ForgetfulnessFrom one of our most critically acclaimed authors comes a masterly story of terrorism and revenge and one man's attempts to extricate himself from his past. Thomas Railles, an American expatriate and former "odd-jobber" for the CIA, is a respected painter living with his beloved wife, Florette, in the south of France. On an ordinary autumn day, Florette goes for a walk in the hills and is killed by unknown assailants. Her death devastates Thomas, and in the weeks and months that follow he struggles to make sense of a world that seems defined by violence and pain. Each night Thomas tracks the war in Iraq on the evening news while Florette's killers remain at large. When French officials detain four Moroccan terrorists and charge them with Florette's murder, Thomas is invited to witness the interrogation. The experience completely undoes him, changing his world utterly, and he finds himself unable to remain at a distance from America, the country he left so long ago. Ward Just's most gripping and insightful novel yet, Forgetfulness is a haunting depiction of the corrosive effects of today's war on terror and its unexpected consequences for the individual conscience. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
afternoon American Antoine Art Hodes asked bastinado believe Bernhard Sindelar billiards table Billie Holiday bottle café called calvados cassoulet chair close cold didn’t door easel elephant Englishman eyes face father Florette Florette’s Francisco French Frenchman friends Georges Braque Ghislaine Gitane glass gone hands Havre head heard imagine Jean-Paul Belmondo John Granger Karen knew LaBarre laughed Le Havre listened lived luck Mabel Mercer man’s Michel du Valcabrère Monsieur Moroccan mother mountain moved never night notaire old Bardèche once paint Paris paused perhaps pier Place Vendôme portrait Pyrenees Railles remember seemed shoulders silent smell smile snow someone staring story sure sweater talk tell things Thomas looked Thomas thought Thomas turned Thomas watched Thomas’s told took Victor Hugo village voice wait walked wanted wife wind window wine woman women Yussef