Le jour des cendres par Jean-Christophe Grangé

Abstract

Reviewed by: Le jour des cendres par Jean-Christophe Grangé Nathalie G. Cornelius Grangé, Jean-Christophe. Le jour des cendres. Albin Michel, 2020. ISBN 978-2-226-43942-0. Pp. 368. Niémans's second case as head of the Office central contre les crimes de sang once again forces the bristly criminal investigator to return to his home turf to track down a murderer and confront painful childhood memories. In Alsace, near the compound [End Page 232] of an insular religious group, the body of one of the Anabaptists' leaders was found dead under a collapsed chapel ceiling. What could have been an accident becomes suspicious when unusual frescoes are revealed beneath the visible ones, and a strange stone is found in the victim's mouth. In collaboration with local police, Niémans plays bad cop with the residents while soliciting the help of some surprising acquaintances. Meanwhile, his mentee and colleague Ivana Bogdanovi adopts a more surreptitious approach, working undercover as one of the seasonal workers hired by the Émissaires to help with the grape harvest. Lasting but a few days, it is the one occasion when the community has any contact with society, the creation of the wine culminating in a mysterious ceremony of rebirth bearing the novel's name. Like Grangé's previous novel La dernière chasse (2019), this newest work is an adaptation of episodes from the author's recent made-for-television series, Les rivières pourpres (2018), which could be disappointing for those who saw the televised version. However, the novel focuses more on the female protagonists: the local police commander, who is a source of both frustration and attraction to Niémans; Ivana, whose violent past formed her resourceful determination; and the disarmingly innocent yet wise Rachael, one of the religious community's members, with whom Ivana forges a friendship. The reader gains a better understanding of the reasons behind Niémans's misogyny, his rough policing style, and his protectiveness toward Ivana. Although the plot is not complex and the storyline is linear and clichéd, the vivid style of the novel bears all the hallmarks of Grangé's best. Fast-paced and high-tension action scenes alternate with unsettling character portraits, and meditations on history, art, and society. Descriptions of the haunting countryside, the rustic compound and dilapidated interiors in the nearby village suggest a society struggling to modernize while remaining tethered to its traditional roots. In this context, Grangé's story, permeated by the region's Franco-Germanic past with its persecution of the French Anabaptists, takes on added dimension. Interpretations of medieval art with its omnipresent Biblical iconography add to the stifling atmosphere. Pulled between these historical and religious mindsets, conflicted characters are attracted by decadence while seeking the placating promises of religion. Ultimately, with this strategic mix of elements, Grangé immerses the readers in this universe. He invites them to ponder the paradoxical mix of reassurance and temptation religion offers humans, whose goodness is precarious at best. Nathalie G. Cornelius Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Copyright © 2021 American Association of Teachers of French