I work the night shift as a proofreader for a major regional newspaper, Victor writes. Shy, passionate about his profession, just 5 years from retirement, he still lives with his elderly mother. Actually, when I was little, I wanted to be a train conductor when I grew up, he admits. But after a while I changed my mind, and decided to be a station chief. Instead, he wound up going into the press, a less dangerous profession… Or is it? But will typesetting all those little lead push Victor over the edge? in Lead in the Printer’s Tray, the author manages to express and communicate his love of his trade, a true vocation. The book is also the chronicle of the printer’s trade’s death foretold. The workers are disappearing one by one. They’re like WWI soldiers, soon, there won’t be any left.

Lead in the Printer’s Tray is an unusual and touching first novel. Jean Bernard-Maugiron slips skillfully into the skin of Victor, the conscientious proofreader, simple, solitary and somewhat quirky, whose life will be upturned just a few months from retirement. The writing offers moments of laughing-out-loud humor, blending tragedy and comedy while creating a growing sense of dread all the while.