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Brunet, Raymond (Author) & Burnet, Graeme Macrae (Translator/Author) : The Accident On The A35

Contraband Imprint/Saraband, Salford, United Kingdom, 2017

ISBN 1910192872

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 258 pages. The author's second novel to be translated in English. Now considered a contemporary classic. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United Kingdom. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. There is NO American Edition. Presents Raymond Brunet's "The Accident On The A35" in a felicitous English translation by Graeme Macrae Burnet, his champion in the English language and virtual co-author. A masterpiece, recently (and appropriately enough, accidentally) re-discovered among his French publisher's archives. Brunet had published exactly one novel, "La Disparition d'Adele Bedeau", and it's a great novel too, before he committed suicide in 1992 (it was the basis of the great 1989 film adaptation by Claude Chabrol). Brunet withheld his second novel from publication because it is autobiographical. The novel has two accidents: The physical one at the beginning and the protagonist's accidental discovery of a long-buried secret at the end. If the explosive revelation - withheld until the very last pages, impossible for the reader to guess beforehand, with the rest of the novel building up to it inexorably like Greek tragedy - is factual, it explains why Brunet stipulated that it be published after his mother's death (in order to spare her the pain of knowing) and why he himself committed suicide (because he could not bear the pain of knowing). As such, Brunet's handling of suspense as a novelist is on the same level of mastery as Hitchcock at the filmmaker's very best. "Burrows deep into the psyches of its characters and explores the forgotten corners of small-town life" (Publisher's blurb). Graeme Macrae Burnet, the author of "His Bloody Project: Documents Relating To The Case of Roderick Macrae", regards Raymond Brunet as THE major influence on his own work, and has written a brilliant Essay, which appears in the book as an Afterword. The near-identical similarity between his Scottish surname, Burnet, with that of Brunet makes one feel as though French writer and Scottish author-collaborator are one and the same voice if not person. An absolute "must-have" title for Raymond Brunet and Graeme Macrae Burnet collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed and inscribed ("lined") in black ink-pen on the title page by the author/translator: " 'There did not appear to be anything remarkable about the accident in the A35'. Graeme Macrae Burnet". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The inscription is the very first line of the novel. Burnet also red-stamped the page with the road warning sign that appears on the cover. This title is a great book in the mystery-thriller genre. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, stamped, and inscribed ("lined") copy of the First British Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: There is NO American Edition. A rare signed copy thus. Finalist of the Booker Prize for "His Bloody Project: Documents Relating To The Case of Roderick Macrae" in 2016. One of the most brilliant novelists of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER GRAEME MACRAE BURNET TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1910192872.

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