L’enfant aux cailloux

by Sophie Loubière

Elsa Préau est une retraitée bien ordinaire. De ces vieilles dames trop seules et qui s'ennuient tellement - surtout le dimanche - qu'elles finissent par observer ce qui se passe chez leurs voisins. Elsa, justement, connaît tout des habitudes de la famille qui vient de s'installer à côté de chez elle. Et très vite, elle est persuadée que quelque chose ne va pas. Les deux enfants ont beau être en parfaite santé, un autre petit garçon apparaît de temps en temps - triste, maigre, visiblement maltraité. Un enfant qui semble l'appeler à l'aide. Un enfant qui lui en rappelle un autre... Armée de son courage et de ses certitudes, Elsa n'a plus qu'une obsession : aider ce petit garçon qui n'apparaît ni dans le registre de l'école, ni dans le livret de famille des voisins. Mais que peut-elle contre les services sociaux et la police qui lui affirment que cet enfant n'existe pas ? Et qui est vraiment Elsa Préau ? Une dame âgée qui n'a plus toute sa tête ? Une grand-mère souffrant de solitude comme le croit son fils ? Ou une femme lucide qui saura croire à ce qu'elle voit ?

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Suspense, France, Roman

333 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better psychologically. twisty books I have read in a while. Takes place in France, when a former school head-mistress returns home after being gone for over 10 yrs. There are little clues, scattered here and there hinting at the reason for her absence and also flashbacks to her childhood. All done extremely well.

I think the reason I liked this book so much was because along with the insidious creepiness of this book, it also made one look at a few important questions. Does one believe what they see, what they are told, is the absolute truth? Can facts be interpreted in more than one way? Does all behavior outside the norm have to be classified as a mental illness?

The characters were multifaceted, the book very well written. I never knew how to interpret what I was reading because it was very difficult to figure out what to think and believe. Even at the end, revelations were still being sorted and figured out.

This was a best seller in France, and I can certainly see why. The first time it has been translated into English. I hope the readers here in the States like it as much as I and the French did.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stone Boy is an interesting novel. Sophie Loubriere writes subtly and sparsely. This is a French bestseller, so it’s like watching a French movie with understated action and nuance.

Madame Preau is the curmudgeonly protagonist who is tenacious in her thoughts and opinion. One of my favorite parts of the novel is when Madame Preau writes letters to provide her opinions and helpful tips to government officials. Her letters are hilarious, in a truly French and understated way. Madame is persnickety and she’s not afraid to be herself and let the rest of the world know her attitudes. She is one of my favorite literary characters.

Madame starts to spy on her neighbors because she feels it’s her duty to mind the populace. She notices that her neighbor is abusing one of his children. Madame deems it her job to notify all the authorities. The authorities, however, have no record of this child. Given Madame’s advanced age and history, all authorities ignore her.

Some nasty event occurs, and suddenly we are reading a thriller. It’s a fast read and highly entertaining. I highly recommend it.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Mostly I have an idea of what will happen at the end of a book, but I have to admit that I had no clue where we were going with this one. I don't want to say too much in case I give anything away but if you enjoy psychological thrillers with an unreliable narrator and lots of twists and turns then get this one.

The Story: When the elderly Madame Preau returns to her own house after several years spent in a convalescent home, she immediately notices that the neighbourhood has changed. A new family has moved in next door and, from her window, she watches their three children playing in the garden after school. Two of the children seem perfectly healthy, but Madame Preau is struck by the third child, who seems listless and stands apart from the others. When she reports this to social services, they refuse to believe her. Cut off some years ago from her own grandson, she begins a mission to help this boy, even when those around her start to fear for her sanity.

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The French novel The Stone Boy is a curiously strange tale of psychological suspense. The premise involves an elderly woman, Madame Préau who, after a long period of convalescence comes home to a changed neighborhood. She is pretty much alone except for a housekeeper and a son who visits her periodically and seems to be distant and untrusting. Her closest neighbor is a family with apparently three children. One of the children, an older boy, is always seen separately from the others and, to Madame Preau's eyes, appears to be neglected and bruised. But the agency that investigates child abuse tells her that no child exists.

