Baignades ("Swimming"), by Andrée A. Michaud

My mother-in-law told me about this book with an air of having given up the fight against fate, saying that she knew from the very first pages that she would be hooked. And apparently, this kind of conversation took place all over Quebec, because it remained on the bestseller list for leslibraires.ca for a surprisingly long time.

Well, I’ll be happy to spread the word. I raced through it in two days, skimming through parts because I was so desperate to find out what would happen, and my mind kept mulling it over long after I finished. In short, it’s an excellent thriller.

Very rough summary

A small family goes on a camping vacation. The parents decide to let their five-year-old daughter go swimming naked. And then, everything goes horribly wrong. The campground owner yells at them, a neighbor turns out to have pedophilic tendencies, and the father decides they’re going to pack up and leave right then and there, just as night falls and a storm is brewing. It doesn’t go very well. I’d even say it goes very badly—like the worst you can imagine.

That’s the first part. The second part takes place four years later, when the mother introduces her new partner to her family, and let me tell you, I wasn’t expecting anything
from this second part.

I won't say more.

Impressions

I acted while reading Baignades de same way I watched The Purge : with only one eye open. If I’d had a braver friend sitting next to me, like I did back then, I would have asked her to let me know when the really intense scenes were over. I couldn’t do that, so I have to admit I missed about a quarter of the first part. What can I say, I’ve gotten older, and when a child is involved, I just can’t handle it anymore.

Still, I really enjoyed it. Not only was I never bored for a second, but I also found the book to be clever and original. The characters are incredibly realistic.

Now it’s my turn to contribute to this book’s success by encouraging you to treat yourself to a few hours of pure entertainment. But you might want to keep the lights on.

–