Rien ne va plus

The story is simple: a love affair ends badly. A woman and a man marry, then cruelty, infidelity, and divorce. But this novel tells their story twice, from opposing perspectives. Our sympathies are inverted; we don't know whom to trust; the distinction between truth and deception blurs, and then seems simply to dissolve. The novel shifts deftly between endless oppositions: lover and beloved, angel and demon, master and slave, reader and writer. But inevitably both stories must arrive at the point of rien ne va plus: the moment in roulette when all bets are off and you either win or lose—the moment when the game becomes fate. Margarita Karapanou's third novel is an extraordinary experience in fiction: devastating and brave and true. "Every time I want to write, I want to write love stories. But as soon as I pick up the pen I'm overcome by horror." Margarita Karapanous third novel is, like roulette, a breathtaking, suspenseful game. The story is simple: a love affair ends badly. A woman and a man marry, and their marriage leads them to cruelty, infidelity, and divorce. But here their story is told twice, from opposing perspectives. We dont know whom to trust; the distinction between truth and deception blurs, then seems to disappear. It becomes impossible to tell love story from horror story, as Karapanou explores just what makes us want to read one or the other, just what makes each so tempting to write. The result is an ironic, seductive, brutal experiment, a devastating exploration of what it can mean to narrate any life. This novel refuses to shy from the moment of rien ne va plusthe moment in roulette when all bets are off and the game becomes fate; when, with an impossible faith, a masterly writer tells of her own dissolution. Margarita Karapanou ; Translated From The Greek By Karen Emmerich.