Of course, being a novel of psychological suspense, nothing may be as it appears. The author begins her novel with a vague but important back story and we know little about our protagonist at the beginning except she is probably mentally unstable, maybe dangerously so, and not all that likable. Loubiere has a talent for giving you only what information you need at the time, an essential attribute for this type of story. This novel did not grab me at first but as I read it but I was soon unable to put it down. When I did put it down, I found myself thinking about as if I was putting together a puzzle. What does this mean? What is the reality and what is in her head? The ending, which I will not reveal of course, was worth it and, I must confess, made me slightly teary-eyes. But was it a good teary-eyed or a sad teary-eyed? You'll have to read the book to find out.

Good psychological novels, especially those that involve a person of questionable mental stability, are hard to come by. The most common problem is that often authors do not know how to made a mentally ill protagonist full-dimensional without falling into stereotypes. That is not a problem here. Madame Preau is quite real with little stereotyping and endowed with a clear and believable pattern of decompensation. In fact, I would say it is the prime reason this novel works. The novel is moved along by third person narrative and enhanced by letters and notes by Madame Preau that lets us know more about her and the workings of her mind as the story progresses.

The only weakness in the novel is an occasional feeling of awkwardness and stiffness in the narration, especially at the beginning. It's one of those things I can feel but not necessarily put my finger on. I am inclined to think that may be a problem with the translation rather than the author. But it quickly goes away as we go deeper into the mystery.

Overall, this is one of the better psychological thrillers I have read in a while and well deserving of more attention in the English-speaking world.

Four and a half stars.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman with a lifetime of eccentric behavior, blurring reality and fantasy, displays all the symptoms of delusional paranoia in later adulthood. After 10 years of psychiatric hospitalization, she returns to her childhood home and stops taking her medication. Soon she is setting two hundred mouse traps to deal with nighttime noises only she can hear, killing stray cats and laundering their pelts to prevent being spied on by microchips they carry and accusing the neighbors of abusing a child they are hiding, but who is communicating with her in her dreams. Most delusions are rooted in some perception of reality. The problem for the reader and this woman’s son is to untangle reality from delusion. Loubier has masterfully constructed this character and her world. The reader is left scrambling to find some scrap to which to cling, by which to find an orientation as we navigate this world. Are there rodents in the attic? Are the foods we buy slowly poisoning us? Are the neighbors watching this woman with a history of psychiatric problems that once made headlines? Is a child in danger? Is this woman who manipulates her son, vilifies her daughter-in-law and accuses housekeeper to shopkeeper of malevolent intent deserving of a hearing, of being taken seriously, of love?

[Adrienne]

DNF. Did not finish. Found the plot disjointed and impossible (for me) to follow. Additionally as the story began to unfold - realised it did not interest me.

[Dem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow.

[Karine Mon coin lecture · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5
J'ai bien aimé la dernière partie, bien aimé la finale. Par contre, j'ai trouvé la première partie longue et un peu redondante. Difficile d'en parler pour ne rien dévoiler par contre. Une bonne lecture.

[Aude Bouquine Lagandre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elsa Préau, institutrice et directrice d'école à la retraite, a une vie bien réglée.
Elle lit, fait ses courses, fait la cuisine, écrit des lettres à qui veut bien les lire et espionne ses voisins.
A force, elle finit par se persuader que quelque chose cloche dans la maison d'à côté.
Cette famille, les Desmoulins a 2 enfants. Sauf que, de temps en temps, le dimanche, Adèle Préau croit en apercevoir un autre toujours assis sous le même arbre, à jouer avec les mêmes cailloux.
Alors, à cet âge avancé, lorsque l'on prend quelques médicaments pour dormir ou calmer ses angoisses, est-on bien sûr de ce que l'on voit ?
Elsa en est persuadée, cet enfant est en danger et elle décide de mettre en place un plan pour le sauver.

