Three women
Three eras
One extraordinary mystery…

Book blurb

1899, Belle Époque Paris. Lucienne’s two daughters are believed dead when her mansion burns to the ground, but she is certain that her girls are still alive and embarks on a journey into the depths of the spiritualist community to find them.

1949, Post-War Québec. Teenager Lina’s father has died in the French Resistance, and as she struggles to fit in at school, her mother introduces her to an elderly woman at the asylum where she works, changing Lina’s life in the darkest way imaginable.

2002, Quebec. A former schoolteacher is accused of brutally stabbing her husband – a famous university professor – to death. Detective Maxine Grant, who has recently lost her own husband and is parenting a teenager and a new baby single-handedly, takes on the investigation.

Under enormous personal pressure, Maxine makes a series of macabre discoveries that link directly to historical cases involving black magic and murder, secret societies and spiritism … and women at breaking point, who will stop at nothing to protect the ones they love…

My thoughts

We meet Lucienne, Lina and Maxine across three different ages – The Belle Époque, Post WWII late 1940’s and the noughties as the 2000’s were called.

Lucienne and her husband Henri have moved into her mother in law’s house after a devastating fire which destroyed their home and sees Lucienne distraught over her missing daughters. As there is no ransom request the police, Henri and his mother believe the two girls have died in the fire. Mary, Lucienne’s cousin, appears to be her only ally but then Violette de La Courtière, revered in Parisian Society, takes Lucienne under her wing. She has a private investigator look into the case. She also introduces Lucienne to a well known medium who performs a seance and then she introduces her to an altogether darker art. When what really happened to the girls comes to light it is terrible and shocking.

Lina is being bullied by Tamara they are both in the Church choir it’s a nightmare for Lina who still misses her father. Her mother now the breadwinner for the family hasn’t the time to see what is happening to Lina. Then her mother introduces her to an elderly lady in the care home where she works. Lina begins to read to the old lady who doesn’t really respond at first but then after a humiliating scene made worse by Tamara she finds the lady caring and supportive. Their friendship becomes one of mentor and mentee in some very dark arts.

Martine has recently lost her husband. She is a detective, a lieutenant in the Canadian police. She has two children a teenage daughter and a two month old son and has been on a leave of absence. On her return to work she is summoned to a crime scene, her old teacher is believed to have killed her husband, Maxine finds Mrs Caron on the steps of her home covered in blood. Her husband has been stabbed multiple times. Mrs Caron is silent. Unable or unwilling to speak. It is a shocking crime but it is made quite bewildering when Maxine and her partner Jules, a detective sergeant, are informed by the crime scene investigators that they have discover severed hands in the Caron’s home. Who do they belong to? What do they signify? To help try and get Mrs Caron to open up, to speak, to tell them what happened Professor Ginette ‘Gina’ Montminy, a psychologist, is a part of the investigative team. As they delve into the case it becomes clear that the Carons are not what they were thought to be and that there are some very dark forces at work.

There are lots of reasons – loss, humility, relationships, family – that lead the characters in the book to feel the need to take the actions they do but the resulting vulnerability, isolation, desperation leaves them open to a darkness that they can’t or don’t want to overcome.

When actions lead to very dark places can they be understood? When actions have terrible even deadly consequences can those actions be forgiven? Can a heart and mind filled with darkness feel contrite and act for good?

In The Bleeding we are brought a number of characters which may or may not be likeable but are sufficiently well rounded to make the story they are a part of very readable. I particularly liked Professor Gina Montminy who certainly wants to fully resolve the case. She sees and understands far more than may be expected which, in the end, is just as well.

In this beautifully constructed story Johana Gustawsson takes these three disparate storylines bringing them together in a breathtaking and heart wrenching whole with a final twist that will leave you reeling.

This is a very dark book, tense, gripping and a thoroughly enjoyable.

Translation

It is so important to acknowledge the amazing work of the translator of books written in a different language as translations allow us to have access to so many books that we would not otherwise be able to read. So my thanks to David Warriner for giving us a wonderful translation of Johana Gutustawsson’s The Bleeding.

Also, thanks to the amazing publishers such as Orenda Books who are so passionate about bringing to readers these great stories and making it possible for us all to read them.

The Belle Époque – a brief note

The period between the Napoleonic and Franco-Prussian Wars and WWI became known as The Belle Époque. This saw a period of peace and prosperity in France, indeed across Europe, enabling scientific and technological innovation and the arts flourished. France held two world fairs in 1899 and 1900 which brought the Eiffel Tower and Metro to Paris. French imperialism was in its prime. It was a cultural centre of global influence – its educational, scientific and medical institutions were at the leading edge of Europe. However, there still remained a significant amount of people who lived in slums and economic poverty.

Book: Purchased – I was delighted to be able to participate having already bought The Bleeding when the BlogTour invite came.

Thanks

With thanks to Anne at RandomThingsTours and to Orenda Books for the invite to join this amazing BlogTour.

BlogTour

Like to read more? Then why not take a turn around the rest of this amazing BlogTour. Purchase links are below.

Information

Published: Orenda Books Ltd| 6 July 23 |300 pages | PAPERBACK | £9.99

Shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Crime in Translation Dagger and a number-one bestseller in France, Queen of French Noir Johana Gustawsson’s spellbinding gothic thriller, The Bleeding, translated by David Warriner is NOW out in paperback, with beautiful sprayed edges and, as an extra treat, the first chapters of her upcoming historical thriller Yule Island at the back. Dark, bewitching and with a twist in the tail that we guarantee you won’t see coming, The Bleeding will take you from Belle Epoque France to post-war and modern-day Quebec as three women across three eras are bound by the same extraordinary mystery. Get your copy today!

Buy: Orenda Books | Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Hive | Your local library | Your local bookshop | Orenda links

Author: Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding – number one bestseller in France and the first in a new series – will be published in 2022. Johana lives in London with her Swedish husband and their three sons.

Follow Johana: @JoGustawsson | Johana Gustawsson | @johanagustawsson | Amazon author page: Johana Gustawsson

Books

• Block 46 – SALE!*
• Blood Song – SALE!*
• Keeper – SALE!*
• The Bleeding – SALE!*
• Yule Island by Johanna Gustawsson – Out in December ‘23

* at the time of posting.

Translator: David Warriner translates from French and nurtures a healthy passion for Franco, Nordic and British crime fiction. Growing up in deepest Yorkshire, he developed incurable Francophilia at an early age. Emerging from Oxford with a Modern Languages degree he narrowly escaped the graduate rat race by hopping on a plane to Canada – and never looked back. More than a decade into a high-powered commercial translation career, he listened to his heart and turned his hand to the delicate art of literary translation. David has lived in France and Quebec, and now calls beautiful British Columbia home.

Follow David on Twitter @givemeawave and on his website wtranslation.ca

#20Booksofsummer23

The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson is my sixth read for this challenge. I committed to ten books but hope to read more. My most up to date list can be found here – #20Booksofsummer23 If you want to here’s the original list. As you will see I do like this challenge for the ability to change books, the order of reading for whatever reason.