Book Review of Summer of Reckoning by Marion Brunet

Name of Book: Summer of Reckoning 

Author: Marion Brunet (Trans by Katherine Gregor)

ISBN: 978-1912242-269

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press 

Type of book: South France, 2010s, strained parental relationship, teen pregnancy, complications with heritage, poverty, impulsivity, racism, classicism, slow burn thriller 

Year it was published: 2018 (English 2020)

Summary:

The story takes place in the suffocating atmosphere of a social housing estate in the south of France. Sixteen-year-old Céline and her sister Jo, fifteen, dream of escaping to somewhere far from their daily routine, far from their surly, alcoholic father and uncaring mother, both struggling to make ends meet. That summer Celine falls pregnant, devastating news that reopens deep family wounds. Those of the mother Severine whose adolescence was destroyed by her early pregnancy and subsequent marriage with Manuel. Those of Manuel, grandson of Spanish immigrants, who takes refuge in alcoholism to escape the open disdain of his in-laws. Faced with Celine’s refusal to name the father, Manuel needs a guilty party and Saïd, a childhood friend of the girls and conveniently Arab, seems to fit the role perfectly. In the suffocating heat of summer Manuel embarks on a drunken mission of revenge. A dark and upsetting account of an ailing society, filled with silent and murderous rage.

Characters:

Main characters would be the sisters Celine and Jo. Celine is the older sister who is best described as vapid and who uses sex to get ahead, even falling pregnant. Jo is the younger sister who is very intelligent and who has little to no desire to stay in a town she hates and who is also looking for an escape. Manuel is the girls' father who has a complicated relationship with his Spanish heritage and who heavily resents everything there is about himself. Severine is the girls' mother who is quite similar to Celine and who is emotionally distant and who seems to want to relive her teen years. Said is a family friend whose family is from Middle East and who is determined to become wealthy and not live in poverty as his family does. There are plenty of other characters, but the ones that are mentioned are primary. 

Theme:

Can you escape your upbringing

Plot:

The tale is told in third person narrative from what seems to be everyone's point of view, although the primary storytellers are the father, Manuel, the daughters Jo and Celine, the mother Severine and Said, a family friend as well as son of immigrants from Middle East. The storytelling is very fluid, going back between characters' history and the modern summer. I would definitely describe the book as extremely angry and emotional and there is no shying away from the ugliness of poverty or of living a life that is less than the peers. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Marion Brunet, born in 1976, is a well known Young Adult author in France. Her YA novels have received over 30 prizes, including the 2017 UNICEF Prize for Youth Literature. Marion has previously worked as a special needs educator and now writes her fiction in Marseille.

Opinion:

Few or so years ago, I had a chance to read the author's second adult novel, VANDA, which is about a single mother raising a boy. I couldn't help but think of this novel as a prequel to VANDA, although I understand that nothing really links the novels together aside from author and setting of southern France as well as anger and poverty. SUMMER OF RECKONING is definitely an interesting read in that there is intimacy with the location and the people inhabiting it. Having said that, Marion Brunet is not Antoine Laurain whose writings I will best describe as sentimental and upbeat and who focuses on the upper echelons of French society. Just like in VANDA, SUMMER OF RECKONING focuses on outsiders and goes into detail about the ugliness and poverty they experience in their lives. I also will warn that if you are either an animal or a cat lover, there is very disturbing scene involving cats being harmed. Its definitely a slow burn novel but oh so worth it when it comes to reading and universal experience. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)