Our selection of 3 captivating pounds

1. “The Prix de la Victoire”, by Karl Marlantes

Ed. Calmann-Lévy, 486 p. ; € 23.90.

Two couples on diplomatic mission, one American, the other Soviet, found themselves in 1946 in Helsinki, capital of a Finland which oscillates between the two camps. In the country, misery reigns. Partly invaded by the Red Army in 1939, Finland supported the Germans in 1941. It paid in 1946 heavy war tributes to the Soviet winner.

During official, felted but tense receptions, then private visits, Louise Koski – the American – befriends Natalya Bobrova – Russian – and convinces her to help the Finnish orphans.

Meanwhile, their military attachés from Maris, Arnie and Mikhail, challenge themselves: a long ski race in the ice and the cold. The little game with friends quickly becomes a symbolic battle, and the humans of the pawns in the great geopolitical game of the cold war.

There is an air of John Le Carré and Michel Strogoff In this large romantic, captivating work, written by a former Lieutenant des Marines.

Muriel Fauarit

Our opinion: PPP