Just after the first COVID-19 lockdown, Paul Chiesa – a forty-something academic – decides to go on vacation for a breath of fresh air. To escape France’s summer heatwaves, he chooses a cruise around Northern Europe.

In the somewhat artificial atmosphere on board, he meets Alix de Torgues, an angelic, taciturn young woman who is traveling with her family. Misled by them, he assumes that she has lost her voice because of a cold and will get it back soon. After a few days, though, he realizes that her ailment is more serious than that, and that the true cause is both deep and dramatic. Profoundly shaken, Paul wonders what he’s getting into, but it’s too late, he’s already smitten.

Off the coast of Stockholm, there is an outbreak of coronavirus on board. It will be fatal to Alix. Paul, who manages to recover, goes back to France. Months later, at a conference organized at his university, he’s convinced he recognizes the young woman’s familiar silhouette …

Since his first novel, Avant de rejoindre le grand soleil, Daniel Parokia has been writing about thwarted romantic encounters. His characters, who are often being manipulated, have to overcome obstacles and figure out what’s really going… which someone has been hiding from them. The whole is always well-served by a charming writing style.