Even though Missed addresses the delicate issue of suicide, disability and depression, Hugo Meunier manages the feat of not depressing us when reading his new book.
On the contrary, Missed is a deeply moving and human novel, which brings us to tears more than once. The journalist and columnist, who already has three novels and a youth novel to his credit, proves to those who still doubt that he knows how to write very good books.
After addressing the issue of bullying in Olivia Vendetta – supported by a transgender heroine moreover – Meunier shows again that he is not afraid to tackle difficult and sensitive subjects, here that of suicide, which he treats without sentimentality or your moralizing tone. Christian, a depressed father and failed actor, failed to commit suicide by throwing himself in front of a subway train and he is in a coma in the hospital, leaving his ex-girlfriend, Marilyn, and their son, Robin, unable to forgive him his gesture, faced with a difficult choice: wait or unplug him?
When he wakes up, miraculously, but severely handicapped, he must relearn how to live, even if all he wants is to finish the job. Thanks to fragmented returns to the past, Meunier revisits the life course of a man who only knew how to exist in the eyes of others, the implosion of his couple, his long descent into darkness.
The author takes the opportunity to address topics such as caregivers, the way society treats the homeless, life (and sexuality) with a disability… Yes, we feel the “petticoat” of a journalist that exceeds sometimes – Meunier has always liked in his reports to shed light on those that society relegates to oblivion -, but he knows how to link everything to his story, dotted with endearing characters.
What adds depth to the story are these segments inserted throughout the book which all feature people who have decided to end it – from Cleopatra to Nelly Arcan, via Anthony Bourdain – in parallel lives where they would rather have continued to live. A nice way to say that there is always another way.
Missed
Hugo Meunier
Stanke
344 pages