This novel could have been a documentary. In 2017, P. drives his car into the terrace of a restaurant. Angela, 13, dies instantly. Dozens were injured. As a journalist at the time, Justin Morin covered the trial. He met a family and the perpetrator’s sister. The family is Angela’s, whose parents, Sacha and Betty, are demanding justice. An amputated family whose ties are growing stronger. At the end of the trial, the journalist is unable to put the finishing touches to his story. So the novelist takes over to try and understand. Reinventing a family story, tipping over into fiction by recreating the character of Lisa, the perpetrator’s sister. Questioning reality by delving into the imaginary.
With this dazzling debut, Justin Morin establishes himself as an essential new voice in documentary fiction, following Emmanuel Carrère, Ivan Jablonka or Florence Aubenas’s steps.
