Author: Sanae Lemoine
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Hogarth
Publication Date: June 16, 2020
Book Description: Margot Louve is a secret: the child of a longstanding affair between an influential French politician with presidential ambitions and a prominent stage actress. This hidden family exists in stolen moments in a small Parisian apartment on the Left Bank.
It is a house of cards that Margot—fueled by a longing to be seen and heard—decides to tumble. The summer of her seventeenth birthday, she meets the man who will set her plan in motion: a well-regarded journalist whose trust seems surprisingly easy to gain. But as Margot is drawn into an adult world she struggles to comprehend, she learns how one impulsive decision can threaten a family’s love with ruin, shattering the lives of those around her in ways she could never have imagined.
Exposing the seams between private lives and public faces, The Margot Affair is a novel of deceit, desire, and transgression—and the exhilarating knife-edge upon which the danger of telling the truth outweighs the cost of keeping secrets.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Review: The Margot Affair is a very nuanced novel for a debut author. This book at times felt more like a memoir than a fictional story. As I was reading this book I grew to love Margot more and more.
Margo was born of infidelity to her actress mother and her politician father who was already married with children. We meet Margo as a teenager. She lives with mother but does share a closeness to her father when he is able to visit her, Her mother is aloof in her parenting style, and it is obvious her father has an affection for her. It is his one goal to legitimately claim her.
This book was written in two parts, the first half you really understand the dynamics of their relationship. Then Margo does something that will affect her family forever. Deciding she is tired of being a secret, she goes to a journalist to tell her story. When the story is finally published, her life quickly metamorphoses into something else.
The second part of this book, is much darker, but this is where I could not put this down. The writing was just lush, and at times I was reminded of Lolita. While I will not give anything away, I will say that the ending is just so satisfying.
This was a wonderful debut novel. The writing was gorgeous, and you will feel for the characters in the world that was created. I am looking forward to seeing what other books are written by this author.
Thank you NetGalley and Hogarth for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 