The Lights of September by CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON

article by 𝕃𝕪𝕕𝕚𝕒 𝕄𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕨

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Synopsis:

A young widow, Simone Sauvelle leaves Paris with her two children, Irène and Dorian, for the Normandy countryside after accepting a job as a housekeeper offered to her by Lazarre Yann, a strange creator of automatons. He has been living isolated in the large Cravenmoore manor since his wife was struck down by a mysterious illness.

This master, a toy manufacturer and merchant, also nicknamed Lazarus, offers her in exchange for her services to reside in a small, pretty building, the Maison du Cap, located opposite his own home. The penniless family quickly settles into their new apartments.

While Simone succumbs to the charm of this mysterious manor and discovers a common passion with her employer: books, Dorian becomes passionate about the inventor's creations. Irène falls in love with a young fisherman her age with whom she will discover the legends of the village.

But this idyllic atmosphere will be short-lived. A diabolical shadow falls on the new arrivals. This evil presence becomes more and more present as Simone becomes attached to Lazarus. Why so much hatred towards her and her family? What mysterious force have they awakened? And what bizarre experiments does Lazarus indulge in in his secret workshop?

All these answers can be found in this thrilling novel!

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My Opinion:

I was immediately seduced by the fantastic atmosphere of this story. We switch to a strange and disturbing tale where toys, real evil puppets, come to life as they wish to terrorize their owner, and where a particularly aggressive spirit haunts the corners of Cravenmoore, this old residence with countless rooms, always plunged into a disturbing darkness. I quickly became attached to the protagonists and especially to Lazarus, a tormented romantic character who invented a world of automatons to fill his solitude.

It was many years after reading this book for the first time that I discovered that this volume was in fact the third volume of the trilogy "Cycle de la brume" whose first two titles are "Le Prince de la brume" and "Le Palais de minuit".