August 1979. Twelve-year-old Michael disappears in the woods of Trembling River under the gaze of his friend Mamie Duchamp. He seems to have been swallowed by the forest. Despite an extensive search, only a muddy sneaker is found. Thirty years later, in a neighboring town, little Billie Richard, who is about to celebrate her ninth birthday, does not come home. Again, it is as if she has disappeared from the face of the earth. Just like Mamie, who has never forgotten the trauma of summer ’79, Billie’s father begins a descent into the depths of impossible mourning, guilt, and incomprehension. And the two do not know that another tragedy will soon strike the village of Trembling River . . .
An enrapturing mystery and a sharp exploration of guilt and sorrow, Trembling River is a powerful work of internationally renowned novelist Andrée A. Michaud.