Bar Balto

Bar Balto

Summary

Joël, aka 'The Rink' (because his bald patch is shiny enough to skate on), the unpopular owner of the only bar in town has been murdered. There are so many suspects, it's not so much a question of who did kill him as who didn't.

There's Magalie, the temperamental teenager obsessed with Paris Hilton; her troublemaker boyfriend, Tani; Tani's mother, Madame Levi; her unemployed, daytime-TV addicted husband; Yeznig, their younger son, who has learning difficulties but perfect memory recall; and newcomers Ali and Nadia, the Muslim twins struggling to fit in.

As the tension mounts and we're still none the wiser, the ending is as tragic as it is unexpected.

Reviews

  • The various monologues very cleverly paint the picture of a day in the life of this deprived society; [it] is very thoroughly and convincingly done... She writes with intelligence and sympathy, with humour and understanding
    Allan Massie, Scotsman

About the author

Faiza Guéne

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