The truth about the Harry Quebert case
The truth about the Harry Quebert case (French original title: La Vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert ) is a novel by the Swiss writer Joël Dicker . It was published on September 19, 2012 by the publishers éditions de Fallois and L'Âge d'homme . In the same year he was awarded the Grand Prix du Roman of the Académie Française , the Prix littéraire de la Vocation and the Prix Goncourt des lycéens . On August 13, 2013, the German translation by Carina von Enzenberg was published by Piper Verlag .
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At the end of August 1975, 15-year-old Nola Kellergan disappeared under mysterious circumstances from the town of Aurora, New Hampshire . In addition, old Deborah Cooper is killed, who alerted the police because a man was chasing the girl in the woods. Despite great public interest, the police investigation fizzled out and the case was closed.
In 2008, the first novel by the young writer Marcus Goldman, with whom he celebrated his breakthrough in the literary scene, was just two years ago. But the fame is ephemeral, the landing hard in reality: his publisher Roy Barnaski demands a new book and threatens a lawsuit if the young author does not deliver on time. Abandoned by inspiration, Goldman decides to visit his old friend and mentor Harry Quebert, with whom he once studied at Burrows College in Massachusetts and learned the basics of writing. Quebert is also the author of a bestseller called The Origin of Evil and lives secluded in Aurora, where he wrote his famous novel about an impossible love 33 years ago.
While rummaging through Quebert's old manuscripts, Goldman discovers evidence of a love affair between the then 34-year-old Quebert and 15-year-old Nola Kellergan, before she disappeared in the summer of 1975. As soon as he returned to New York , Goldman received a call that Harry Quebert had been arrested by the police. Nola's remains were found buried on the grounds of his Goose Cove estate . With the corpse lay the original manuscript of Quebert's bestseller, which is dedicated to the girl with a handwritten farewell greeting.
Quebert protests his innocence in Nola's death, but the mere fact of his love affair with an underage girl causes a nationwide scandal. When Quebert even admits that his best-selling novel The Origin of Evil was inspired by this forbidden love, he also became impossible as a writer, and his novels were banned from bookstores and libraries. Convinced of his friend's innocence, Goldman decides to stand by him and travels to Aurora.
With the assistance of Sergeant Gahalowood, the investigating officers of the State Police from Concord , Marcus Goldman brings gradually to light facts that cast doubt on Queberts perpetration can arise. Nola Kellergan was beaten in her home, according to her own mother, while her father, the local reverend , ignored the abuse. On August 30th, the day of her disappearance, she wanted to flee from Aurora with Quebert, but Quebert waited in vain for her in a motel .
In addition to Quebert, other men in the place felt drawn to the pretty girl. The local police chief Pratt had abused Nola several times and therefore had an interest not to uncover all the facts in the later investigation. The equally rich and powerful Elijah Stern had Nola regularly chauffeured by his driver Luther Caleb to his villa, where a painting of the naked girl is still emblazoned today. After all, Nola also had a rival for Harry's favor: the provincial beauty Jenny Quinn, who hoped to escape her mother Tamara's dinner at the writer's side , which she, meanwhile married to the shy police officer Travis Dawn, never succeeded in doing.
Goldman decides to write a book about his findings: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Case . His publisher smells a bestseller and unauthorizedly circulates excerpts of the notes in order to fuel public interest, which complicates Goldman's further investigation. After the revelations about the citizens of Aurora, the writer met with hostility, there were several arson attacks on his home in Goose Cove , and even Harry Quebert turned his back on his former student, although it was thanks to his discoveries that the indictment was against it is dropped.
When Goldman finally publishes his book, all the evidence points to Luther Caleb. Whose life was overshadowed by the senseless attack a gang of students, the so-called Field Goals -band who smashed his face with kicks so that he remained disfigured forever. Alone and cast out of the human community, Caleb fell in love with Nola Kellergan, secretly observed her, painted her and met her on the day of her death. The handwritten dedication on the manuscript that was buried with the girl came from him. After Nola's disappearance, he was found at the foot of a steep embankment from which he had apparently thrown himself to his death in his car.
Goldman's book is a huge success. All of America is touched by his portrayal of the battered Nola, who wanted to flee with her lover before she fell into the hands of the disfigured Caleb. But then a wrong detail undermines the credibility of the alleged factual report: Nola's mother, who allegedly hit her daughter, died in 1975 years ago. In fact, her death was due to her young daughter being set on fire in Alabama . A subsequent exorcism by religious fanatics on the psychologically unstable girl led to a split in personality , under which Nola regularly abused herself in order to punish herself for her offenses in the role of her mother.
When Goldman confronts Quebert about the secret facts, it comes to light what Quebert did not dare to confide in his friend all this time: his best-selling novel The Origin of Evil actually comes from Luther Caleb, who followed the real love story between Harry and Nola as a voyeur and turned it into a book. After Caleb's death, Quebert recognized the quality of the book and published it under his own name, a spiritual theft that he himself believed 33 years later and on charges of murder to be so unforgivable that he was unable to admit it.
