Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for my digital ARC in exchange for a review!

I don’t know what it is about Valérie Perrin’s writing and Hildegarde Serle’s translations but damn the two combined make for books you can’t help but devour! Everything about the style just flows so easily, yet it’s not simplistic. Forgotten on Sunday follows two narratives - Justine, a 21-year-old care worker who lives with her grandparents and cousin, and Hélène, an elderly woman whose story Justine is writing down.

In the end, I preferred Hélène’s story, a woman who learns to read braille from a blind man’s son since she had no education, later marrying that son only to have their lives derailed by World War Two. There’s barely any detail about the war itself, which honestly I appreciate, the focus is on its aftermath - devastating for Hélène but not in the way you’d usually expect.

Justine’s narrative… went to some places I was not expecting, and found a little too… scandalous? Melodramatic? Soap opera-ish 😅 But I did love the passion she had for her work at the care home - the title refers to those folks in care homes who have no visits from family on a Sunday, and Justine does her best to afford them the respect and attention they deserve. Perrin writes with lovely tenderness, but then the ~big secret~ that is revealed towards the end put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. She did a similar thing with Three - puts in a huge twist which just seems overdone and put in for shock factor.

Although neither this novel or Three have come close to the brilliance that is Fresh Water for Flowers, I can’t deny that they are addictive reads! Perrin creates great atmosphere, her characters pop, and her style is smooth - I just resent the over-the-top twists!