THE FRATRICIDES

by Maurice Edelman ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

This is one of Maurice Edelman's best books in a series, all of which have been superior, all of which have dealt with one international trouble zone after another (Russia, Africa, or even on native soil- England). This time it's the farouche vendetta in Algiers, the civil war in which the FLN and OAS and the peace-keeping Gaullists were all involved and in which few were neutral- except, in this novel, Dr. Hassid, one of the Algerian elite, a cultivated man and a distinguished neurosurgeon who as a doctor has to be both morally and politically disengaged. Mr. Edelman's sympathies are more overt as he tells the story of Dr. Hassid: his daughter Eliane, back after 10 years in Paris with her husband, de Croissillon a cold proposition engaged in the OAS with its Gestapo tortures; and Robert du Pre, once and still in love with Eliane, the memory of his youth. As the terrorists are flushed out of the Casbah into the city the violence becomes more extreme; the armed ripostes and reprisals and ragically with the doctor's death, and ultimately Eliane's return to Paris and her children.... Mr. Edelman's literary attache case contains another knowledgeable dossier on the international issues at stake; he converts it into fictional form with assurance and a certain elegance so that it once again provides excellent entertainment for all concerned or otherwise.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1963

Categories: FICTION