On the day Nola died, Luther Caleb gave her the manuscript of his book as a parting present before driving her to the motel where Quebert was waiting for her. Caleb was still in the shock of the fresh realization that his long-time patron Stern had been one of the thugs in the field goals gang . The young policeman Travis Dawn misunderstood the situation between the man and the girl, and beat the alleged sexual offender Caleb to death together with the summoned Chief Pratt. In a panic they then eliminated the witness Deborah Cooper before the desperate Dawn also killed the fleeing Nola. The two police officers managed to cover up their murders for 33 years before cornering Goldman and Gahalowood. In order to save his little family happiness with his dream wife Jenny, Dawn was finally forced to murder his former superior Pratt, who was about to unpack.
After the murders have been solved and Harry Quebert has been washed free of all suspicion, Marcus Goldman ends up doing justice to the wrongly accused Luther Caleb. Since Quebert based his literary career solely on Caleb's book, in return he ensures that Quebert's unpublished manuscript from the summer of 1975, The Seagulls of Aurora , appears under the name of Luther Calebs and helps him gain posthumous recognition as a writer.
reception
The novel was nominated for the Prix Goncourt 2012 and reached the shortlist of the last four titles. He was also suggested for the Prix Interallié . On October 25, 2012, the novel received the Grand Prix du Roman of the Académie Française . On November 15, 2012 he was awarded the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens .
By February 2014, around 2 million copies had been sold worldwide, including 850,000 in France and 330,000 in Italy. With the sale of the rights in 32 languages, the book was published in 45 countries.
In Germany, the novel has been available from Piper Verlag since August 13, 2013 . It was launched with an initial print run of 100,000 and is currently available in its 6th edition.
Press reviews
- “With great narrative talent, Joel Dicker drives a story that develops an irresistible pull and which does not wear out over more than 700 pages. [...] An extraordinary novel, at the same time crime fiction and romance, social drama and literary satire. "( Deutschlandradio Kultur )
- “'The Truth About The Harry Quebert Case' is a classic page turner; however, he does not explicitly keep everything that he implicitly promises. "( Badische Zeitung )
- "If the novel by an unknown author full of swipes at publishers and publishers turns into a terrific bestseller, it confirms at least two things: publishers can forgive and there are still miracles on the book market." ( Stern )
expenditure
- La Vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert . Éditions de Fallois / L'Âge d'homme, Paris / Lausanne 2012, ISBN 978-2-87706-816-1 .
- The truth about the Harry Quebert case . Piper Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-492-05600-7 .
Dramatizations
radio play
In 2015, Leonhard Koppelmann edited and staged the novel as a three-part radio play for NDR. Among others, there were: Hans Löw (Marcus Goldman), Gerd Wameling (Harry Quebert), Laura Maire (Nola Kellergan), Wolf-Dietrich Sprenger (Reverend Callaghan), Marie Löcker (Jenny), Christian Redl (Sgt.Gahalowood), and Kai Magnus Sting , Hedi Kriegeskotte , Stefan Kaminski , Michael Wittenborn a . v. a.
filming
On August 15, 2017, the American television station Epix ordered a ten-part miniseries based on the novel. Shooting started in autumn 2017 in Montreal, Canada, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud . The leading roles were cast with Patrick Dempsey (Harry Quebert), Kristine Frøseth (Nola Kellergan), Ben Schnetzer (Marcus Goldman) and Damon Wayans, Jr. (Sgt. Gahalowood).
In Great Britain, the ten-part series debuted on September 4, 2018 on Sky Witness, in Denmark on November 1, 2018 on C More. It is planned to broadcast on Stan in Australia and on TF1 in France . In Germany, the series has been available online on the TVNOW streaming site since April 1, 2019 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Douze romans présélectionnés pour le prix Goncourt in 2012 in Le Monde of 4 September 2012 found.
- ↑ Jérôme Ferrari, un bolide pour le prix Goncourt in Paris Match of 7 November 2012 found.
- ^ Prix Interallié: le jury dévoile sa sélection in Le Figaro on September 29, 2012.
- ↑ M. Joël Dicker on the website of the Académie française.
- ^ Harry Quebert: The French thriller that has taken the world by Storm. telegraph.co.uk
- ↑ Joël Dicker a vendu 1.5 million de livres! bilan.ch
- ↑ Out of nowhere: "The Truth About the Harry Quebert Case". badish newspaper
- ↑ Irene Binal: The Power of Books . On Deutschlandradio Kultur on August 5, 2013. Accessed September 10, 2013
- ↑ Martin Halter: Out of nowhere: "The truth about the Harry Quebert case" . In: Badische Zeitung, August 10, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
- ↑ Thomas Burmeister: A young author creates the literary sensation. In: Stern from August 20, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2013.