Reviews

A perfect capsule of a story. I seldom read literary psychological horror but the premise and sample were so intriguing! In terms of story and execution, it brought to mind Kazuo Ishiguru's excellently rendered [b:The Unconsoled|40117|The Unconsoled|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1342193138l/40117._SY75_.jpg|6372970], with similarity of plot that a man is in an unfamiliar place with his wife and son wandering lost around the city. Surreal and dream-like, the protagonist struggles to make sense of the bizarre place and its disconcerting conventions.

Marie NDiaye tends to write from the perspective of the outsider, the excluded, the outcast such as with [b:Ladivine|26025503|Ladivine|Marie NDiaye|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1452099110l/26025503._SX50_.jpg|24338602] and [b:My Heart Hemmed In|32073144|My Heart Hemmed In|Marie NDiaye|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481210014l/32073144._SY75_.jpg|2276393]. In That Time of Year, the outsiders are cosmopolitan Parisians summer holidaying at a French seaside village who have unwittingly overstayed from end of August to the first of September. Everything changes in that one day, flipping from touristy village to hunkering down for the harsh winter. Worse, the wife and child of Herman the Parisienne holidaymaker have disappeared and the locals including the gendarme are curiously sanguine and indifferent when he seeks their help.

Marie NDiaye did a masterful job with crafting this fable. From the description of the folksy outfit that all the female villagers wear to the clock-like busy hierarchy of the village town hall and the slow normalization of the lack of privacy for our protagonist as he sinks into "dulled larval inertia," the sinister process of conformation and assimilation creeps in. Individuality is devoured and apathy settles over Herman. We find out chillingly that he is not the first urbanite holiday-goer this has happened to. His ties to Paris are slowly severed, his determination to seek his missing family and his sense of self drained.

There are sly winks noting nepotism, misogyny and small town parochialism.

chipcarnes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

dreesreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Creepy horror story about a family who overstays the season at their summer home--and then only he is left. Constant rain, creepy residents, "it happens", ghosts? Trying to fit in where you don't belong, what you must give up to fit in, what one will do for family, what a place you think you know is like when you're not supposed to be there. The ennui of what feels weird and wrong yet also seems to be normal. I wonder if this is an allegory--for moving to a new and different place? For having a seriously ill family member? For whatever the reader sees it as?

kaitlanthrope's review against another edition

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4.0

Wicker Man-esque, but with more rain, and no large straw pagan idol. Perfect for the transition into Autumn.

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