• Favorite readings can be shared.

  • Our community recommends a new book to you every day.

  • Today, “De Cendres et de Larmes” by Sophie Loubière, published on June 3, 2021 by Éditions Fleuve Noir.

Ju lit les Mots, contributor to the

20 Minutes

Books

reading group

, recommends

De Cendres et de Larmes

 by Sophie Loubière, published on June 3, 2021 by Éditions Fleuve Noir.


Her favorite quote:

"Madeline looked up: the glowing skeleton of the arrow gave way.

Its point swung like the top of a struck tree.

Terrific creaks followed by a thud shook the roof.

Pierced by its fall, part of the vault and scaffolding collapsed.

The order to evacuate immediately fell.

"


Why this book?

  • Because I was curious to discover Sophie Loubière's pen

    and intrigued by this couple, one of whom saves the living and the other watches over the dead.

  • Because interest is aroused from the prologue, with the fire

    that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris in April 2019 and thus gives the plot a dark and dramatic tone. The move seemed idyllic, however, we are witnessing the slow descent into hell of an apparently united family. Being around the dead is not going to be easy.

  • Because the tension rises crescendo to the point where the author

    plays with our nerves with a plot on the edge of the razor between fantastic and thriller. However, there is nothing fantastic in the imagination of the characters whose fears arise from the noises, scratches of animals or intrusions into this cemetery vector of the most primary fears. Add to that a house that seems to come to life with disturbing noises and whose humidity follows through all the pores of its walls, where the slightest crackling takes to the guts and makes the imagination of our dear characters gallop.

  • Because the house representing the family headquarters is gradually revealing

    its flaws, like this family whose relations are crumbling with the absences of the mother, heroine of modern times, Christian's discomfort which gradually sinks. little in a melancholy which leads him to the gates of madness.

    A drifting family whose fate seems inexorably to bring it to a catastrophic end.

  • Because the author blurs the tracks by maintaining a palpable tension

    throughout the story, until the end that we guess.

  • Because this psychological thriller dissects the human soul while highlighting

    social issues.

    Through the character of Madeline, chief firefighter corporal, Sophie Loubière pays tribute to firefighters and their dedication, while giving them a human face, through their family.


The essentials in 2 minutes

The plot.

 Madeline, Christian and their children move to the Bercy cemetery in the 180 m2 official pavilion.

A family in the grip of the fragile balance between the occupations of parents which weigh heavily.

The house reveals its cracks, like those of the family.

Slowly.

Insidiously.

Characters.

 Madeline, chief fireman corporal, her husband Christian, curator at the Bercy cemetery.

Michael, rebellious teenager, born of a first marriage, a little geek who will discover a talent for the paranormal.

Eliot CM2 harassed at school, a bit cowardly and Anna dreamy but with a strong character.

Places.

 The Bercy Cemetery, the theater of all fears and the intersection of all anxieties with the poorly maintained 180m2 function house, with oozing walls, deafening creaks, which seems to have absorbed all the horrors of the past ...

The time.

 The plot begins in April 2019.

The author.

 Author of eleven novels, Sophie Loubière addresses these issues that affect us deeply, family relationships, love and betrayal.

She has enjoyed international success with

L'Enfant aux cailloux

.

A success fully confirmed in 2020 with

Cinq Cartes brûlées

Landerneau polar award.

This book was read with

 enormous pleasure tinged with anguish, thanks to the descriptive, immersive pen, endearing characters, with palpable cracks.

An oppressive tension that keeps the reader on the border of the thriller and the supernatural thanks to a plot that awakens the imagination.


Do you want to recommend a book that you particularly liked?

Join our community by clicking here

Buy this book on Amazon

20 minutes of context

Some of the links in this article are sponsored.

Every time you buy a book through one of them, we get a commission which helps us pay our bills.

To avoid any conflict of interest, we have adopted the following method:

1. The contributors to the section choose their books, write their files and their reviews in complete independence, without worrying about any links that will be added.

2. The links are added a posteriori, each time we find the recommended product on one of our partner platforms.

Thanks in advance to everyone who clicks!

  • Book sheet 20 Minutes