This
Little
Family
Inès Bayard
translated from the French by Adriana Hunter
4th Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2020
First published in the United States by Other Press in 2020
Originally published in French as Le malheur du bas in 2018 by Éditions Albin Michel, Paris
Copyright © Éditions Albin Michel, 2018
English translation copyright © Other Press, 2020
Cover image © Peter Chadwick / Trevillion Images
Inès Bayard asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This book is supported by the Institut français (Royaume-Uni) as part of the Burgess programme
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Source ISBN: 9780008332884
Ebook Edition © April 2020 ISBN: 9780008332907
Version: 2020-04-20
To
Geneviève Combas Boteilla
You cannot live in a frenzy for very long. In a world which promised so much and delivered nothing, the tension was too great.
— GEORGES PEREC, THINGS
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Little Thomas didn’t have time to …
As on every Monday, Marie will …
The decision to have a baby with …
Marie got up several times in the …
This dinner is a bad idea. On the …
Bois-le-Roi is a delightful place. …
A section of boulevard Voltaire …
Marie has never been particularly …
I don’t know how but I knew it. …
Marie’s mother always greets them …
Marie wishes she would never …
Feeling whitish liquid trickling …
We were really scared, you know …
Thomas is celebrating his two-month …
The baby is in terrible pain. He …
On the last Saturday before Marie …
Marie likes dropping off her son …
Marie doesn’t want to pick little …
You need to step on the gas, …
Laurent has been gone two days. …
Dear Laurent, …
The shrill bell on the intercom …
Marie is rested. She goes to pick …
The child-care worker eyes her …
This Tuesday morning Mathilde …
Relations between Marie and Laurent …
Marie’s nerves are sorely tested …
Laurent is in a deep sleep. Marie …
Mathilde has stopped making …
Two weeks off work. That’s what …
I found this in the mailbox. What …
Marie acknowledges that it’s never …
Roxane does not intend to leave …
Hey look, Thomas, Daddy came …
Paul doesn’t understand: “A test? …
It’s Marie’s father’s birthday and …
Marie finds the nights go on forever …
She’ll never go back to the bank. …
The osso buco needs to simmer …
Today seemed to go on forever. As he closes …
About the Author
About the Publisher
Little Thomas didn’t have time to finish his stewed apple. His mother hadn’t given him the slightest chance. The speed with which the poison circulated through his blood simply meant he didn’t suffer when he died. Only Marie’s body was still upright, securely wedged against the back of her chair, her head tipped back. She must have struggled to ensure this was noticed. Laurent had been served first. Few people stumbling across these three ashen bodies could have imagined the warm