The Wide World

ONE OF THE TIMES' FAVOURITE NOVELS OF 2023

'The Wide World is one of his best . . . Compellingly plotted, stuffed with great characters, thought-provokingly situated in history - honestly, what else do you want from a novel?' The Times

'Literature with conviction; a furious talent' L'Obs

The first volume of THE GLORIOUS YEARS series, translated by Frank Wynne

Beirut, 1948. The Pelletier family returns...

'Over the years, the annual Pelletier family pilgrimage down the avenue des Fran ais

had known many variations, but never before had it taken on the air of a funeral cortege...'

The Pelletiers are a hugely prominent French family living in Beirut. Louis Pelletier has spent years building his soap business, dominating the manufacturing market. Now, he wants to pass on the leadership, but choosing which son to takeover from him is proving challenging.

Jean, the eldest, has no such acumen for managing the enterprise and seems a hopeless and weak option. His wife, though, has superior ambitions, and eager to flee the familial bonds for other reasons, Jean agrees to an escape to France.

Etienne Pelletier, younger and a gentle soul, is trained in accounts, and leaves home for Saigon to find love. There, he uncovers a well-established scheme to channel smuggled goods and cash to the Viet Minh. It is dangerous evidence that presents a real threat not only to officials in high places, but to his own life.

Fran ois, the middle Pelletier brother, persuades his father to let him travel to Paris, where he becomes a journalist. His career flies when he reports on the brutal murder of an actress, and realises a serial killer is on the loose, one who may be closer than anyone realises.

'You have the ingredients Balzac would have cooked with. And it is exactly those great 19th century novels that Lemaitre will remind you of' Sunday Times

'Pierre Lemaitre skilfully captivates and stuns the reader' Le Figaro

The Wide World is one of his best . . . Compellingly plotted, stuffed with great characters, thought-provokingly situated in history The Times
Pierre Lemaitre skilfully captivates and stuns the reader Le Figaro Litteraire
Storytelling with never a dull moment Le Figaro
Lemaitre casts his net wide, skilfully contrasting the vibrancy, exoticism and dangerous excitement of Saigon and Beirut in the years after the second world war with the drab, careworn city that Paris has become Financial Times
You have the ingredients Balzac would have cooked with...and it is exactly those 19th century novels that Lemaitre will remind you of Sunday Times

Pierre Lemaitre was born in Paris in 1951. He worked for many years as a teacher of literature before becoming a novelist.

He has won the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger three times, once alongside Fred Vargas, for Alex, and twice as sole winner for Camille and The Great Swindle. In 2013 The Great Swindle (published in French as Au revoir la-haut won the Prix Goncourt, France's leading literary award.

In addition to his Brigade Criminelle novels starring Commandant Camille Verhoeven, Lemaitre writes standalone thrillers including Blood Wedding.

Frank Wynne is an award-winning writer and translator. His previous translations include works by Virginie Despentes, Javier Cercas and Michel Houllebecq. He chaired the jury of the 2022 Booker International. Most recently his translation of The Art of Losing won the 2022 Dublin Literary Award.

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