Voilà tout ce que je peux vous dire de l'histoire construite par Sophie loubière en en révélant le moins possible. Toute la réussite de ce roman réside dans ce que je ne vous dis pas.
J'aimerai pouvoir en dire plus, pour vous donner envie de l'ouvrir mais ce serait vraiment vous gâcher une grosse partie du plaisir des découvertes successives, surtout en deuxième partie de roman.

Je ne peux que vous parler de mon expérience de lecture.
Le début a été très très fastidieux. J'ai failli le refermer plusieurs fois, pas par ennui mais pas incompréhension totale de la trame de l'histoire. Il faut dire que l'auteur prend son temps pour poser son personnage central, Elsa. Puis elle prend son temps pour que vous ayez vos certitudes. Quand elle est bien sûre de votre avis bien arrêté, elle déconstruit tout, insinue à nouveau le doute, et reconstruit tout sous un angle différent. Si bien que vous passez votre temps à osciller entre ce que vous croyez être, et ce qui pourrait être.
La façon dont elle le fait est très ingénieuse car vous ne la voyez pas venir.
Alors folle ou pas folle la vieille ? Vous vous poserez la question 258 fois environ.
Ces chapitres là sont donc construits de manière labyrinthique pour faire écho au fonctionnement du cerveau d'Elsa : c'est le fouillis total dans sa tête, et du coup dans la nôtre aussi.

Dans la seconde partie, la tension monte crescendo.
Sophie Loubière distille des informations au compte-gouttes et fait des révélations qu'il est absolument impossible de voir venir.
Là encore, elle prend un malin plaisir à balader le lecteur dans un sens, puis dans l'autre, le laissant seul à ses appréciations qui de toute façon seront fausses !
J'ai particulièrement aimé la façon dont elle nous laisse juger des événements pour nous donner, plus tard, un élément nouveau qui va nous amener à reconsidérer les choses sous un nouvel angle. Ne jugez pas trop vite, vous ne savez pas tout....
Jusqu'à la dernière page, elle vous met KO debout.
La fin est juste dingue !! Ca fait bien longtemps que je n'ai pas lu un bouquin qui apporte autant de révélations et du coup, un éclairage tellement différent sur les événements que ça vous donne envie de relire le début pour en apprécier la saveur (vous savez le début qui vous ennuyait presque à mourir ?)

Enfin bref, je ne sais pas si ma chronique est très claire car je n'ai au final pu parler de rien. Je ne peux pas non plus vous parler des thèmes abordés, ce serait trop en dire là aussi.

Il faut ABSOLUMENT lire ce bouquin, c'est tout ce que j'ai à dire !

[Sonja Arlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I was completely underwhelmed by this story as told from the viewpoint of Elsa Preau, a miserable woman that only seem to see the misery in life, and the type of person I try to avoid in real life.

As a retired headmistress Elsa leads the quiet life of a typical old lady, spending her days spying on the neighbours through her curtains, complaining in elaborately written letters to council men about noise and dust pollution while taking time to constantly accuse her son of neglecting her.

When she files a report against her neighbours for child abuse it seems as if she has finally lost her grip on reality. The social services investigation reveals no 3rd child and Elsa’s increasingly erratic behavior makes her son suspect that she has stopped taking her medication.

I really didn’t like Elsa and as most of story was told from her point of view it made me sigh with irritation more than once.

The novel completely redeemed itself in the last 25% which was told from her son’s POV. Suddenly things start clicking together making this a surprisingly poignant tale full of twists I did not expect even when I knew from other reviews that the story was not what it seemed.

So, if like me you initially struggle with the story, just keep at it, I guarantee it will be worth your while.

[m ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elsa, ma reine, moi j’ai cru en toi quoi qu’ils aient pu dire


"Et si la maladie mentale s'est incrustée si profondément en elle, c'est parce que la douleur y a creusé un puits abyssal."

