The Ninth Life of Louis Drax

Starred review from November 8, 2004
Louis Drax isn't like other children. The morbidly imaginative and sharply intuitive boy from a provincial city in France has survived eight suspicious accidents, one for each year of his life. On his ninth birthday, Louis suffers a mysterious fall from a cliff and ends up in Dr. Pascal Dannachet's experimental coma clinic, where the truth of his most recent mishap will be revealed. So begins British novelist Jensen's fourth book (War Crimes for the Home
, etc.), a fiercely intelligent psychological thriller told from the alternating perspectives of the comatose Louis and the professionally conflicted Dr. Dannachet. As the French police search for Pierre Drax, the prime suspect in his son's fall, Louis negotiates the unconscious world with Gustave, his grotesque, bandaged imaginary companion, and Dr. Dannachet reluctantly falls in love with Louis's mother, Natalie. Behind the many twists and turns that ensue is a multilayered, genuinely convincing emotional drama that adds substance to the suspense. Families are torn apart, scientists are confounded by the miraculous, and the human heart unleashes its many secrets. Jensen's gift for black humor and off-kilter narratives shines throughout this page-turner, and her understanding of fractured psyches and their ability to heal is remarkable. The idiosyncrasies of her peculiar characters only make them more engaging, and at the end of Jensen's gripping tale, the reader is left eager for more. (Jan.)

Forecast:
Like
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and
Life of Pi, this novel explores big ideas through the fantastic adventures of a boy-protagonist. Early enthusiasm—film rights have been optioned by Miramax for direction by Anthony Minghella (
The English Patient); rights have been sold in 11 countries; and the book is a BOMC, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild selection—bodes well for sales.

November 15, 2004
Here is the breakout novel--a literary thriller that's almost impossible to put down--for British writer Jensen (" Egg Dancing" , 1996).It has already been optioned by Miramax, with Anthony Minghella (" Cold Mountain" ) set to direct. It is narrated both by nine-year-old Louis Drax, who is in a coma in a clinic in Provence, and by his doctor, Pascal Dannachet. According to Louis' mother, Natalie, Louis was thrown off a cliff by his angry father, who has subsequently disappeared. As Dannachet, who has grown increasingly estranged from his wife, probes the Draxes' family history, he is soon smitten by emotionally needy and vulnerable Natalie, although certain elements of her story don't seem to add up. Louis' distinctive narrative voice is instantly gripping; referring to himself as the Disturbed Child, he relays in a grimly funny, precocious voice the many accidents he has suffered in his short, unhappy life. Because Louis' narration is so singular, Dannachet's suffers by comparison. This is sure to remind readers of Mark Haddon's " The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time " [BKL Ap 1 03]. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)