We’ve known for a long time that not all love stories end well. This beautiful novel reminds us of this once again.
Even if he is Japanese, Akira Mizubayashi insisted on writing Queen of Hearts in French. What he also did for A Love of a Thousand Years and Broken Soul, his two previous novels. A good thing, because his pen is magnificent. Just like the story, which focuses among other things on the tragic destiny of Anna Melchionni, a young French waitress hoping to soon get her teacher’s diploma, and Jun Mizukami, a Japanese who recently arrived in Paris to study the alto at the Conservatory with the famous professor Maurice Vieux.
We guess it, these two will fall madly in love with each other. But with World War II just breaking out, Jun will have to return to Japan to go fight and alas, he will see things that no human should see in his lifetime.
Sensitive Notes
Queen of hearts passing easily from one era to another and from one character to another, we will also meet Ayako Amané, a nurse who lost a lot during the bombing of Tokyo in May 1945, or Marie-Mizumé Clément, a violist from the Orchester philharmonique de Paris who, thanks to a stranger she met on the bus after a concert, will make a very surprising discovery: The ear sees, the eye listens, the novel by an illustrious stranger named Otto Takosch, seems to feature his own grandparents, Jun and Anna.
Linking the movements, a book that denotes great sensitivity. And that we close with the furious desire to listen to Don Quixote by Richard Strauss or the 11th symphony by Shostakovich!
Friends, dear friends
Now 87 years old, Bernard Pivot, the former host of the famous show Apostrophes, wanted to look further into friendship, to share with us his feelings and his thoughts. “Friendship is a silent feeling, even if it unites two talkers. Or again: “Friendship is the heart without the body. A beautifully written little book.
Between all the mothers
Do we automatically love our children? Barely a few weeks after the birth of her daughter, this is a question that Blythe Connor will try to answer. Because as soon as she approaches her little Violet, the latter starts to cry. What if there was only that… A stunning thriller that has already been translated into 34 languages.
The Marabout guide to autonomy in the vegetable garden
Not everyone has a green thumb. But thanks to the expert advice in this book, it will be much easier to grow our vegetable garden in such a way that we can feed the whole family. In addition to learning the basic gestures, we will discover how to plan our crops, how to maximize space and even how to grow ginger and turmeric at home!
The secret life of insects
Ah, the little critters. With the month of June upon us, they will soon be humming, buzzing, crawling, foraging, stridulating, fluttering and… stinging! But if you want to learn all kinds of things about them, this book is literally teeming with information! For example, all the spiders on the planet devour between 400 and 800 million tons of meat each year. Yes, enough to make us wince sometimes!
The three wives of Blake Nelson
Might as well say it right away: we loved this thriller. It’s been a long time since we’ve read such a good one!
So welcome to Utah where, since the beginning of the 20th century, the Mormon Church has prohibited plural marriage. The problem is that even today, all the members of this sect do not necessarily respect this law and find a way to circumvent it. In order to be able to live in peace with his three young and pretty women, Blake Nelson will have the idea, for example, of settling in a ranch lost in the depths of the desert. Which, in the event of an accident, could however prove to be very impractical.
Difficult loves
Good. Accident is probably not the right word. Murder would be more appropriate. And since absolutely no one lives or is used to passing through the area, the first suspicions will inevitably fall on Rachel, the first wife, and her two sister-wives Emily and Tina.
Interviewed in turn by Agent Brewer, we will gradually discover their strange daily life – which was far from being only love and good feelings – as well as the astonishing Mormon precepts. As for the ending, wow! Truly a wonderful thriller.
