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A review by serendipitysbooks
The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Birthday Party was a fantastic read that managed to be both propulsive and a slow burn. It’s set in a small French hamlet where Patrice, his young daughter Ida, and their neighbour Christine are preparing a 40th birthday celebration for Patrice’s wife Marion. Not only do things not go according to plan, they go very, very wrong.
Right from the beginning of the book there is a slight sense of unease because of a couple of strange but seemingly unrelated and not necessarily significant events. What eventuated though came as a surprise and seemed especially shocking when juxtaposed against the innocent, happy party that was planned. The propulsive nature of the story came thanks to the foreshadowing and cliff hangars that constantly had me reading one more section to find out exactly what else was going to happen and why. The slow burn aspect was because the author took us into the thoughts and dialogue of every single character. You’d experience a scene from the perspective of one character, then the story would loop back and you’d see it at least part of it again through a different perspective. The author wrote in such a way that the reader got to share every thought of every character, and overhear every conversation. It made for an incredibly immersive read. Another noteworthy aspect of the author’s craft was the way the thoughts of one character were interspersed with snippets of the conversation going on around them. This was immersive and realistic, and when combined with really lengthy sentences contributed to feelings of urgency, chaos and immediacy. In other words the way Mauvignier told his story really captured the atmosphere his characters were creating and experiencing. Stylistically it won’t be for every reader but it really worked for me. A wonderful literary thriller that maintained the tension throughout. It very much deserved its place on the International Booker longlist.
Right from the beginning of the book there is a slight sense of unease because of a couple of strange but seemingly unrelated and not necessarily significant events. What eventuated though came as a surprise and seemed especially shocking when juxtaposed against the innocent, happy party that was planned. The propulsive nature of the story came thanks to the foreshadowing and cliff hangars that constantly had me reading one more section to find out exactly what else was going to happen and why. The slow burn aspect was because the author took us into the thoughts and dialogue of every single character. You’d experience a scene from the perspective of one character, then the story would loop back and you’d see it at least part of it again through a different perspective. The author wrote in such a way that the reader got to share every thought of every character, and overhear every conversation. It made for an incredibly immersive read. Another noteworthy aspect of the author’s craft was the way the thoughts of one character were interspersed with snippets of the conversation going on around them. This was immersive and realistic, and when combined with really lengthy sentences contributed to feelings of urgency, chaos and immediacy. In other words the way Mauvignier told his story really captured the atmosphere his characters were creating and experiencing. Stylistically it won’t be for every reader but it really worked for me. A wonderful literary thriller that maintained the tension throughout. It very much deserved its place on the International Booker longlist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, and Violence