Blizzard by Marie Vingras t. Stephanie Smee #Blizzard #TranslatedFiction @feliciah_33 @headlinepg #MountainLeopardPress #BookReview

 

To find the child they must survive the storm

A blizzard rages in an isolated corner of Alaska. Few inhabitants live in this desolate place. Scattered across the vast, white expanse, they shelter in solitude from the tempest and the extreme cold. But amid this storm and far from home, a woman walks alone with the child.

She stops for a moment to re-tie the laces of her boots filled with snow. Instants later she looks up and the child under her care has vanished. In desperation she searches for him, knowing that every minute that goes by in this snowstorm is a threat to both of their lives. Soon she is joined in the hunt by the other neighbours. And as the search intensifies to save the missing child from certain death, she too will become the object of pursuit.

Blizzard is a gripping thriller, quiet and unnerving at first, but then building to a breath-taking climax.

Blizzard by Marie Vingtras is published today, 18 January 2024 by Mountain Leopard Press. It is translated from the French by Stephanie Smee. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

I am such a fan of translated fiction, especially crime fiction. This little book is only 155 pages long, but it certainly packs a punch.

Set in an isolated part of Alaska, the novel opens as Bess discovers that the small boy whose hand she was holding has disappeared. A blizzard is raging and visibility is very poor, it's incredibly cold and Bess is not sure that she can handle her situation. 

Each very short chapter is narrative in the first person by the characters of the story. We hear from the lost boy's father, Benedict; Cole; a man who has spent his entire life in this place and has close association with Benedict. Freeman is a outlier, a newcomer to Alaska, a black man, out of place and grieving for his lost life, and of course, Bess; also a newcomer and something of a mystery to these men. 

The sense of place is outstanding, the utter isolation of these people, the dangers of the weather, the unpredictability of the landscape. It is stunning to read and to savour. 

The story is certainly character led, and whilst each chapter is very short, the reader begins to feel as though they really do know these men, whilst Bess remains more of a mystery to us. Slowly and surely, the story unfolds, revealing hidden truths and sadness throughout. 

The tension increases with each page, and is just so wonderfully done, we know so little and then we know so much, and I certainly had no idea what we would be faced with at the end of the novel. 

I have to mention the excellent translation too. Occasionally I've found that translation can be a little flat, but Stephanie Smee has really found the voices of the author and the characters, its' so well done. 

This is an incredible novel, I was consumed and I'm not surprised at all that it won the French Bookseller's Award. I am looking forward to more from this talented author.

Marie Vingtras was born in Rennes in 1972. 

Blizzard is her first novel.

Stephanie Smee is a translator into English of all things literary and French. 

Her most recent translation is of Pascal Janovjak's The Rome Zoo, which was the winner of the Swiss Literature Award