Very, very, rarely does a book literally haunt my dreams in the way that the perfectly executed Hell’s Gate did, and as a mark of its intensely powerful writing it drifts back into my thoughts. Despite only running to less than two hundred pages, this book contains more philosophical examination of the human condition, and important questions and observations on the nature of faith, redemption and the life beyond,  that I really did experience a multitude of emotions reading this. What could simply have been a straightforward tale of revenge and loss reveals itself to be so much more… Although I’m probably the most irreligious person I know, I was genuinely moved, terrified and in awe of Gaude’s portrayal of the afterlife, and the sheer intensity of the love that Matteo exhibits in reconnecting with his son, despite the huge mental and physical cost to himself. Gaude’s depiction of Hell, and the souls that dwell within it, conjures up images worthy of Hieronymus Bosch and Dante, and the writing of these scenes in particular is utterly chilling. Gaude possesses an innate skill in making us believe that we are walking in Matteo’s shadow as he navigates the underworld, such is the visual power of the horrific images and depiction of sounds that accompany his torturous journey to reclaim his son. This unrelenting presentation of human misery and suffering is powerful in the extreme, and gives the reader more than one  pause for thought. The characterisation of the damaged individuals who become aligned with Matteo in his hellish mission, is suffused with pathos. The individual travails of their lives gives Gaude ample room to provide comment on sexuality, poverty, exploitation and the insidious power of the Catholic church, all of which he does with a cool eye and sense of detachment which makes these individual’s  suffering all the more poignant and resonant. This is a masterclass in characterisation where Gaude shifts the focus on each character subtly and fluidly to really get under the reader’s skin, and worm their way into our consciousness so they truly stay with us. There is simply no way that this book can be usurped from my eventual favourite reads of the year, even at this early stage, as I was profoundly affected by the power of Gaude’s writing. Mesmerising, cerebral writing that I cannot praise enough. Highly recommended.

In recent weeks, I have read some wonderful titles published by Gallic Books, home of English translations of popular French works. When browsing the ARCs over on Netgalley I as intrigued by the title, Hell's Gate and requested permission to read. At the time, I was unsure whether this would be a horror/supernatural title, but bore in mind my enjoyment of previously published titled from Gallic. To my pleasant surprise, I soon discovered that Hell's Gate is not of the horror genre, Instead, I would suggest this closer to the magical realism genre: a study in grief and revenge in which a grieving father follows in the footsteps of Dante in a journey to Hell. Neapolitan taxi driver Matteo is consumed with despair when his son, Pippo, gets caught in the crossfire of gang warfare on his way to school. His wife, Gabriella, plunges into the depths of grief and asks Matteo to either bring her son back, or collect the head of the man who murdered him. A mysterious photograph arrives with the name and address of the murderer, and Matteo readies himself for the moment of revenge. But at the last moment, his nerve fails him. This is more than Gabriella can take: that same day, she leaves her husband to return to her hometown in the hope of losing all memory of the son - and the love - she has lost. Meanwhile, Matteo encounters strangers in a cafe who raise the possibility that Pippo could be raised from the dead by travelling to a gate where the line between life and death is most blurred. Matteo is able to travel through this gate to Hell itself to find his dead son, but is unable himself to return. Hell's Gate switched between past and present seamlessly, weaving it's ethereal storyline from Matteo and Gabrielle's past to Pippo's reincarnation in the present day... It is both charming and heartbreaking, each character comes vividly to life through their projected thoughts and actions I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and was very glad to have requested it knowing it may not have been something I'd appreciate.

Matteo’s world comes to an end when his 6 year old son Pippo is killed, caught in the middle of a gang war. Guiliana, Pippo’s mother finds the only way she can cope with her grief is to never think of her son again. Matteo meanwhile, finds himself driving around the city of Naples at night. It is on one of these lonely drives that he encounters a man who tells him about the underworld. The world where souls roam and the dead live. And so Matteo vows to recover Pippo from Hell’s Gate. Though this is a short novel, it packs a lot into it’s 190 pages. Laurent Gaudé turns the idea of heaven and hell on it’s head. Here, in the harbours of Naples, there is a gate to the underworld, the place where souls go when the physical body has died. It is a dark, cold, horror filled place, one that Dante would be proud of. There are no golden gates and trumpeted angels in this version of the afterlife. The prose is brief but almost lyrical. Images of the underworld, of the sea of souls that must be crossed, of the vistas are vivid. The grief of Matteo and Guiliana is palpable and almost heart-breaking. Hell’s Gate is not a murder mystery, though a murder does trigger everything. It’s a study in grief and how it affects everyone differently. It is a story of love conquering all, even death and of how love can break people, the loss of a person turning someone into a shadow of their former selves. The novel was translated from French by Emily Boyce and Jane Aitken. As with all good translations it is easy to forget that the novel wasn’t written in English. The feeling that these are the intended, original words of the author is ever present in Hell’s Gate. Hell’s Gate explores the taint that death leaves on those left behind, of how we each of us cope in different ways. Not always an easy read and certainly not comfortable, this is a thought-provoking, unsettling, often heart-wrenching and moving novel.