My Rating:⭐⭐⭐
Phil Fox has lived an interesting life so much so that he has more than enough stories to entertain his friends and associates. During a summer trip to Cannes, Phil, now in his eighties, is recognized by a former colleague, Georges, a retired engineer, with whom he had worked in Libya twenty-five years ago. George’s cousin Jean-Paul Vaillant, retired chief superintendent of the national police, is a bit wary of Phil, given Georges’s past skirmishes with shady characters. His suspicions about Phil are compounded when his sources reveal that Phil’s name appears in records with Interpol, though he has never been directly involved or accused of any criminal activity. Jean-Paul is also curious about how Phil can afford his apparent affluent lifestyle. As the narrative progresses, Phil shares anecdotes from his life, details about his work engagements, friends he made along the way and the people and events that impacted the trajectory of his life.
Last Summer in Cannes by Edward Nicholas is a well-written, slow-paced novel that follows Phil as he tells his story to his friend Amy, a former servicewoman who, like Phil, had served in the RAF and is helping him write the story of his life and travels. Phil regales his companions with stories from his life spanning the 1960s to the present day, from his time in the RAF and his life after working various jobs in shipping, engineering and construction among other areas and shuttling between England, Monaco, Morocco, Benghazi and wherever he could find lucrative employment opportunities. I did find Phil’s stories of his friendship with Dave really entertaining and I was initially engrossed in his experiences of his international employment, and Phil’s adventures and misadventures in foreign countries. But gradually the narrative became repetitive and a tad monotonous, making it difficult to stay engaged with the story. This is a simple story told in flashbacks, jumping between timelines–so it does get confusing and I did find it a bit difficult to keep track of so many characters in Phil’s story. Given the synopsis, I was hoping for a more intriguing read. Given the build-up and the aura of mystery surrounding Phil, there wasn't any particularly surprising revelation. However, I did find some of the characters quite interesting and I did like the writing, the splashes of humor, the historical backdrop and the vivid descriptions of the places mentioned in both the past and present. Overall, this is a decent read that I am sure many readers would enjoy.
Many thanks to Matador and NetGalley for the eGalley of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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