in and around the second world war, this is a dark and emotionally-powerful story of love, secrets and lies.

Told through a series of first-person narratives which nestle within each other like a set of Russian dolls, we are constantly peeling back layers of untruths until the stark story is finally exposed by the end.

The contemporary narrative takes a while to pick up pace and interest and I was frustrated to start with as it kept interrupting the story of the past but, eventually, the various strands weave together in a satisfactory manner.

The translation from the French feels deft and unobtrusive, and while the war is in the background, this isn't in any sense a war narrative.

So this feels very accomplished in the way that it unfolds. It's restrained and sensitive, and literary in style - if you enjoy emotionally-fraught tales of love (maternal as well as sexual love) with an aura of Parisian sophistication, then this may suit very well.

Thank you Net Galley. I enjoyed this story of how we are never really free of our history and how our history itself is different depending on where we are in our lives and how choose to view it. Patchy in bits but overall a definite yes.

The story starts in 1975 when Camille has just lost her mother an amongst the condolence letters she receives a letter from a man called Louis who she has never heard of who writes telling her the story of a woman called Annie and then every week she gets further letters telling of their story.

Annie then becomes friends with Madame M who is a few years older and when she is unable to conceive Annie offers to have a child for her.
Camille is still however at a loss to understand why Louis is telling her this story.

Although slightly confusing at times this was a great story and once I had got into it I couldnt wait to find where it would go

Review as posted on Goodreads:

I found this a somewhat confusing book to get into, but I became absorbed in the story. I read it very quickly because I just had to find out where the letters which Camille was receiving came from.

The book was quite enjoyable. I would classify it as a story of love and loss with a war setting. It is a novel which leaves you thinking.

I liked the way the characters were developed. Returning to each for different viewpoints helps to build the sense of intrigue.

I will look out for future books by Hélène Grémillon on the strength of this story. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Gallic Books for a copy in exchange for a review.

One of the most challenging ethical dilemmas I’ve ever come across is two parents battling over custody of a child when both have near equal claims. Like The Light Between Oceans, The Confidant by Hélène Grémillon is the judgment of Solomon all over again. On the one hand, I think the person who gave birth to the child—barring abuse—has a right to parent that child. On the other hand, once the child has bonded with another person, is is right and fair to take the child away and give them to a stranger? The matter is even more complicated in The Confidant because Grémillon’s characters are wrestling with love and betrayal and war on top of their battle for protagonist Camille Werner’s loyalty.

A few days after her mother’s death in a car crash, Camille receives an unsigned letter. The letter and the ones that follow tell the tragic story of Annie. Louis, the letters’ author, had loved Annie since they were children. They might have grown up and married if not for the arrival of Monsieur and Madame M. in the small town of N. (Louis refrains from giving away details until much later.) Madame M. befriends Annie and, at first, the relationship seems to help Madame M. with her depression. Then, one day, a few months before the invasion of France, Annie and Madame M. disappears. When Annie resurfaces about three years later, she has a monstrous story to tell Louis.

The secret at the heart of The Confidant is that Madame M. is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to have a child. She and her husband have been married for six years and there’s no child in sight. Her friends’ encouragement has turned to pity. Madame M. has tried all sorts of pseudoscientific fertility treatments and they have all failed. When she meets Annie, Madame M. hatches a scheme, though she is subtle enough to arrange things so that it seems like Annie’s idea. The scheme is for Annie to bear Monsieur M.’s child and give it up to Madame M. But, like things usually do in fiction, it all gets terribly complicated.

By the end of The Confidant, we get both Annie and Madame M.’s version of events. We also see Camille wrestle with Louis’s revelations about her parentage. In less skilled hands, the book might have seem overstuffed with ideas or been lopsided and have one plot thread that was more interesting than another. Grémillon is deft with pacing and characterization. Nothing feels superfluous or out of place and I genuinely felt for Camille and the other characters. Like all good novels centered on impossible ethical dilemmas, there is no easy out for the characters and I was left with a probably impossible question about what would have been fair to ponder over. The Confidant is the kind of story I relish.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

How far would you go for someone? And if going all the way would you compromise yourself? A story that both grips you and takes the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions

It sounded so promising – a literary mystery and romance combined, told from multiple perspectives, and with a gradual reveal of the intrigue. But for me it just didn’t work. Too many unlikely twists and turns, too melodramatic and with little emotional depth, I found I just didn’t care about any of the characters in spite of the potentially engaging storyline. With part of the narrative set against the background of World War II I expected more sense of time and place, but didn’t get it. Disappointing.

Despite other glowing reviews, I found this book hard to follow. There are times when it is not clear who is writing the chapter and the storyline us confused. Well enough written bit it goes nowhere as a story.