The publisher has whipped up a tsunami of excitement around The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (translated from the French by Sam Taylor; MacLehose, £20, Spectator Bookshop, £16). More than two million copies have already been sold. Its author, Jöel Dicker, is apparently ‘Switzerland’s coolest export since Roger Federer’.The novel, which is billed as a literary thriller, has been garlanded with ecstatic reviews and prizes on the continent.
It’s the story of a young, successful but blocked writer who tries to re-energise his muse by visiting Harry Quebert, the Great American Novelist who put him on the road to fame. Harry lives in a beachside house in Maine. Unfortunately, the skeleton of a 15-year-old girl has been found beneath his hydrangeas, buried with the first draft of his best-known novel. Everyone is convinced Harry did it — except the narrator, who sets out to prove his mentor’s innocence.
The first thing you notice about this novel is that it’s very long — over 600 pages.
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