French Academician and Nazi sympathiser Paul-Jean Husson writes a letter to his local SS officer in the autumn of 1942.
Tormented by an illicit passion for Ilse, his German daughter-in-law, Husson has taken a decision that will devastate several lives, including his own.
The letter is intended to explain his actions. It is a dramatic, sometimes harrowing, story that begins in the years leading up to the war, when following the accidental drowning of his daughter, Husson’s previously gilded life begins to unravel.
It’s impossible to say that I enjoyed this book … with such horrifying subject matter and its heinous protagonist/narrator, there isn’t much to enjoy. It was a difficult read, yet it was also difficult put down.
Rarely has the story of antisemitism in wartime France been written about so powerfully in a novel. It’s a shocking yet fascinating story that needed telling, and telling from this viewpoint. It is a story that terrified me (and be warned – there are some very painful scenes) but that really drew me in.
The writing is spare and perfectly measured. The suspense gradually but relentlessly increases while the minefield of human emotions is explored. What is more, the translator has done a great job, conveying the narrator’s dry, factual style very well.
A disturbing yet gripping book. It reads swiftly yet its impact will linger long after you’ve finished with it.
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Monsieur le Commandant from the British publisher, Gallic Books. Many thanks to them!
Books&Livres 
Hi Clair,
I’ve only just started reading the Englidh tranxlation and as a French/English translator myself, I inevtiably find myself pulled up by a word or phrase or sentence and wonder what it may have been in French.One such example was at the bottom of page 23 which mentions a Guidance Committee. While perfectly understandable in English, it struck me as odd because we more usually talk about a steering committee. What do you reckon? Otherwise, I’ve so far found the English quite a delight to read and have all the horror still to come.
Yes, it’d be interesting to see what the French term was there.
The extra challenge for the translator was, of course, the use of some local dialect now and then – she handled it well and it’s the kind of challenge I’d like myself 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!