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heroine of this book is Elsa Preau, a retired headmistress living alone in her former family home to which she has recently returned after several years in a convalescent home. Visited infrequently by her doctor son, Martin, Elsa has little to keep her occupied apart from visits to her physiotherapist and her psychologist.
Missing contact with her grandson, Bastien, and the children she used to teach, Elsa becomes obsessed with watching the children of her nearest neighbour. But what she sees raises in her concerns for the welfare of one of the children, who she christens Stone Boy. Although she sees him in the garden occasionally, he never interacts with his brother and sister and they ignore him. When Elsa makes enquiries, it also appears that he doesn't attend school. When she raises her concerns with the authorities, they don't believe her and insist that the family only has two children.
At this stage, we begin to learn more about Elsa's past history and things that she does demonstrate her apparently fragile mental health so, like the authorities, the reader is led to believe that perhaps she is mistaken....
Loved this book and found it really hard to put down. The story was totally gripping and the ending unexpected. Definitely a five star read for me - 9.5/10.

[Sahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un thriller déroutant qui sort des sentiers battus. Un roman émouvant écrit différemment de ce qu'on voit habituellement.
Surtout, un roman très encrée dans la psychologie d'un personnage en particulier.

Je pourrais continuer ainsi un bon moment ! Ce qu'il faut retenir de ce roman, c'est qu'il ne faut jamais se fier aux apparences ;)

Sans oublier non plus la plume absolument envoûtante de Sophie Loubière que j'ai découvert à travers ce roman et qui m'a donné envie de lire ses autres romans.

[Aline · Rating 5 out of 5]

En fait je mets 5 et non 4, vraiment j'ai tout aimé ! Une belle découverte, à lire !

Un roman déroutant, "thriller" psychologique qui nous plonge dans le quotidien esseulé d'une institutrice à la retraite se battant contre les violences faites sur les enfants.
C'est très bien écrit. Je me suis laissée porter par l'histoire, par la voix du personnage, je me suis posée beaucoup de questions, j'ai douté aussi.
C'est très bien fait.
Ce livre m'a vraiment plu !!!

Audiobook.

[Amandine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un roman psychologique plutôt que thriller avec quelques passages longuets.
On arrive au 2/3 du roman pis on se dit bon ok c est la fin et puis on voit qu'il reste encore toutes ces pages et on se demande mais où va aller l'auteur.
Et la on peut être surpris par ce dénouement.
Une histoire bien ficelé mais il m a manque un je ne sais quoi pour faire waouh

[Daramegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://darameganknihy.blogspot.com/2...

[Becky Hariharan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best thrillers I've read - the twists kept on coming and the ending actually felt satisfying. I can see why this was a bestseller in France.

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je viens de finir L’Enfant aux cailloux de Sophie Loubière, qu’on m’avait fortement conseillé. Je m’attendais à passer une très bon moment, avec beaucoup « d’humour et de suspense », comme l’indique la citation sur la couverture. La quatrième de couverture mentionne qu’avec Sophie Loubière, « le polar français est en pleine ascension ». Que demander de plus ?

Première grosse déconvenue, pour moi, il s’agit davantage d’un drame, je n’ai ressenti aucun suspense, je cherche encore l’humour, et j’avoue que je ne comprends pas qu’on puisse dire que ce livre est un polar. Alors logiquement, quand je m’attends à trouver un bon moelleux au chocolat dans ma petite boîte et que j’y découvre le croissant tout sec de la veille, forcément, je ne suis pas ravie.

Je pense que si on ne me l’avait pas vendu de la sorte, j’aurais nettement plus apprécié. Là, problème, j’ai trouvé plat, parce que je cherchais le suspense. Les cent premières pages servent d’introduction au personnage principal. Sur un total de 350, j’ai trouvé cela assez déséquilibré. Lorsque l’on découvre enfin l’enfant aux cailloux, je m’attendais à ce que l’histoire démarre enfin, mais puisque ce n’est toujours pas un polar plein de suspense, ce n’était pas à l’ordre du jour, c’est plutôt la psychologie des personnages et les réactions des gens qui intéressent.

