Summary
Saturday Evening
A Very Long Engagement sweeps us into the bleak heart of January 1917, amidst the thunderous chaos of World War I. Marching towards the grim horizon of the Somme, five French soldiers bear the weight of doom—a punishment for their act of self-inflicted injury to escape the horrors of war. These condemned souls are Kléber Bouquet, known to some as Eskimo, Francis Gaignard or Six-Sous, Benoît Notre-Dame, cryptically referred to as That Man, Ange Bassignano who goes by Common Law or Nino, and Jean Etchervery, affectionately nicknamed Manech or Cornflower.
Bingo Crépuscule
In the sultry August of 1919, Manech's devoted fiancée, Mathilde, seeks out Daniel Esperanza, a once-commanding sergeant now fading in a hospital bed. He reveals the haunting tale of the doomed men he accompanied to the front lines, to the foreboding trench named Bingo Crépuscule. Bound and vulnerable, they were thrust into the deadly expanse of no-man's-land between opposing trenches. Before their ill-fated advance, Esperanza arranged for them to pen final words to their loved ones. His story halts abruptly with his transfer, leaving only whispers that all perished.
The White Widow
Confined to her wheelchair, Mathilde pores over the fragments of information Esperanza left behind. She sifts through the letters from the doomed men, scrutinizing every phrase, including a missive from Captain Favourier dated January 7, suggesting the men were alive with hopes of redemption by nightfall. Determined to unravel the mystery, she gathers insight from Aristide Pommier about Manech's days awaiting judgment. A second meeting with Esperanza stirs suspicion; she senses secrets lurking beneath his words. Doubts arise about the authenticity of That Man's letter.
The Good Old Days
With unwavering resolve, Mathilde reaches out to the wives of the fallen soldiers. Her journey leads her to Six-Sous's spouse and letters from the village priest in That Man's hometown, as well as Madame Conte, Tina Lombardi's godmother. Conte reveals Tina received official word of Common Law's death on January 7, 1917. Mathilde's quest takes her to a bar owned by Little Louis, a confidant of Eskimo, who recounts tales of Eskimo's declared demise. He describes Eskimo's fiery disputes with his girlfriend Veronique Passavant and a close friend, Biscuit. Mathilde clings to the hope that the resilient Eskimo safeguarded Manech.
Queen Victoria's Tuppence
At Mathilde's behest, Pierre-Marie Rouviàre unearths further revelations. A casualty list dated January 8, 1917, grimly marks all five as deceased. Yet, ambiguity shrouds their deaths, and a record of pardon from January 2 raises questions. Despite Pierre-Marie's attempts to dissuade Mathilde from hope, she remains undeterred. She places an advertisement in the papers, seeking fragments of truth, convinced that lives might have lingered past dawn on January 7.
The Mahogany Box
A flicker of hope comes from Veronique Passavant's letter, professing a belief in Eskimo's survival, albeit without proof. Urbain Chardolet’s mother shares a cryptic account of unexpected figures among the fallen snow-laden bodies, rekindling Mathilde's optimism. News arrives from Benjamin Gordes's widow, Elodie, detailing his death on January 8 during a bombardment. Mathilde learns Gordes, called Biscuit, had a history of conflict with Eskimo over love, leading her to suspect further intrigue.
The Woman on Loan
Elodie Gordes recounts a tangled web involving herself, her husband, and Eskimo back in 1916. Desperation to leave the army motivated Benjamin's suggestion involving Eskimo in their intimate lives. The plan unraveled into discord, fracturing friendships. Mathilde deduces that Veronique Passavant’s departure stemmed from Eskimo’s liaison with Elodie. Her private detective, Pire, reveals that British soldiers buried the five men, later relocating the remains to a Picardy cemetery.
The Mimosas of Hossegor
A tender...
(This entire section contains 1133 words.)
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memory from June 1910 emerges—when young Mathilde and Manech, then blossoming in love, carved the initials MMM into a poplar tree by their cherished lake, symbolizing Manech's Marrying Mathilde. By 1921, Mathilde seizes this sacred ground, erecting a grand villa by the lake, a family gathering ensues at Manech's resting place. An anonymous letter soon arrives, whispering of Célestin Poux's demise.
The Terror of the Armies
Poux, speculating on Manech's fate, insists upon a grim end under the strafing of a German plane. Though blind to the act himself, he narrates the doomed fates of the men and the ferocity of the battle. Mathilde's suspicions about That Man’s cryptic letter are confirmed, as Poux suggests it conceals hidden meanings. The puzzling remark from Chardolet about unexpected bodies stirs belief that if any survived, it was likely That Man.
Mathilde finds herself wandering through a once bloody battlefield, now transformed into a vast, lush meadow recently trimmed to perfection. As evening descends, she shares a meal with Heidi Weiss, who reveals the tragic fate of her own brother, a German soldier slain in the same trench and at the same moment as Manech. Echoing tales from the past, Weiss recounts how Manech met his end under the relentless fire of a German aircraft. Amidst the echoes of war, Mathilde learns from a newspaper article that Tina Lombardi has been executed, her crime being the murder of French military officers.
The Lovers of Belle de Mai
A missive reaches Mathilde, penned by Tina from her prison confines. In it, Tina confesses that her vengeance against the officers was driven by the harm they inflicted upon her beloved Nino. Much like Mathilde's relentless quest for truth about her own lover, Tina's letter ignites a glimmer of hope that Manech might still walk among the living.
The Sunflowers at the End of the World
Armed with newfound revelations from Weiss, Mathilde inches ever closer to untangling the enigma that has long eluded her grasp. Through her cunning, she deciphers the cryptic letter penned by That Man to his wife, unveiling the pathway to a village named Bernay. Here, the veil is lifted as That Man recounts the harrowing journey of survival and his role in aiding Manech's escape from the chaos of battle, nurturing the possibility that he might have survived.
Lieutenant-General Byng at Twilight
The truth emerges like the first light of dawn: Manech lives on, cloaked in the guise of Jean Desrochelles, shrouded in the fog of amnesia with no recollection of the war’s horrors. Residing with the bereft mother of the real Desrochelles, whose life was claimed by the conflict, he unknowingly assumes a borrowed identity. Driven by need and despair, Desrochelles's mother embraces the deceit, desperately holding onto the presence of a son she has lost. In a poignant reunion, Mathilde and Manech meet once more, and though his memory eludes her, the flickers of their love begin to spark anew.
Monday Morning
On the cold dawn of Monday, January 8, 1917, a band of ten soldiers from Newfoundland tread upon the Bingo trench. There, amidst the silence of the fallen, they discover five soldiers lost to time and tenderly lay them to rest.
