h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

L'enfant aux Cailloux, by Sophie Loubiere.
Translated as "The Stone Boy".
(literally : the child with the pebbles).

Elsa is a little old lady.
She's retired.
She's bored.

So she looks out the window.
Into her neighbours' garden.

They have two kids, a boy and a girl.
Healthy.
They play in the garden a lot.
Having great fun.

But once a week, on Sundays, she can see another boy.
Sickly.
Playing by himself.
Away from them.
With pebbles and sticks.

It worries her.
Why is that boy not playing with his brother and sister ?

She decides to investigate.

She offers the girl piano lessons, and spends some time with her, trying to find out more about the third child.
But the girl denies his existence.
What, that third child on the picture of her family she drew ? That's her imaginary friend, of course.

And the police agrees, the social services agree : there is no trace whatsover suggesting that the neighbours have more than two children.
The stone boy does not exist.

Is there a child in danger out there ?
Or is Elsa harassing her neighbours ?
Or is she just losing her mind little by little ?

And by the way, what happened to her grandson ?



It's a psychological thriller.
It's dark, it's moving, it's gripping.


I met the author at the Paris Book Fair a few years ago.
She used to work on the radio, she had a programme where she would read excerpts from books.
We used to listen to it, as a family.
I love her voice.

Wow. You meet the coolest people...sounds like another great book!

Book fairs are great because you get to meet the writers.
If you're not after the most famous ones, you might even get to chat a little.