Gilles Paris, the author of 5 novels which have all had great success, offers us for this youngest “Le bal des ashes” by put our suitcases with his characters at the Strongyle hotel in Stromboli, the Aeolian island facing Sicily where the famous volcano is located. The hotel is run by a Frenchman Guillaume and his teenage daughter Giulia. Lior, Sevda, Anton, Ethel and many others, couples, families have come to spend their holidays there. They will first get to know each other, appreciate each other, even love each other!
Everything should be idyllic and yet the volcano rumbles and erupts. Because he is not only in the mountains, he is in each one of them. And this summer, the mysteries will also come to the surface. And secrets will be revealed.
What I really liked in this novel by Gilles Paris is the variety of points of view because it is abouta choral novel where in each chapter a different character speaks and when the exercise is mastered this style can really work very well and this is the case here. I liked the postcard decor, I liked the fates of each intertwined like a song, I liked the warmth that seems to add to the drama.
It is certain “The Ashes Ball” is a very good Gilles Paris. Paris Gagné, I had the impression of embarking with the wind in the stories of these characters gathered for a summer in wind turbines.
And if you like this kind of novel and if you like Italy and volcanoes, I recommend that “The Last Days of Pompeii” by Edward Bulwerr Lyton that you can find in pocket. This is a realistic fiction that traces the last hours of the city. The author makes us discover the different strata of society. It is historically very well documented, we believe it. Nice reading.