Since “Harry, a friend who wishes you well”, everyone knows that reconnecting with an old acquaintance can get you into trouble. An interior designer accustomed to nothing going beyond the frame, Adèle has learned her lesson and remains impassive when Hugues Lionel, the new music theory teacher of her son, Lucas, recognizes in her “Marie”, the woman with whom he had a torrid relationship eight years earlier. A first name that she had invented for herself at the time, frustrated by her married life with Bernard, her nightcap husband.
Adèle of course claims that he is mistaken. But Hugues, who is depressed when he sees his father slipping into the night with Alzheimer’s, does not give up and clings to the beautiful memory of this relationship. Especially since, as the music lessons progress, he suspects that Lucas could be his son. Discreetly, he will carry out paternity tests. It’s bad for him…
“Families are still a real poison,” remarks the mischievous Barbara Abel. To fuel detective intrigue, they do the job very well themselves! »
Hitchcock’s Shadow
She, who was revealed in her first novel, “The Maternal Instinct”, won the Cognac Prize in 2002 – the story of a young pregnant girl sequestered by a sterile woman who wants to steal her baby – creates an intimate space a place where the worst inevitably arises. At her place, there are no gun nuts or psychopaths on the prowl. “I like when fear arises in everyday life. I’m not interested in big bad guys. Especially since we are more likely to win the lottery than to come across serial killers. With them, you shiver, but there is a distance, because it is not statistically likely to happen to you… unlike my stories! »
The tutelary shadow that hangs over her books: that of Hitchcock, the master of suspense, whose implacable mechanics she praises. She never forgets her precepts: to distil as much information as possible on the psychology of each of the characters, the actions they are about to commit, so that her readers tremble and turn the pages feverishly. And yet, manage to captivate them with a stunning ending, as in this breathtaking thirteenth psychological thriller.
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In a film or a book, I never find the culprit, whereas my 16-year-old daughter guessed in ten minutes!
Barbara Abel
“When I meet my readers, they exclaim: “Oh your endings! Looking forward to the next one!” Except that it puts pressure on me, because I myself don’t know the beginning and the outcome when I start. It’s very uncomfortable… but if I had made a plan beforehand, it wouldn’t be so surprising. » Even more surprising, Barbara Abel admits to being terrible at pure detective intrigue. “I don’t hear anything!” she laughs. In a film or a book, I never find the culprit, whereas my 16-year-old daughter guessed in ten minutes! »
But enough of the self-deprecation. Barbara Abel is a novelist that TV channels and cinema are fond of. She is also in the process of finishing writing season 2 of “Attraction”, broadcast on TF1, with her partner Sophia Perié, a series that viewers followed en masse, without stopping, until… 1 morning time. As for his novel “Behind Hate”, after being adapted for the cinema by Olivier Masset-Depasse (“Duelles”), we can now watch its American version, “Mothers’ Instinct”, on Prime Video. With a high-profile poster: Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren must be jealous.
“As if nothing had happened”, by Barbara Abel, ed. Récamier, 360 pages, 21 euros.
© DR
