The Son of Man

Del Amo follows up his memorable Animalia with another arresting French rural gothic. The story begins with a prehistoric tableau in which a young boy, under the watchful eyes of his father, participates in his first deer hunt. The episode lends a mythic quality to Del Amo’s narrative, which shifts to the present day as a father abruptly reenters the life of his nine-year-old son after an absence of six years. Eventually, he brings the boy and his mother to live in the “hushed, hostile, cold” cabin where he grew up. The surrounding woods are a source of fascination and terror to the boy, as is his father, an enigmatic stranger whose “glowering presence” puts his mother ill at ease. As the novel progresses, a sense of “indefinable menace” builds as the run-down house decays even further, the mother’s health deteriorates, and the father’s erratic behavior and explosive anger make his plans seem more sinister than they first appeared. Del Amo’s signature florid style comes to life in Wynne’s consummate translation, and at the heart of the lurid plot is a sensitive depiction of a boy’s confusion. Once this gets its hooks in readers, it won’t let go. (July)