Thoughts at a third way through The Counterfeiters

Because this is a fairly dense book, not just in terms of pagination but the style, it seemed like quite a good idea to do thoughts in thirds.

It is also a book that takes the reader into some difficult territory with an Uncle falling for his nephew and that sense of the illicit and disturbing is coming through in the first third and is perhaps the one strand of the story that is less appealing than some of the others.

In terms of subject it reminds you of Proust with a more limited character list. Concentrated on the social world of a couple of rich Parisian families the story starts with a illegitimate son of a judge discovering the secret and leaving home. Bernard chooses to head to his best friend Olivier as soon as he leaves home and as a result through a couple of 15 year old's you are given an insight into the two families.

As Bernard chooses to break away he becomes an informed observer to the affair that is being carried on by his friend Olivier's brother Vincent and watches from a distance as Olivier's uncle Edouard arrives in Paris.

You sense that the relationships between the two families, at different levels, and the coincidences that often happens through previously unknown friendships will become more interesting.

A post on the second third then a review will follow...