The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair has been a huge success. Originally in French, it has been translated into over thirty different languages, one of which is thankfully English. La Vérité sur l’Affaire Harry Quebert won the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Academie Francaise 2012, an incredible achievement for 29 year-old Joël Dicker. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, his native tongue is French, but the inspiration for his novel is New Hampshire, a place he spent most summer holidays as a child. It is said that, when looking to write a book, you should always write about what you know, and it is clear when reading Dicker's book why he chose to write about New Hampshire rather than Geneva; his passion for and knowledge of his holiday home is obvious throughout, as well as clearly being a place of natural beauty. It could also be said that the main character in the book might be a little of writing about what you know, but that may well be just coincidence.
Young author Marcus Goldman struggles with writer's block following the huge success of his first published novel. In an effort to conquer it, he turns to Harry Quebert, his former college professor and close friend, for inspiration. Whilst staying at Quebert's home in Somerset, New Hampshire, Goldman discovers a love affair Quebert had when he was 33-years-old with a 15-year-old girl, Nola Kellergan. Harry reveals that the girl went missing that summer of 1975, and has not been found since; that is until a few weeks later. At the same time Goldman is facing a lawsuit by his publisher if he does not have a second novel finished by the deadline, Quebert is arrested after Nola's body is found buried in his back garden with a copy of the manuscript of his most successful novel. The solution for both of these comes to Goldman; write a novel about the case whilst solving it and proving Harry's innocence.
This novel could technically be called crime, but there's something about the way it's written that makes it feel wrong to call it that. It's so far from the dark streets of Oslo portrayed by Jo Nesbo or a deep psychological thriller such as Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Its setting is beautiful, despite its subject matter being the death of a fifteen-year-old girl. It seems more like an episode of Murder, She Wrote, with the writer detective, the quaint little seaside town and a mystery to be solved with the help of the local detective. Maybe this is a little of what made me love this book so much, and wonder if I will read a better one this year. Usually it takes me the first chapter to really get into a book, or at least the first few pages, but this book really did have me from the start; I'm not sure how or why, but it did. And I just love a good murder mystery!
Like with any good murder mystery, The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair keeps you guessing, with red herrings making the puzzle even more difficult to place together, but it's enjoyable. Dicker clearly has a real skill for weaving this puzzle, giving you the pieces bit by bit. The ending could be said to be a little rushed, with a lot of information being thrown at you at once, but it's information that you lap up greedily as Dicker has kept you in suspense for so long. The twists he throws in are mostly unexpected, with the last one being the biggest (I think) and the most unexpected of all - and it's not even about the murderer! Dicker wrote about a young author with a best selling novel and in doing so became a young author with a best selling novel. Some people have it all, and in this case, I couldn't be happier for him - as long as he writes another novel like this and doesn't suffer from the writer's disease!
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