Blood Wedding

Notes

Blood Wedding by Pierre Lemaitre demonstrates some of the problems translators face.

In an interview, Lemaitre’s translator — Frank Wynne — used Blood Wedding to show how difficult translation can be. In its original French, the book was entitled Robe de marié or, to the uninitiated, “Wedding Dress”. The educated will know that a wedding dress is feminine and should be spelt with a double e, “Robe de mariée”. Without that second e, the title is slightly off and unsettling in French as it means “Bride Groom’s Dress”. In English, that discord doesn’t exist, and Bride Groom’s Dress is a pretty poor title for a book. So Wynne and Lemaitre chose Blood Wedding instead.

Spell-binding violence and intrigue from Lemaitre.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Sophie is haunted by the things she can’t remember – and visions from the past she will never forget.

One morning, she wakes to find that the little boy in her care is dead. She has no memory of what happened. And whatever the truth, her side of the story is no match for the evidence piled against her.

Her only hiding place is in a new identity. A new life, with a man she has met online.

But Sophie is not the only one keeping secrets . . .

For fans of Gone Girl and Lemaitre’s own internationally bestselling Alex, Blood Wedding is a compelling psychological thriller with a formidable female protagonist.

Read a full review of Blood Wedding by Pierre Lemaitre at Cleopatra Loves Books.