7:36 a.m., March 16, 2022
During the Second World War, Jean Reille, a French soldier lost in a forest in the Ardennes, comes face to face with a deserter from the German army, Franz Muller. The two lost friends spend the night talking. In the early morning, they defeat the Nazi who wanted to shoot Muller. After the two men have sworn an eternal friendship sealed by the cufflink that each offers to the other (adorned with an eagle for Franz and a rooster for Jean), their path separates. If one day Jean, Franz or one of their descendants needs help, all he has to do is find the owner of the mismatched pair of cufflinks.
funny coincidences
In 1995, Henri, grandson of Jean, is married to the sly Gwendoline. “It took a lot for Henri Reille to lose his temper. The only thing in this world that could have put him in this state was for Gwendoline to steal his cufflinks. » What she does to give them to her lover.
Henri Reille’s epic begins with an attempted burglary. An unfortunate gesture and the lover lies on the ground. Panicked, Henri takes off. What to do ? Tracking down Franz Muller, of course, and enlisting his help in enforcing the secret pact. During his run, he befriends a duo of incredible robbers. Together, they track Franz Muller on the side of Argentina, embark on the ocean, are shipwrecked there. The crossing of the Atlantic ends in a Zodiac, in the company of a dreamy diver and an adventuress with the thwarted destiny of Robinson. From crazy twists to funny coincidences, the saga will continue on dry land.
“A beautiful story, isn’t that the most beautiful gift? », asks one of the characters in the novel. Nicolas Carreau, the “Monsieur Livres” of Europe 1 (owned by the Lagardère group, like the JDD), shares in this first leaping novel his passion for good and great stories.
A man without stories, Nicolas Carreau, JC Lattès, 234 pages, 20 euros.
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