November 13, 2015. It was a Paris night that began like so many others-until a series of terrorist attacks brought darkness to the City of Light. Stirred by the tragic events at the Bataclan music club, One Night in November locks into the hearts and minds of all those whose paths crossed that fateful fall evening...
A rebellious teenage girl in the throes of a crush. A middle-aged man eager to chase away his buddy's blues. A young gay student rejected by his father, but discovering himself. Two new parents in need of a date night. They went out seeking love, laughter, and music-and then the world fell down around them.
Using intersecting narratives, award-winning author Amélie Antoine choreographs the shocking attack and its aftermath, from grief and devastation to hope and healing.
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['There's no need to stomp up the stairs! The only person you should be mad at is yourself'] ***(AmazonCrossing, 11 July 2-17, ebook, 190 pages, Prime Reading)
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One Night In November gave my heart a good punch. I didn't realise until I'd read the book that it was fiction. I assumed it was non-fiction so I was a little disappointed that the characters I'd fallen for weren't real. But still, this didn't taint my enjoyment of the book. I liked the way One Night In November is structured, narrated by ten different characters and what happened to them that terrible night. The book is split into three chunks, Before, During and After. I liked the way events unravelled as they moved between different characters whose experience of the same events was unique. I felt that the Before section really wasn't necessary and the book would have been perfect if it started later. The author does a great job of capturing the terror and confusion the people must have felt that night when their world crumbled around them. Some stories were incredibly painful, especially Anouk and her boyfriend Lucas, unable to move on, not because they were among the injured, but because Lucas fled and left her that night, abandoned her in a room of dead bodies when the shooting was just getting started. It was heart-breaking to read the gradual disintegration of their relationship.