Quoi qu’il en soit, en plus de la déconvenue par rapport au genre, j’ai vu arriver les événements et retournements de situations, ainsi, je n’ai été que peu surprise, voire pas du tout. Un autre élément m’a profondément ennuyée, c’est le nombre de lettre que l’héroïne écrit et qui nous sont proposées, intercalées entre deux chapitres. Certaines sont très utiles et agréable, en revanche, quand elle se plaint de tout et de rien à tous les ministres de la région, bof.

Je suis très embêtée pour juger réellement ce roman, parce que foncièrement, il n’est pas mauvais, mais impossible de l’apprécier si on vous le vend comme un polar plein de suspense. Tentez d’y voir plutôt un drame psychologique, avec peu d’action et de suspense, parce que ce qui est intéressant se passe dans l’esprit des personnages, je pense que c’est mieux. Malheureusement, dans l’état d’esprit avec lequel j’ai effectué ma lecture, je ne peux que dire que je n’ai pas aimé, c’est triste.

Comment peut-on vendre ce livre sous l'appellation polar ? Le « détail » qui gâche tout...

[Pamela Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is Madame Preau crazy, senile, or over medicated and hallucinating, a psychic or psychotic? Or is she telling the truth? You won’t know till the end of this Psychological thriller that kept me guessing. There is one quote that summed up this mystery for me “The touch of madness was irresistible.”

Elsa Preau was an eccentric, brilliant woman who had been the Head Mistress at a French elementary school. She is very sensitive to current affairs and injustices in the world—writing letters to agencies about her concerns. She has recently been released from a convalescent home where she was held for years after a family tragedy. Her son, Martin, is a doctor who is in charge of looking after her, and so he takes her to her childhood home outside of Paris. The house has fallen into disrepair, and the neighborhood is undergoing large changes. Elsa goes about her days with help from a housekeeper, her psychiatrist and a physical therapist. One day she notices 3 children in her neighbor’s yard; a boy and girl playing and fighting with each other, and an older boy standing off by himself under a tree. He doesn’t look right to her, unhealthy, never interacting with the other children. Also he looks familiar, just like her grandson Bastien whom she misses terribly. The more she watches the more concerned she gets, telling her psychiatrist about him, keeping notes on him and trying to find out about him then naming him The Stone Boy. Eventually she tells child services about him, but the mystery deepens when there is no record of him existing. No one believes her. A complex story about Elsa’s family is woven through this suspenseful mystery. My warning is that there is some adult sexual content, because of Martin’s affairs, and there is some disturbing violence. Still this is so well written, well translated, and complex that I’m giving it 4 stars.

[Sibylle Seys smets · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je n ai pas du tout accroché. C est très confus, l intrigue est toute mince, et on ne croit pas un instant aux personnages. Il n y a rien qui m a plu dans ce bouquin.

[Naomi Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am hesitant to give this five stars because it starts very very slow especially for such a short book. That first solid half of the book, nothing really happens. Then when it does get to the good part, it gets really good. The ending wasn’t necessarily thrilling like the middle section was but it was surprisingly poignant and I actually found myself getting a bit emotional at times. Would probably give it a 4.5 for the very slow start but I’ll round up to 5!

[Chrissie Cowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.. so many twists and turns. I really couldn't put this one down. A great book.

[☕Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ratings:

Writing 4
Story line 5
Characters 4
Emotional impact 4

Overall rating 4.25

[Éloïse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre m’a énervé et j’aime ça. Je lis pour ressentir des émotions et c’était les montagnes russes.

L’autrice nous balade tout du long et on ne peut que se demander si ce qu’on lit est vrai tellement c’est tiré par les cheveux.

