Pascal Mercier's international bestseller Night Train to Lisbon mesmerized readers around the world, and was adapted into a film starring Jeremy Irons. Now, in Lea, Mercier returns with a mysterious tale of a father's love and a daughter's ambition in the wake of devastating tragedy.
It starts with the death of Martijn van Vliet's wife. Grief-stricken, his young daughter Lea retreats into the darkness of mourning. Then she hears the unfamiliar sound of a violin being played in the hall of a train station, and she is brought back to life-vowing to learn the instrument. Martijn, witnessing this delicate spark, promises to do everything in his power to keep her happy. But as Lea blossoms into a musical prodigy, her relationship with her father starts to disintegrate. Desperate to hold on to her, Martijn is pushed to commit an act that threatens to destroy them both.
A revelatory portrait of artistic genius and madness, Lea delves into the damaging power of jealousy as well as the poignant ways we strive to understand our families and ourselves.
"Mercier brings to life the worlds of people who possess a single-minded focus on the perfection of an idea, a phrase, a game or a note . . . Like his previous novel, Night Train to Lisbon, Lea is full of searing images."
NPR
"A tale of grief, fraud, guilt and madness . . . Revelatory."
The New York Times Book Review
"A psychologically astute portrait of a damaged family . . . For fans of Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes."
