Inspired by Mice and Men, this Karine Giebel, best selling French author has created story that describes the unbreakable bond of two brothers.
Léonard is the biggest and kindest kid in the class at home, but his mental slowness makes him a target for bullies. He wishes desperately that his brother Jorge would return from Glen Affric and help him and he dreams of running away to Scotland to reunite with him.

Giebel tightens the story chapter by chapter as Léo finds himself in a bind that he can't escape from and he finally finds his brother -but all is not what he imagined. Haunting and suspenseful, a slow burn and an unforgettable plot. #glenaffric #karinegiebel #harpervia

The best-selling French author of psychological suspense makes her U.S. debut with an intense and heartbreaking homage to an American literary classic, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. For 16-year-old Léonard, who suffered brain damage as an infant, there is no place in the village of Granviller to escape the school bullies who torment him daily. The only people kind to the powerfully built but mentally challenged teen are his adoptive mother, Mona, who discovered the abused toddler in a ditch; his best friend, 13-year-old Victoria, the daughter of Mona’s boss; and furniture restorer Sacha. Léonard finds consolation in nature (“no animal or tree has ever made fun of him for being different”) and dreams of joining his older brother in beautiful Glen Affric in the Scottish Highlands. But Jorge has not been in Scotland, as Mona had told her son; for the past 16 years, his brother has been in prison, convicted of the brutal rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, a crime he claims he didn’t commit. After Jorge is paroled, the siblings finally meet for the first time, but Jorge’s attempt to rebuild his life is hobbled by a hostile community. As the brothers endure mounting cruelties and injustices, their tentative relationship blossoms into a tender and abiding love. When both are accused of another murder, readers will cheer on Jorge and Léonard’s flight to Glen Affric. Will they make it? Giebel has written a haunting, dark, and tough read that in its emotional brutality may remind some readers of Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life.—Willy Williams