Married with kids, 50-something, Alain Lesec has occupied office 526 of the International Institute of Interdisciplinary Anthropological Studies for the past fifteen years. Every Monday he teaches a class about a comparative study of lifestyles in Central and Eastern Europe before and after the collapse of Communism at the Upper School of Tourism Trades. And every Monday for the past three years, Alain has run into Odile, the school librarian. From the very first time they meet, he was seduced by this pretty, younger woman. Absent-minded and shy, he gets to know her only gradually, eventually finding out she likes classical music – unlike him – and lives alone – also unlike him. Until the day when – his wife having flown off on her annual study trip to Greece – Alain, in a burst of boldness that is totally unlike him, invites Odile to go away for the weekend with him. To his utter surprise, she accepts.

Broken into three short sections – Friday, Saturday, Sunday –, this weekend with Odile will be Alain Lesec’s downfall – struck down in action by the noisy flight of a voyeuristic mosquito. Then it will finally be Monday again, and everything will be back to normal. What really happened anyway?

A clinically precise writing style, an ironic gaze, characters that you can practically see, so realistic are their traits, a bit of suspense and a pinch of bitterness: these are the ingredients that make up this very contemporary novel.