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would seem to predict an eventual suicide. The dread of such an outcome accompanies the reader until the very last page. Yet, one is ultimately led to the same conclusion at which Maud arrives: things are not always as they appear. Instead, what the water imagery provides is a means to examine the emotional waters through which Maud is wading. The mise en abyme of the bath scene points to an eventual interpretation of the entire book as the quest to find a way to persevere. First, Maud’s dream-world alter ego wants to abandon herself to the hot water engulfing her. Then, a man’s presence gently washing over her body and pushing her head under water. Just as she is ready to succumb to the peaceful, nowcold water, his arm seizes hold, lifting her in an embrace until her trembling body recovers. Upon opening her eyes, she sees that she has been returned to solitude, only now the tears have stopped streaming, replaced by the will to step out of the water and back into the physical world. Much of the novel has an ethereal, cerebral quality. Throughout the early pages, Maud addresses her internalized words to a distant “vous” in anticipation of meeting Vincent again years after their chance encounter at a party. These intervening years have been filled with thoughts of that night and the unspoken, mutual desire it held. Cinema plays an important role in bringing Maud and Vincent together. Their discussions of film and writing are steeped in meaningful gazes and profound feelings, according to Maud. When Vincent, a filmmaker, contacts her to adapt a novel into a script, she considers this serendipitous reunion as an opportunity to affirm the tacit understanding between them. On the other hand, the pressure to live up to that “nuit irréelle” has her wondering if it would simply be better never to meet again, but rather let their shared secret endure . Soon enough, she gives in: “J’ai peur de vous revoir, mais comme j’en suis heureuse” (20). The fulfillment of her longing has too strong an allure, as indicated even in her analysis of the word rendez-vous: “Voyez: je me rends à vous” (42). Abruptly, upon seeing him in the restaurant at the appointed moment, she switches registers: “Tu es là” (42). The intensity of emotion felt by Maud persists as their love affair takes shape and evolves through public screenings of their collaborative work and clandestine trysts. Vincent remains an indistinct character, whose version of the affair would certainly pale in comparison to Maud’s. There is very little dialogue in the novel, composed instead mostly of Maud’s interior monologue, ranging from short, direct sentences when she is speaking to Vincent in her mind, to long, rambling passages that recount memories through a hazy veil of subjectivity. Maud’s writing is her truest way to express herself, as could be said of most writers. One wonders to what extent she may be a reflection of this engaging author. Hillsdale College (MI) Jennifer K. Wolter TOUSSAINT, JEAN-PHILIPPE. La Vérité sur Marie. Paris: Minuit, 2009. ISBN 978-2-70732088 -9. Pp. 205. 14,50 a. As the cliché goes, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. This holds for Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s latest novel, La Vérité sur Marie, for those expecting an empirical “truth” concerning the character Marie may well be disappointed. Winner of the prestigious Prix Décembre and one of four finalists for the Prix 626 FRENCH REVIEW 84.3 Goncourt in 2009, the novel, as noted on the back cover, is not a sequel to his previous two works, but rather a “prolongement” of the love story between Marie and the narrator. Yet, unlike the previous installments, the first-person narrator frequently describes events that he did not witness and in which Marie does not play the central role. This change affords Toussaint much more space, literal and figurative, to explore both his characters and the art of fiction itself. After the quick-paced action of Fuir, La Vérité sur Marie is much more descriptive, even for an author whose first novel took place...

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