4.5★s

“Publishing a novel that nobody reads is like encountering the world’s indifference in person.”

The Mystery of Henri Pick is a novel by French author, David Foenkinos. It is translated from French by Sean Taylor. When junior editor at Éditions Grasset, Delphine Despero takes her boyfriend, struggling author Frederic Koskas, home to Breton for a vacation, she’s not expecting to discover a best-seller.

But, in the nearby town of Crozon, the municipal library boasts an unusual section: several shelves dedicated to unpublished manuscripts. This was implemented by a former librarian, Jean-Pierre Gourvec, who got the idea from a Richard Brautigan novel. The manuscripts might be many-times rejected, or never submitted, but the one condition is that the author delivers his work in person.

Delphine and Frederic idly peruse the shelves and happen upon The Last Hours of a Love Affair, by Henri Pick. They are stunned: it’s unbelievably good! Everyone who reads it is captivated. But who is Henri Pick?

Now deceased, it turns out he was, for forty years, the local pizzeria owner, and no one, not even his wife and daughter, had any inkling of his literary leanings. Delphine has no trouble convincing her bosses at Grasset to publish, but what really makes it a best-seller is this fascinating back-story. No-one, however, can predict what far-reaching effects this discovery will have.

Madeleine Pick is stunned to find herself interviewed on TV; Henri’s daughter, Josephine, is also in demand, and courted by a long-gone husband; the now-librarian, Magali finds the extra workload from all the literary tourists irritating; Frederic is jealous at the attention Delphine is bestowing on this dead author; but a certain once-renowned literary critic is so sceptical, he decides to investigate.

Does he learn the truth? Does the librarian run away with her young lover? Does the daughter reunite with her husband? Did the pizzeria owner really write the novel? If not, then who did?

While some of the literary references will be lost on the everyday reader, this is still a marvellous literary mystery, clever and funny, with (of course!) a very French flavour. There are some delightful last-minute plot twists in this intriguing little tale. Very entertaining.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Pushkin Press