3.0
The Double Mother
ByPublisher Description
Four-year-old Malone Moulin is haunted by nightmares of being handed over to a complete stranger and begins claiming his mother is not his real mother. His teachers at school say that it is all in his imagination as his mother has a birth certificate, photos of him as a child and even the pediatrician confirms Malone is her son. The school psychologist, Vasily, believes otherwise as the child vividly describes an exchange between two women. Vasily begins recording their conversations and reinterprets the creatures Malone uses in the childish tales he recounts to his stuffed toy to piece the story together as much as he can.
Convinced that Malone is telling the truth, Vasile approaches police commander Marianne Augresse with the case, who has been searching for a gang of thieves that robbed a luxury store and left a couple dead in the neighboring town of Deauville to no avail. Not knowing why a child would lie and with perhaps her own maternal and protective instinct kicking in, Marianne takes Vasile's plead for help seriously.
Marianne and her team soon discern that Malone's memory is in the hands of those around him; the cold members of the Moulin family and the people that they associate themselves with. With Malone's recollection of the past quickly fading to give way to pirates, animals and other more innocent thoughts children have at his age, Marianne is desperate to find a through line.
Well-crafted and showcasing the fragility of a child's cognition,
is a riveting investigation to follow.
"Gripping . . . may set a record for number of plot twists between two covers. . . . A long book that goes quickly,
, zestily translated by Sam Taylor, is likely to stay in your mind for years to come, even if you don't have a stuffed animal to coach you." —
"Brainy, exciting, and humane." —
"Bussi multiplies the red herrings, tangles the plot strings, plays with illusions and subterfuge. He is the master of the trompe-l'œil novel." —
"Bussi is back, with his breathless style, to give us something to chew over." —
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Double Mother Reviews
3.0
vic
Created over 1 year agoShare
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Ivan Bonmassar
Created over 1 year agoShare
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“Where to start. Contrary to Bussi's evident belief not all women desperately need to be mothers. With that said the story just doesn't feel realistic.
Multiple times the dialogue made me groan out loud. Who talks like that? Nobody, that's who.
I absolutely loved Dark Water Lillies but this book fell incredibly flat in comparison, even not taking into account the various instances of badly hidden sexism.
Would not recommend to anyone. Honestly, I don't even know who this book is for. If it's for mothers I'd go with an author who has first hand experience in the matter (i.e. a woman)”
Amadei Fiocchi
Created about 2 years agoShare
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“Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. The pacing was good and the way we went through solving the crime was interesting. There were parts I figured out and parts that were a complete surprise, which always makes a good thriller for me. There need to be hints but not too many hints and that was done well in this book.
However, I’m only giving the book three stars because every time we got a glimpse of Captain Augresse’s inner monologue, it was very r/menwritingwomen and I couldn’t take it seriously. I get that Bussi was trying to convey her biological clock ticking, but daaamn that was hard to read.”
Dthbooks
Created almost 3 years agoShare
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“Strong. A different vibe then his others but whew. It really moves in the second half.”
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