Description
By (author) Del Amo Jean-Baptiste; Edited by Wynne Frank
Short /annotation:
After several years of absence, a man reappears in the life of his wife and their young son and takes them to the dilapidated house in the mountains. The Son of Man is an exceptional novel on the transmission of violence from one generation to the next.
:
After several years of absence, a man reappears in the life of a woman and their young son. Intent on being a family again, he drives them to Les Roches, a dilapidated house in the mountains, where the man grew up with his own ruthless father. While the mother watches the passing days with apprehension, the son discovers the enchantment of nature, savage and bewitching. As the father’s hold over them intensifies, the return to their previous life and home seems increasingly impossible. Haunted by his past and consumed with jealousy, the man slowly sinks into madness and his son has no choice but to challenge his father in an attempt to save something of their humanity. Written in flawless, cinematic prose and brilliantly translated by Frank Wynne, The Son of Man is an exceptional novel of nature and wildness that traces how violence is inherited from one generation to the next, and a blistering examination of how families fold together and break apart under duress.
Review quote:
‘We are in rural gothic horror/thriller territory, but the novel is lifted above its genre by Del Amo’s literary artfulness…. It is luridly visceral stuff … powerfully evocative. Del Amo is a writer like no other.’
— David Mills, The Times
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‘[Readers] will leave suitably shaken by this skilfully woven tale from one of France’s most exciting writers.’
— Liam Bishop, Times Literary Supplement
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‘The Son of Man is an astonishing book. Beautifully written, devastating at times, and relentless, but unforgettable.’
— Michael Magee, author of Close to Home
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‘An exquisite and mesmerizing novel, in which violence constantly threatens to break the surface. The precision and detail of the prose imprints on the mind like a photograph.’
— Isabella Hammad, author of Enter Ghost
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‘The Son of Man is an explosion, a shout. Jean-Baptiste Del Amo is a storming talent; here are words which are forged rather than written, smeared with blood.’
— Daisy Johnson, author of Sisters
Review quote:
‘The Son of Man demands a fearless kind of reading. It combines the impassive eye of a naturalist regarding their object of study, with the fierce revolt of that which is scrutinised, and resists being catalogued and known. Del Amo reaches into atavistic territories of impulse, desire, violence and repetition, and refuses to domesticate through conclusion. I was mesmerised by this formidable tale of a son and a mother who come up against both the law of the father and the lawlessness of nature’
— Daisy Lafarge, author of Lovebug
Review quote:
‘The theme of transmission between father and son is at the heart of the novel. It is marked by a macabre determinism, everything is already played for, poisoned. A wandering insane grandfather casts a shadow and bad luck ricochets on his descendants. Jean-Baptiste Del Amo does not shy away from showing the atrocious. He has several strings to his hunter’s bow; an art of careful framing, of scenic observation. A taste for the primeval drive mixed with intuitions and perceptions.… There are many magnificent scenes, such as the son swimming in the river with his mother. Brief moments of light amidst the darkness and a fear so intense you could cut it with a knife.”
— Le Figaro Littérai
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