A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot
A runaway bestseller, the winner of the Prix Interallie prize, and a major motion picture, A Very Long Engagement is an engrossing mystery, a playful study of the different ways one story is told, and a moving and incisive portrait of life in France during and after the First World War
In January 1917, five wounded French soldiers, hands bound before them, are brought to the front at Picardy by their own troops, forced to climb from the trenches onto the narrow strip of no-man's-land that separates the French and German armies, and left to die in the crossfire.
Their brutal punishment has been kept secret for over two years when Mathilde Donnay, a young, wheelchair-bound woman from a small town in the South, begins a relentless quest to find out whether her fiance, officially "killed in the line of duty," might still be alive.
The fiercely independent and determined Mathilde combs the country for information about the other four soldiers.
As she uncovers more about their lives, an elaborate web of deception and coincidence emerges. Struggling against all reason and counsel, Mathilde carries her search to its end, and in discovering what happened to each of the five men, Mathilde also begins to understand the horrors-and the acts of kindness-brought about by war.
Format: Paperback | 3200 pages
Dimensions (cm): 17.7 x 11 x 2 | 260g -
Publication Date: 2005
Publisher: Random House
Imprint: Vintage Books
Publication City/Country: London, United Kingdom
Language: English
Edition Statement: Film Tie-in
ISBN10: 0099474549
ISBN13: 9780099474548
Condition: Good
A vintage book that has been read but is in good condition. Some damage to the cover including creasing and scuff marks along the edges, but no holes or tears. The majority of pages are undamaged with minor creasing throughout the book, but no tearing. No pencil underlining of text and no highlighting of text. The name of a previous owner is written along the top of the first page in black pen, but no other writing in margins. No missing pages.