During the First World War five French soldiers, accused of a cowardly attempt to evade duty, are bundled into no man's land and certain death. Five bodies are later recovered; the families are notified that the men died in the line of duty...

After the war Mathilde, the fiancee of one of the men, receives a letter which hints at what might have happened, and she sets off to discover the fate of her beloved amid the carnage of battlefield. Her quest becomes an unusual and engrossing thriller as she discovers an increasing number of people trying to put her off the scent.

A Very Long Engagement is a suspenseful thriller and one which transforms a personal tragedy into the epitome of all wartime atrocities. The denouement, when it finally happens, is moving and horribly convincing.

'Diabolically clever... The reader is alternately impressed, beguiled, frightened, bewildered... A considerable achievement' Anita Brookner

About the Author
Sebastien Japrisot was born in Marseille, France in 1931. He published his first novel, Les Mal Partis when he was only 17. He translated the works of J. D. Salinger and pursued a successful career in advertising and publicity. He was a scriptwriter and the director of two films. His first crime novel, The 10:30 from Marseille, was received with great acclaim. His reputation as a master for crime fiction grew with the publication of The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, A Trap for Cinderella and Rider on the Rain. His novel One Deadly Summer was made into a film starring Isabelle Adjani. A Very Long Engagement was an international bestseller and won the Prix Interallie. He died in 2003.

Reviews
The narrative is brilliantly complex and beguiling, and the climax devastating * Independent *
Clever, highly readable... Neither predictable nor surprising, the denouement, when it finally happens, is shocking, moving and horribly convincing * Literary Review *
A classic of its kind, brewing up enormous pathos undiluted by sentimentality * Daily Telegraph *
A fierce, elliptical novel that's both a gripping philosophical thriller and a highly moving meditation on the emotion consequences of war * New York Times *
Only the best historical fiction can make the journey into a distant time and return with a believable sense of how things really were. That Japrisot's book has done so is a mark of his great talent and experience as a writer * Washington Post *



Book Information
ISBN 9780099449294
Author Sebastien Japrisot
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Vintage
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 223g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm