Secondhand – The Last of Us Adélaïde De Clermont-Tonnerre

"The first thing I saw of her was her ankle, delicate, nervous, clasped by the strap of a blue sandal..." This young woman descending the stairs of a Manhattan restaurant, elegant, laughing, confident, is Rebecca Lynch. Werner Zilch, observing her, doesn't yet know that the young artist is also a wealthy heiress. Werner has nothing but his faded blue eyes, his strange name, and an incredible energy: adopted by a middle-class couple, he dreams of conquering New York with his friend Marcus.

Werner pursues Rebecca, gives himself to her, takes her: their wild love leads them through the bustling city in the time of Warhol, Patti Smith, and Bob Dylan... Until the day Werner is introduced to Rebecca's mother, Judith, who collapses upon seeing his face. This reopens the painful file of Werner's origins. Who did Judith recognize in those blond features and almost gray eyes? What hideous memories does she hide beneath her gold bracelets?

"The Last of Us" is a story of impossible love in a time when everything was possible: Rebecca disappears without explanation; Werner builds flamboyant skyscrapers, and his nights are crossed by incendiary dreams. The author powerfully and emotionally guides us through these worlds that are poles apart: free, joyful, carefree America; Nazi Germany, the destruction of Dresden, and the beginning of the Cold War where Soviets and Americans contend for the brilliant and controversial Professor Von Braun, the inventor of V2 missiles...

You who love women and men, lost children, their stories of love and death, you will devour this extraordinary novel. Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre weaves an enigmatic, funny, sensual web, populated by unforgettable characters. Some glorious and real, others unknown, admirable, and tormented... Above all, you will finally know who "the last of us" is...