Geoffrey Claustriaux

This anthology, 'Année Nouvelles', is a new book for me, despite it having been published back in 2016, in three ways:
* my first acquaintance with Geoffrey Claustriaux's writing
* my first acquaintance with Emilie Ansciaux's writing; she's not only an author, but also the founder and publishing director of Livr's Éditions
* the first Livr's Éditions book that I've read

The book consists, as you could derive from the title, one story per month (année = year), thus January to December, hence 'A Year of Short Stories'. Two bonus stories at the end make it a little more worthwhile, marketing-wise. Both authors take turns, with Ms Ansciaux taking the lead in number of pages. Points-of-view are either third or first person, which also makes the reading more varied and even gives you the impression you're on the first row of things.

All the stories take place in the city of Mons, Belgium. You'll never see La Grand Place, Rue Nimy, the little monkey built into the Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville), and other streets and establishments (church, bell tower, shops, institutions, ...) in the way again. Mind you, it promises to be a bit of a dark ride, however. Geoffrey Claustriaux is an enthusiast of authors like H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, while Emilie Ansciaux has a more cunning approach for the dark edges of her stories.

One aspect I do like in books like this one: the author's comments about how the story came to be. This allows for a better understanding.

----------

Janvier - La Sonate de Malaster - Geoffrey Claustriaux: a diabolical story, set in a hotel, about a musician who's been doomed for 200 years to play a devilish composition that... awakened the demons from Hell, yet also keeps them at bay. Quite original, haunting, but also entertaining. (4/5)

Février - À quai - Emilie Ansciaux: This story is set at the train station, hence the title. This is a sad story, about two characters who don't know each other, but influence each other's lives. He heard a woman laugh, searching in vain when it came, the laugh. She awaited a train, but didn't get onto it. Two story-lines that come together and leave it up to the reader to fill in the end. (4/5)

Mars - Correspondances - Geoffrey Claustriaux: A man finds, in the attic, a chest with letters from his grandfather, whom he's never known. And so he discovers more about his family roots. Apparently, his grandfather never was able to come over and meet his grandson, who had always been told his grandfather died in the war. But the dates of the letters prove otherwise: there's mention of a secret project called SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe). He was chosen for a mission in space, yet upon his return, he had a serious skin condition, which was a riddle to all: eyes everywhere, an alien entity that had taken over his body and severe consequences for those who tried to eradicate it. A creepy story, but one of the outstanding ones in this anthology. According to the author, this story is a tribute to Stephen King's story 'I Am the Doorway' (Wikipedia). (5/5)

Avril - Le rêve du chat - Emilie Ansciaux: Talking cats in Mons? Funny story, another outstanding one, albeit with a bitter end. The boy waiting for the girl to open her shop. But the cats would play a vile role here, especially as the entire city was deserted. A story about cats, thus, and their malicious characters. (I'm more of a dog person, however)

Particularly this scene made me laugh out loud:

"La voix reprit, sarcastique :
- Ha, la pièce va bientôt tomber... on l'attend, onla sent, elle arrive... Mesdames, messieurs, tenez-vous prêts à la réceptionner, c'est une grose !
- Tu...
- Hé, ho... tu ! On n'a pas gardé les cochons ensemble !
- Vous... vous êtes un chat !
- En général, les gens s'étonnent de mon verbiage, non de ma forme. Mais soit, tu es peut-être moins fute-fute que les autres. Certes, je suis un chat.
- Un chat qui parle, bon sang...
- Bin voilà le fait que je parle le retourne tout pareil ! T'es un peu émotif ou quoi ?

Je reculai, mal à l'aise. Un chat qui parle et qui, visiblement, a un sens e la répartie plutôt acéré, quelle journée ! Énervé par ses propos et par la situation, je rétorquai, mauvais :

- Va t'en ! J'attends quelqu'un.
- Et tu as réservé la rue à cette occasion?" (4/5)

Mai - Chocolat - Geoffrey Claustriaux: Another haunting story, though not among my favourite ones here. A couple is on the road, but by inadvertence, the man suddenly runs over a child. From a nearby gypsy community. While the woman wants to call the emergency services, the husband will have none of it, as they already have enough trouble as it is (they were heavily intoxicated, coming back from a Christmas dinner with at their friends' place). And they will have more trouble, as the mother of the child put a curse on them or rather their second child, their daughter. She had a serious condition that would not allow her to live a normal life. One day, she disappears, the police finds nothing, despite a thorough investigation. Only, no one thought about their first child, their son? (3/5)

Juin - Margot et le furet - Emilie Ansciaux: A lovely story about being a writer, seeking inspiration... and discussing the story with one's character(s), who seem to have their own ideas about how the story should unfold. (4/5)

