A set of five stories of various lengths, in Schmitt's characteristic romantic / realist mode — last time I read one of his books I compared it to a Willy Russell film. The title story is the most striking situation: a rather conservative gay couple (a jeweller and a set-designer) sneak into the back of Brussels Cathedral and exchange their own vows behind a pillar whilst the priest is marrying a couple of strangers at the altar. Subsequently, they feel a strange compulsion to follow the progress of Genevieve and Eddy and their children through their rather ordinary working-class life, with unexpected results. There's also a story about an Auschwitz survivor who can only reconcile himself towards humanity with the help of his dog, a trick-story about a man who marries a widow to get closer to her deceased first husband, a dark story about a woman's relationship with her son and her nephew set against the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, and a middle-aged couple whose relationship is shattered by the difficult decision whether to bring a child into the world with an inherited disease. And the customary Schmitt afterword explaining where these stories came from — mostly from train journeys, it seems, in this case.

Very agreeable to read: written with a light, ironic touch, and with some lovely original turns of phrase, but not shying away from difficult subject-matter.. ( )

Un très bon Schmitt (et pourtant je n'aime pas les nouvelles, d'habitude!) ( )