Ce que j’ai adoré c’est aussi la construction et la psychologie du personnage principal. Rien n’est laissé au hasard et toute sa vie est retracée.


✨ « — Mais tu l’as quittée.
— Parce qu’elle me l’a demandé, Martin. Et je crois que c’est la plus belle preuve d’amour qu’elle ne m’ait jamais donnée. »

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upon leaving a cinema theatre, judging a film can be pretty immediate and not at all a private experience. Last night I spent the night with a bunch of gregarious Navy Seals – Lone Survivor – and as soon as the film ended you felt spent. A terrific movie, the audience let out a collective sigh and everyone had an opinion.

Reading is the polar opposite.

The journey is yours and yours alone. There’s no one you can say, did you read that? Sure you can talk to people if they’ve read the same book but as you progress through a book, for that journey it’s an entirely private experience and that’s what I love about it. It allows your imagination to run riot. As I closed The Stone Boy – written by French author Sophie Loubiere – for the last time late last night I let out a sigh, placed the book down on the side and wow, just wow!

It has been a long time since I read a French language book, the last time was at school when I was learning the language. Unfortunately I’ve forgotten far too much and couldn’t even attempt to read it in its native language but the great thing about this book is the translation, by Nora Mahony, still retains a wonderful French flavour throughout.

Despite its dark overture this is a beautifully written book and incredibly easy to read. The narrative begs you to turn the page and you want to know what happens next. The story itself begins slowly, you don’t have a clue what’s going on, slowly but surely things start to make sense but just as you settle down into a rhythm Loubiere twists the knife and turns things on its head.

Complex and brutal at times the book is character driven with Madame Préau taking the lead. I really didn’t know what to make of Préau and still don’t, although having finished the book I have a greater understanding to her personality, the reasons for her actions and what made her tick. For the majority of the book you think one way, but then with the introduction of new information, clever plotting and numerous twists and turns you begin to see her in a totally different light.

There’s so much I want to say about this book but I can’t. It’s impossible to delve too deeply in this review without giving something away but one thing I can promise is that it will take you through a range of emotions. It examines the strained relationship between mother and son, a son who has every right to hate his ageing mother. There are sections of the book that will inevitably shock, it will take your breath away and I can guarantee you won’t see cats in the same light again!

Wonderfully emotive and atmospheric, The Stone Boy is a dark psychological tale of love, courage, empathy and discovery. I can guarantee you’ll remember Madame Préau long after you turn the final page. Highly recommended.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madame Preau has returned home after several years in a convalescent home. Once a Headmistress, the elderly woman now spends her time writing letters to politicians and the newspapers and spying on her neighbours. There are maybe three kids next door two of whom seem fine but the third seems to be neglected and perhaps abused. Madame Preau reports her fears to the authorities but, when they check, they can find no proof of this third child. And there is plenty of reason to doubt Madame Preau, even her son, a respected doctor, questions her sanity. We know that Madame Preau cares about children yet she is refused access to her own grandson and accuses her daughter-in-law of carrying evil inside her.

And then there is the rather vague but disturbing explanation of how she ended up in the convalescent home in the first place.

The Stone Boy has won awards in France and rightfully so. Author Sylvie Loubiere does a masterful job of keeping the reader in the dark while pulling us further into Madame Preau’s delusions (assuming of course they are delusions). Every time, you think you know the truth, she adds a new twist or takes us down a different path. Interestingly, we are never expected to like Madame Preau or even to empathize with her; we are simply expected to follow her story to what we expect to be the final inevitable end…except, well, turns out the inevitable end is not so inevitable after all.

The Stone Boy is one heck of a gripping psychological thriller. It starts out a bit slow but then it builds up steam and then…wham! I couldn’t put it down – I planned on reading a couple of pages before bed. Not a good plan and one I would not recommend as it led to another sleepless night of ‘just one more paragraph’ and then ’just one more page’. I recommend to anyone who reads this, do it when you have a lot of free time because, at least for me, bleary eyed and dead tired in the middle of the afternoon is not a good look.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Stone Boy is a strange and fascinating novel about mental illness and parent/child relations that leaves the reader with shifting perceptions about truth.

