Blast

An unforgettable portrait of suffering, hope, and love in post–World War II France, this cinematic debut novel uncovers the secrets of a little-known era. In spring of 1945, the war is about to end. The French coast is littered with mines the Nazis hid under the sand to prevent the Allies from landing. In Hyères, on the Côte d’Azur, German prisoners are forced to clear the beaches. Alongside them, members of the Resistance and other French volunteers face the same dangerous task. With no maps of the bombs’ locations, they must be guided only by the faint trembling of the sticks they carry to detect them, in terror of being blown up. French and Germans work together, depending on each other—what grim irony—to survive, with the common goal of deactivating the mines, one by one. But this is not their only goal: Lukas plans to escape, Saskia wants to know who betrayed her family, Vincent is looking for Ariane, the woman he loves, and the Germans hold the key to her disappearance. Historian by training and screenwriter by profession, Claire Deya brilliantly portrays the aftermath of a war that won’t truly be over until all the mines have been deactivated, showing that “people who think the fighting stops when you lay down your arms are wrong.” Blast captures the beginning of a postwar period in which everyone must rebuild their lives and identities, and overcome the obsessions that prevent them from healing. Revenge, mistrust, and guilt, but also solidarity, love, and forgiveness intertwine in this extraordinary novel that readers won’t be able to put down until the surprising ending.