If you ever find yourself kidnapped and held in a tiny hotel
room by a scary guy who says he just wants a ransom but may well be inclined to kill you
before it’s all over, there’s a great tip that could save you in Laurence
Cosse’s “An Accident In August.”
But you’ll have to read it to find out what it is. (Let’s
hope no aspiring kidnappers also do so.)
Others have already explained the book’s premise: while a
young woman named Lou is driving her Fiat Uno on her way home from work in
Paris one night, she gets sideswiped in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel by the car
carrying Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed. Of course, she has no idea of the
identity of the other car’s passengers—not that it would necessarily have made
any difference to her actions. Having no desire to be detained in an accident
investigation, she continues home without stopping, thereby committing a
serious crime.
Though the reader can partly understand (if not condone) why Lou makes this
impulsive choice—she doesn’t want her life to change—the unique circumstances
mean that the nice life she had is doomed, whether she stops or not, and
whether she comes forward or not at any point afterward.
As
Jennifer observed, this story of dissembling will make you feel all of the
same panic, guilt, and remorse that’s going on in Lou’s head. Though I didn’t
like Lou’s flight from the scene of the accident, up to a point I understood
her panicked choice. When the extraordinary lengths to which she went to avoid
discovery started hurting other people, though, I became very disappointed with
her character.
