The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (in French La Vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert), is a novel by Swiss writer Joël Dicker, published originally in 2012 in France and Switzerland, and in 2014 in English translation by Sam Taylor. The edition used in this guide is by MacLehose Press, published in London in 2014, in ebook format. The novel is a postmodern crime fiction story, belonging to the amateur detective subgenre. Set in the United States, it depicts the events surrounding the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl in 1975 and the discovery of her body in 2008. The novel was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt, one of France’s most significant literary prizes. It has won the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française and the Prix Goncourt des lycéens (judged by French high school students).

The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair has been translated into 32 languages and has sold over three million copies around the world. The novel was adapted as a television miniseries in 2018. The author, Joël Dicker, was born in 1985 in Geneva and holds a master’s degree in law.

Plot Summary

The plot of the novel covers a period between 1964 and 2010, in a mosaic of timeframes and settings within a non-linear structure. In 2008, the protagonist, Marcus Goldman, is a 28-year-old successful writer. Suffering from writer’s block, he seeks help from his college mentor, the famous author Harry Quebert, who lives in the quiet coastal town of Somerset, New Hampshire. Soon, Marcus assumes the role of amateur detective trying to clear Harry’s name after workers digging in Harry’s yard uncover the remains of Nola Kellergan, who went missing in 1975. The police arrest Harry on suspicion of kidnapping and murder, and it becomes known he was in love with the dead girl. Their affair was the inspiration for Harry’s 1975 novel, The Origin of Evil. Marcus attempts to assemble the truth about the events that took place over 30 years ago.

In the summer of 1975, 34-year-old struggling writer Harry Quebert falls in love with 15-year-old Nola Kellergan, the daughter of a local reverend. He struggles against his feelings, but Nola’s unconditional love inspires him to write, and he is happier than ever. Still, he attempts to break off their budding relationship by dating Jenny Quinn, a 24-year-old waitress at Clark’s, a diner owned by her mother, Tamara. Jenny is also in love with Harry and blind to the advances of a young police officer, Travis Dawn.

Marcus’s investigations reveal that Nola’s mother abused her, which her father ignored. Marcus learns Nola was also involved with a rich businessman, Elijah Stern. Stern’s driver, the badly disfigured but gentle Luther Caleb, would pick her up from Somerset and drive her to Stern’s house in the nearby city of Concord. According to Stern, Caleb died in a car accident a month after Nola’s disappearance. Marcus also finds out that the then police chief, Gareth Pratt, was involved with Nola as well.

Marcus and Perry confront former chief Pratt, who admits to having had sexual relations with Nola and is arrested. The court releases Harry for lack of evidence, and Marcus writes a book about his investigation that becomes a success. However, Marcus soon finds out that Nola’s mother died in 1969 in a fire deliberately caused by Nola, so the core of his book does not hold true. A psychologist opines that Nola suffered from infantile psychosis that developed into a split personality. After the court releases Gareth Pratt on bail, he is soon found murdered in his motel room. 

Further revelations emerge. Travis reveals that Chief Gareth Pratt and he committed the murders. In 1975, as Nola runs away from home to meet Harry and elope, she meets Luther Caleb, who gives her a ride. Travis Dawn spots them, and they escape into the woods. Deborah Cooper sees them running and calls the police. Travis and Pratt find Caleb and beat him to death, which Nola witnesses. They pursue her as she takes refuge in Mrs. Cooper’s house, so Pratt shoots Deborah Cooper, and Travis hits Nola on the head with his nightstick, killing her. They stage a car chase to hide their deeds, and later that night they return to Harry’s house to bury Nola.

Marcus discovers Harry did not write The Origin of Evil, the book that made him famous—it was Luther Caleb, who gave Harry the book to read. After Harry learned of his death, he published the story as his own. The novel he wrote that summer is The Seagulls of Somerset, which Marcus has published under Caleb’s name. He understands all these events have come about because of forbidden love, of small-town secrets and vices, and of people’s need to do what they desire.