The Disenchantment
During l’Affaire des Poisons in 1680 Paris, random circumstance draws five people into a web of murder and deception: Baronne Marie Catherine de Cardonnoy; her maid, Jeanne; Victoire Rose de Bourbon, the baronne’s lover; Alain Lavoie, a portrait painter; and Nicolas de la Reynie, lieutenant general of Paris. The novel’s slow beginning, with its seemingly disparate events, is cleverly deceptive. The murder of a high-ranking Versailles courtier draws La Reynie into the baronne’s orbit, whereby Jeanne and Lavoie also fall under suspicion. Innocence is elusive in a world where everyone is guilty of something.
The investigation is central to the novel. The search for one murderer broadens into La Reynie’s ongoing hunt for the many poisoners, fortune-tellers, abortionists and magicians who thrive in the seedy Paris underworld. His determination to cleanse Paris and Versailles of the festering corruption beneath the opulent façade is terrifying. Before long, everyone is sucked into the vortex and lying and pointing fingers, hoping to divert La Reynie’s gaze. Jeanne is not what she seems, keeps her secrets well, and lies with ease. She is the most intriguing and wily character in the novel, aside from La Reynie, and she even manages to outwit him.
Ghosts and shadows infuse Bell’s enigmatic tale with elements of the supernatural, while Marie Catherine’s allegorical fairy tales tell of feminist self-determination. Some events hinge on Marie Catherine and Victoire’s illicit desire, but I didn’t experience the anticipated chemistry. This is a tightly plotted, atmospheric and moody read, full of dark malevolence and a tangled web of complex relationships, but the daring, cross-dressing Victoire’s affectionate overtures seem mild and become lost in the wider events as Marie Catherine seeks help in unexpected places. Readers in search of a steamy romance may be disappointed. However, once the pace picks up, this is a riveting debut.
