Delicacy

Starred review from September 12, 2011
Natalie and François’s perfect marriage is brought to a tragically abrupt end when François is hit by a car while jogging. Natalie mourns deeply for three months and then goes back to work, where she receives the unwanted attention of her boss, Charles. She makes it clear that she has no interest in him and seems to have no interest in men at all, until Markus, a Swedish man who works for her, reawakens her desire. After a kiss in the office, the two begin seeing each other. She likes Markus because he’s funny and doesn’t try to pressure her, and Markus can’t believe his luck at landing the most beautiful woman at work. But word of their affair soon spreads around the office, reaching Charles, who hatches a plan to promote Markus back to Sweden, leaving Natalie all for himself. Foenkinos’s first novel to be translated into English is delicate, funny, offbeat, and subtle, with Markus and Natalie as unlikely but realistically drawn protagonists. Foenkinos paces the novel well, breaking it up with songs, lists, footnotes, and other formal elements reminiscent of Nick Hornby or Rick Moody yet making them his own.

November 1, 2011
Lighthearted and offbeat, this translation of a French novel serves up a mostly frothy dish of romance, lost love, new hope, and typically Gallic sensibilities. Natalie and Francois share an almost unbearably perfect and oddly bland life, in which everything happens with seamless affability. But when Francois is struck by a car and dies, his still-young widow is shocked at the intrusion of grief into the wonderful fantasy that is her life, which she had not thought to question until it was too late. Sleepwalking through the subsequent days, Natalie fends off unwanted advances by an enamored suitor, throws herself fully into her work, and erects a near-impenetrable fortress around her grieving heart. Yet when unprepossessing coworker Markus enters her awareness, Natalie begins to reassess what might be next. The novel's entire focus, in fact, may stem from this one sentence, Natalie's sadness considerably deepened her erotic potential. It should be noted that there is plenty of soft erotic subtext but little overt sexuality in this thoughtful, character-driven novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)