Review: Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier by Britta Rostlund

Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier by Britta Rostlund

Opening sentence: “At 73 Boulevard des Batignolles, there is a small grocer’s shop.”

Based on its cover, I thought this book would be a charming romance, then reading the synopsis, it seemed like a far more sinister mystery novel. The contradiction of these elements appealed to me and this combination was enough to draw me in.

Featuring the dual narratives of Mancebo (told in third person), a grocery shop owner and Helena (told in first person), a journalist, both characters see their lives change after accepting offers that come out of the blue. Sitting in a cafe one day, a man asks Helena if she is, ‘waiting for Monsieur Bellivier?’, she is not, but says she is, and so begins her double life. Mancebo’s neighbour, Madame Cat, asks him to spy on her husband, as she suspects her husband of having an affair, and so begins Mancebo’s secret career as a private detective. I found both of these stories intriguing, although, it has to be said, they did feel a little repetitive at times and that the finale could have been reached sooner. However, I did enjoy how, for all their differences, both lead characters were actually very similar – lonely and to a certain extent lost – as this gave the overall story a pleasing symmetry.

There was also a third sub-plot introduced into the mix, that of Judith Goldenberg and her debatable past. I don’t feel that adding this third narrative enhanced the main plot in any way and I would rather have read more about Helena’s life, she could have done with a little fleshing out, as her character didn’t feel as dimensional as Mancebo’s.

Overall, there were some lines that did make me chuckle and I was easily swept along with the gentle pace of the novel, but the climax was a bit of a let down, the big reveal was barely touched upon and it had been building up for so long that there could have been more focus on it. Ultimately, this book explores people not being who we think they are – a theme that applies to a majority of the characters we meet, and this message does make for an intriguing little mystery, it’s just that it does err on the side of cosy rather than thrilling.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Published 10th August 2017.

Rating: 3.5/5