Private Number

In his tenth novel, master storyteller David Homel blurs the line where art and secrecy overlap.

Documentary filmmaker Mikhail never aspired to spend time in a small coal-mining city called Lepuy in the middle of France. But his latest project has complicated life in Montreal, garnering attacks from all sides after screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Looking to get away from the noise until things quiet down, he hastily applies to an out-of-the-way artist’s residency in a place where nothing ever happens.

But for a documentary filmmaker, there is always trouble to uncover. Mikhail quickly finds himself caught up amidst the violence of a miners’ strike, as well as in clandestine relationship with Caroline, a married judge with an unstable husband. With his time in Lepuy quickly spinning out of control, Mikhail wants to call Caroline and warn her of the coming consequences. But he can’t. She has a private number.