The writing/translation and style was excellent and had moments of brilliance, but this was such an odd "memoir." The title better describes it--the author describes the unrelated tragedies of two families he really doesn't know, only inserting himself into the narrative as an observer and to comment upon how the events affected him.

The first tragedy, the death of a small child in a Sri Lankan tsunami, happens to a family he has just met on vacation but with whom he bonds in the aftermath of the event. The second is the death of his sister-in-law, whom he didn't know well, to cancer. The SIL was a judge, and the examination of her life/death is led much more by discussion with her male friend/colleague than with her husband, which is odd. It also leads the narrative to get bogged down in far more detail about French consumer credit law than is necessary or interesting.

I can't say I disliked it, I just can't understand why it was written or what I'm to take away from it. I did have high hopes for this book after excellent reviews, so I was disappointed.