Juillet - Putain de temps - Geoffrey Claustriaux: Not something I wanted to read, considering the fact that my grandmother recently was brought to a residential care centre. Geoffrey Claustriaux turned this into one frightening experience, a true dead end for the elder who can no longer live at home and take care of themselves. (4/5)

Août - Mons 2115 - Emilie Ansciaux: An (other) SF-story here, playing with the space-time continuum, when all of Mons would be flooded, a bit like Kim Stanley Robinson's 'New York 2140', which I haven't really read yet, just couldn't get past the first tens of pages (see here). Our character is sent back time and again to accomplish a mission, yet each time she is sent back, she's lost her memories and the details of the mission. Said mission is to retrieve an object so that the city does not get flooded. It's almost like a very bad dream (or nightmare). (3/5)

Septembre - Origines - Geoffrey Claustriaux: Ah, a dive into the history of Mons and in particular the little monkey built into the wall of the Town Hall. A few articles (in French): Mons.be, FocusOnBelgium.be. Touching the monkey is said to bring good luck and fortune. But for Geoffrey Claustriaux, the monkey hides a dark(er) history. Something in vein of Lovecraft. Quite a different view on the matter compared to the real history. In any case, another excellent story. (5/5)

Octobre - Cinq en un - Emilie Ansciaux: This story revolved around a woman who's possessed by a handful of other personalities. It's hard to figure out the woman's own personality, as the others take the upper hand. Or rather, there's an internal hierarchy. The woman was a bit like Monk (of the same-titled TV-series), calculating/counting things, linking one thing to another, seeing connections. Until one night when the woman's psychologist, whom she was seeing because of her "problem", is found dead, and a her male colleague takes over. Multiple personalities, struggling for power and domination. This reminded me of Brandon Sanderson's 'Legion', which I read five years ago, see here. However, as the struggle was real, Astrid (the main character in Ms Ansciaux's story) saw no other way out but... Did she commit the act? Was it one of the personalities? (4/5)

Novembre - Nature Morte - Geoffrey Claustriaux: Mons and the arts, there's a history here too. This diabolical story is somewhat similar to the first one, 'La Sonate de Malaster'. Here, however, it involves a painter and the Grim Reaper, with the Bell Tower as central building. All in all, not bad. (3/5)

Décembre - L'Araignée - Emilie Ansciaux: A love/romance story, but not your typical Romeo and Juliet one; at the core of the events is a children's rhyme (or France Gall's/Serge Gainsbourg's song, 'Poupée de cire, poupée de son'; not my kind of music, though) that influences people's behaviour. These are far from my cup of tea. So is this one. The spider represents the little voice inside each of us, telling us what to (not) do, weaving a web and taking out the partner/lover or doing the opposite, caring for him/her? (3/5)

Bonus - Jusqu'au bout - Geoffrey Claustriaux: A story about a couple's daughter coming home. Both parents are nervous, anxious at how she will respond to the homecoming. She has not been the easiest child, has quite a temper and takes everything for granted, even bosses her parents around. Big mouth, rude, disrespectful, in everything. She drives her parents up the wall in no time. Speaking of walls, it will be her last resting place. Or as the saying goes: What goes around, comes around. This story is somewhat related, in context, to one of the previous ones: 'Chocolat'. (4/5)

Bonus - Traqué - Emilie Ansciaux: A police story about a criminal/murderer- or rather, patient in a mental institution - with evil thoughts, though a magnificent illustrator. Drawing helps to keep him calm, otherwise the beast would be unleashed. Through his words, he provides clues about his victims, and one of the guards is involved in the crime or rather has struck a deal with him to be able to execute his own weird and twisted plan with his sibling. Up to the inspector, a lone rider who has his own way of investigating crimes, thus not always liked by his colleagues, to connect the dots and solve the mysteries. Or does he? It's a never-ending cycle, as another case would pop up soon enough. All in all, a good story, reminiscent of some of the best crime series, especially the British, on TV. (4/5)

----------

Short stories are always an excellent gateway into the worlds, imagination and universes of authors, if only because novels are much longer. Not every author is as proficient at short stories as they are at novels and vice versa. As I wrote in the beginning, this was my first encounter with both authors' writings and I have not been disappointed at all, despite a few stories I didn't like as much as the others.

'Année Nouvelles' is a recommended anthology (though a more positive vibe here and there would have been welcome), precisely because of the accessible writing styles, the fact that the stories are all set in Mons (a city I've visited a few times, but still has many secrets to unveil - this anthology certainly offered enough crumbs for me to see the city in a different light), and the variety of themes.… (más)