Author:Bernardo Atxaga,Margaret Jull Costa
1903, and Captain Lalande Biran, overseeing a garrison on the banks of the Congo, has an ambition: to amass a fortune and return to the literary cafés of Paris.
His glamorous wife Christine has a further ambition: to own seven houses in France, a house for every year he has been abroad.
At the Captain’s side are an ex-legionnaire womaniser, and a servile, treacherous man who dreams of running a brothel. At their hands the jungle is transformed into a wild circus of human ambition and absurdity. But everything changes with the arrival of a new officer and brilliant marksman: the enigmatic Chrysostome Liège.
A dark comedy about the vanity of human desires which deftly balances compassion and cynicism
—— Financial TimesBizarrely funny and beautifully crafted
—— Times Literary SupplementUndeniably compelling
—— Daily MailA brilliantly inventive writer...He understands the nature of storytelling and is at once terribly moving and wildly funny
—— A. S. ByattSeven Houses in France is an enjoyable, somewhat frightening novel by one of Europe's best novelists... Atxaga is still the master of a complex story, told with deceptive simplicity
—— Michael Eaude , IndependentAtxaga’s grim and complicated story is lucidly told
—— Emma Hagestadt , IndependentSharp
—— GuardianAtxaga’s story is fresh and his treatment of violence psychologically rich
—— GuardianIt takes a special kind of genius to transform this most unpromising of locations into a vehicle for black comedy, but that is precisely what the Basque author Bernardo Atxaga achieves in this mesmerizing novel
—— Simon Shaw , Mail on SundayAn unsettling and challenging read.
—— PsychologiesA disturbing and elusive novel about manipulation and desperate friendship.
—— Kirkus ReviewsNadzam has a crisp, fluid writing style, and her dialogue is reminiscent of Sam Shepard's . . . it's a fine first effort: storytelling as accomplished as it is unsettling.
—— Publishers WeeklyCraig Silvey's Rhubarb was one of my favourite Australian novels of 2004 and heralded a major new voice in Australian literary fiction. His next offering in Jasper Jones is another beautifully constructed book with a page-turning narrative and outrageously good dialogue.
—— Dr Wendy Were , Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Sydney Writers' FestivalA wonderful novel, rich and sombre, a record of pain and less but also of moments of vision and tenderness... flawless
—— Adam Foulds , IndependentThis short-but-striking novel quickly reveals itself to be…crime fiction, yes, but also a subtle and deeply introspective consideration of the inertia of lonely middle-age, its philosophy existentialist in the manner of Jean Paul Sartre, Ingmar Bergman and certain novels of Georges Simenon. The result is a highly complex and accomplished work
—— Billy O'Callaghan , Irish ExaminerIntriguing tale… Solstad expertly navigates the bizarre mind of a clever but lonely man locked in an existentialist nightmare
—— TelegraphThis is no straightforward crime novel…an exploration of guilt, inaction and moral quandaries
—— Nic Bottomley , Bath Life
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