Jestin’s charged and chilling debut turns on a stifling vacation that descends from purgatory into a nightmarish inferno’ Publishers Weekly The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice, Julia Laite (Profile Books)

Heatwave eBook by Victor Jestin | Official Publisher Page Heatwave eBook by Victor Jestin | Official Publisher Page

A beautiful narrative that puts into play the kind of guilt that won’t quit a boy who’s alienated from his world and resistant to all its codes.”— Telerama For his first novel, Victor Jestin displays a stunning literary talent. It’s short, pitiless, polished, perfectly realized.”— Livres Hebdo Non intervenire, restare immobile a guardare – tanto più che Oscar dava l’impressione di averci ripensato, di volersi liberare dalle corde dell’altalena – è come ammazzare?

A literary sensation in France, Heatwave is an unsettling and evocative novel that examines our darkest impulses.

Heatwave by Victor Jestin - Audiobook | Scribd Heatwave by Victor Jestin - Audiobook | Scribd

If so, could Leo be an unreliable narrator and, like in Camus’ novel, the death that occurs is a murder - did Leo actually murder Oscar, because he was jealous of his being with Luce, the girl he fancies, and Leo distanced himself from the crime like he distances himself from everything else in his life, pretending the swings killed him instead? It would explain the bizarre choice of not alerting anyone to Oscar’s accidental death and implicating himself unnecessarily. The Dagger in the Library is voted on exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. This year sees firm favourites from the genre including Mark Billingham, Susan Hill, Lin Anderson and Cath Staincliffe. The book was written in French (titled La Chaleur) and, of course, we read the translated version. That may have caused a couple of editing errors but, in general, I thought it was very well-written—especially considering the author wrote when he was just 23 years of age. Others must have agreed, as it won several awards, including the Prix Femina des Lycéens 2019 and the Prix de la vocation 2019. It was nominated for several other awards. Originally published in France with the title La Chaleur, Heatwave is Victor Jestin’s debut novel, masterfully translated into English by Sam Taylor, who has also translated Leïla Slimani’s work. Léonard c’è dentro tutto, fino al collo e oltre, non è solo testimone, non è solo spettatore: è complice, è partecipe, è artefice.So, this wasn’t a bad book, at all, and I’ll definitely read another book by Victor Jestin. But I just had higher expectations, wanting to feel the guilt and the sadness more, wanting to know about Oscar more. Maybe even about Leo more, not just a snippet (okay, an important one) out of his life. Heatwave won the Prix de la vocation 2019 and the Prix Femina de Lycéens 2019 and it’s an intense, short, dark, suspenseful thriller set over the course of a weekend. It tells the story of Leonard, an awkward 17 year old boy enduring a family camping holiday in France and struggling to fit in with his peers. Come Meursault anche Leonard, adolescente confinato controvoglia in un campeggio estivo, è estraneo a se stesso e al mondo. Seventeen-year-old Leo is sitting in an empty playground at night, listening to the sound of partying and pop music filtering in from the beach, when he sees another, more popular boy strangle himself with the ropes of the swings. Then, in a panic, Leo drags him to the beach and buries him. Yet Leonard knows he made a terrible mistake and the stifling reality of his actions lies slumbering in the shallow end of his subconscious. The question is whether he will be able to get away with his actions and if he should. If you do nothing to prevent someone from dying does that make you a murderer or merely an unfortunate bystander?

Heatwave: The most deliciously dark beach read of the summer

Mi accingevo a vivere l’ultimo giorno di vacanze, quello più caldo, forse addirittura il più caldo degli ultimi diciassette anni.”

Table of Contents

The book is filled with sexual confusion and teenage angst. Teen boys and girls drinking too much, eager to have their first (or next) sexual experience. All this while the parents have their own fun at the other end of the beach where a bunny-costumed host is prancing around, shouting Olé! Olé! and urging people to have fun! be happy! form a cha-cha line! I wonder if this novel is intended as a modern retelling of Camus’ The Outsider, because Leonard is certainly that - an awkward loner who doesn’t fit into society or really understand how to or want to fit in - and the story centres around a singular death (there are also more superficial similarities like the beach setting, the length of the novel and both authors’ French nationalities). Ma è una sensazione che dura poche pagine. Non si tratta di quell’apatia esistenziale, di quell’indifferenza nei confronti del vivere. Although it has a slice of the macabre running through it, it’s also a story of youth and summer. The embarrassment of adolescence was captured perfectly, while the image of the intense sun burning down on the players of this story definitely heightened the tension and discomfort.