Polar. A Sunday to Kill: "Emprises," a company of destruction, in the name of love

We can never listen to ourselves enough... Such is Catherine, who married the handsome Frédéric not so long ago. Yet she had doubts, as did those around her who tried to dissuade her from marrying this friend of her brother who was eagerly courting her. From the wedding night, she began to become disillusioned and the lover quickly transformed into a tyrant who, of course, alternated between fiery declarations and physical and psychological abuse. It was for his own good, he assures us...

But she's in love, and despite the little voice that regularly suggests she do something about it, she stays with this narcissistic pervert who's taking advantage of the lockdown that's just hit Brussels to completely isolate her from her family and her circle of friends. To the point of destroying her.

Daily hell

The pattern is classic, often filling news pages and courtrooms. It's the influence, regularly denounced, and the young woman sinks into a daily hell.

For his fourth thriller, Belgian author Salvatore Minni plunges his heroine into an interminable fall, just as Alice did when she entered the rabbit hole. Various excerpts from Lewis Carroll's novel punctuate "Emprises," which ultimately sheds a surprising light on this classic of children's literature.

But if it's a question of control, it's plural, multiple, and intersecting, as the novel's title suggests. For Catherine's entire entourage, or rather the few that remain, plunges with her into a bottomless nightmare. Chilling...

“Emprises,” by Salvatore Minni. Presses de la Cité. €21.