I thought I knew what it was about and updated my opinions several times with new information, but truly, I never had a clear perception and had to work through each new situation.

The book is difficult to review because to appreciate it fully, it has to develop for each reader. I want people to read this book, but I also want them to be able to navigate the plot in the circuitous way the author presents it. Recognizing and puzzling over each bit of information, changing your mind, getting little bits of back story, making suppositions, experiencing a sense of dread...

The beginning is a bit slow and did not particularly engage me, but I am so glad I stuck with it because I became completely immersed in the novel. I will not soon be forgetting The Stone Boy.

Sophie Loubiere won the Lion Noir Prize and the Ville de Mauves-sur-Loire Prize for The Stone Boy. Norah Mahoney did a great job with the first English translation.

Highly recommended.

(After a period of books that were not so good, many of which I did not finish, I'm having an unprecedented run of luck with my ARC choices!)

NetGalley/Grand Central Publishing

Psychological. Oct. 2013. Print version: 304 pages.

[Ingrid Fasquelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Françoise Chandernagor, membre du Comité d'Auteurs de France Loisirs résume très bien ce roman pour lequel j'ai eu un énorme coup de coeur, après toutefois un démarrage un peu difficile et une impression mitigée... "Les fous voient parfois plus clairs que les sages. Elsa Préau, directrice d'école à la retraite, est à l'évidence une vieille timbrée - moitié mytho, moitié parano, autoritaire, caustique, insupportable. Et pourtant...Pourtant si elle disait vrai quand elle harcèle les services sociaux pour qu'ils s'occupent d'un petit voisin maltraité. Si, bien cachée derrière ses volets et armée de jumelles, elle voyait vraiment ce que nul ne distingue : un enfant muet et transparent, un enfant qui, d'après la police, n'existe pas? Thriller psychologique haletant, L'Enfant aux Cailloux est aussi le portrait d'une grand-mère passionnément aimante, vieille dame indigne, plus fouineuse et intrusive qu'une Miss Marple. Un roman que vous ne lâcherez pas."

Je n'en dirai pas davantage. A vous de faire confiance à Sophie Loubière, d'ouvrir son livre et de plonger dans l'histoire bouleversante, déconcertante et émouvante d'une vieille dame en proie à la violence ordinaire... J'en suis certaine, vous serez vous aussi touchés en plein coeur !

[Heidi'sbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning: Adult content. I finished The Stone Boy for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers' program. This batch highlighted Hatchett authors who are affected by the Amazon/Hatchett battle. So, I'm reviewing this book to support the authors of Hatchett.

The Stone Boy is a bestselling French book newly translated into English. The protagonist of the psychological thriller is Madame Preau. Madame Preau returns to her house after a stint in a convalescent home and discovers a little boy in the neighbor's backyard, all alone and neglected. He only comes out on Sunday afternoons. She goes on a mission to save the boy. The trouble is...is the boy real or a hallucination? Madame Preau suffers from mental illness, and she has stopped taking her medicine.

I think the American audience will be sympathetic to the issues of mental illness and child abuse and will therefore feel a kinship to the quirky Madame Preau. However, there is a "positive" spin on euthanasia that many will not be able to swallow. Warning: Adult content.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment this book is. I like reading thrillers but this book was boring and oh so very disapppointing. I figured out what was happening very early on in the book and there was nothing very thrilling at all. Basically it's about an old woman who 10 years previously had killed her grandson and then in the present day watched her neighbours and noticed a boy being abused. Because of her background everyone thought she was senile which she was and which came out in her carrying around a hammer and getting rid of nuisance cats. No one believed her in her accounts of witnessing a child being abused. I wouldn't waste your time reading this book.