{"product_id":"twenty-minutes-of-silence","title":"Twenty Minutes of Silence","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by a real crime, \u003cem\u003eTwenty Minutes of Silence\u003c\/em\u003e begins with a murder: a wealthy husband and father has been shot with his own gun. Yet rather than unfolding as a conventional detective novel, Hélène Bessette turns the mystery inside out. The twenty minutes it takes the family to summon help become a space where memory, suspicion, grief, and hidden resentments collide, transforming a familiar crime story into something far stranger and more psychologically revealing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten in Bessette's distinctive poetic prose, the novel shifts fluidly between voices and perspectives, dismantling traditional narrative while exposing the quiet violence beneath bourgeois family life. Hypnotic, formally inventive, and unlike anything else in twentieth-century French literature, \u003cem\u003eTwenty Minutes of Silence\u003c\/em\u003e confirms Bessette's reputation as one of France's great rediscovered literary innovators.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHélène Bessette (1918–2000) published thirteen novels with Gallimard between 1953 and 1973 and was twice shortlisted for both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis. Championed by writers including Raymond Queneau and Marguerite Duras, she developed what she called the \"poetic novel,\" a radically original form that blended fiction, lyricism, and psychological insight. After years of neglect, her work has been rediscovered as one of the most distinctive achievements of postwar French literature. This edition is translated by Kate Briggs, the award-winning translator and author of \u003cem\u003eThis Little Art\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Long Form\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew Directions Publishing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJuly 14, 2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaperback\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e160\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSubjects\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiterary Fiction · Fiction in Translation · French Literature · Experimental Fiction · Psychological Fiction · Mystery\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e9780811240369\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Old Post Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45223026753718,"sku":"9780811240369","price":24.5,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0731\/2264\/4150\/files\/9780811240369.jpg?v=1782570371","url":"https:\/\/oldpostbookshop.com\/products\/twenty-minutes-of-silence","provider":"Old Post Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}