Dog Island

From the author of Grey Souls and Brodeck's Report: a chilling island fable of murder, exploitation and complicity "A parable about modern migration that is also the kind of detective story Mikhail Bulgakov might have written: visionary and darkly humourous" Lucy Hughes-Hallet, New Statesman BOOKS OF THE YEAR "A timely and elegant examination of the migrant situation in the Mediterranean from the point of view of a remote, volcanic island" The New European BOOKS OF THE YEAR The Dog Islands are a small, isolated cluster of islands in the Mediterranean - so called because together, when viewed from above, they form the shape of a dog, twisting and baring its teeth against a brilliant blue sea. One of the only inhabited islands (the one that takes the place of one of the dog's teeth) is dominated by a gently smoking volcano, fringed by black volcanic beaches and under the iron rule of the heads of community who are loath to let any outside influence disrupt the quiet way of life on the island. Then one morning, an old woman comes across three bodies that have washed up with the tide: three young black men, who have apparently drowned in their attempt to cross the sea. The initial reaction of the island community is that this tragedy must be covered up, lest any association with the drownings damages the island's tourism industry . . . But the island's deliberate isolation from the realities of the world cannot last for long, and when a visiting detective arrives on the island and starts asking awkward questions, it becomes clear that the deaths of these three men indicate something far more sinister and deeply rotten lying at the heart of this godforsaken fragment of sea-bound land. Translated from the French by Euan Cameron EUAN CAMERON is a literary translator from the French and a former publisher. His previous translations include works by Patrick Modiano, Didier Decoin and Paul Morand, as well as biographies of Marcel Proust and Irene Nemirovsky. His debut novel, Madeleine, was published in 2019. With the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union

About the Author :
Philippe Claudel is a university lecturer, novelist, film director and scriptwriter. He has written 14 novels that have been translated into various languages. He was born in Dombasle-sur-Meurthe in 1962 where he still lives. In 2009 his film I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime), which draws upon Claudel's eleven years teaching in prisons, won the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language film. Among his novels, Grey Souls won the Prix Renaudot in France, the American Gumshoe Award and the Swedish Martin Beck award. Brodeck's Report won the 2010 Independent Foreign Fiction Award.

Review :
A timely and elegant examination of the migrant situation in the Mediterranean from the point of view of a remote, volcanic island that depends on tourism for its survival and lives in fear of negative publicity as a result.