I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review The book begins with a Kafkaesque trip to the police station, where the young narrator first meets the beautiful, mysterious woman, whom he subsequently follows blindly, asking too few questions. With femme fatale on board, the novel then has a hint of Dashiell Hammett noir: short sentences, bewilderment (for the narrator and reader), and a strong whiff of menace. Even though the action does not all take place at night, the impression one get is of darkness and confusion: “If I could go back in time and return to that room, I would change the bulb. But in brighter light, the whole thing might well dissolve.” The narrator also a man of mystery. Why have his parents escaped France? And what is Grabley up to? In fact, no-one ever has their presence (or absence) properly explained. We find out later on that the action has all taken place about 30 years ago, and it is clearly in Paris after the Second World War, but apart from that the story is timeless and spaceless, more of a dream sequence than anything else. Only right at the end is there an end to the metaphorical and actual darkness – “I walked out, my mind a blank. Outside, everything was light, clear, indifferent, like a pure blue January sky” – but not to the confusion. This is an exceptional novella, that leaves you with a delicious sense of dislocation, and a resounding questioning WHAT?