The Misadventures of an 18-year-old boy without education or convictions, a liar and manipulator who went through the war playing: in four years, he wore five uniforms and deserted from four different armies. One day he wore a swastika armband, the next day he was a patriot. For many years, he deceived his own son, who became a war journalist, by telling fabricated stories in which he was always the hero.

In May 1987, when the trial of Nazi criminal Klaus Barbie began in Lyon, the son discovered that his father's court case, filed at the end of the war, was stored in an archive in northern France, and he gained access to it. Not one, but two trials commence. Barbie will answer for his crimes, and the father will answer for his lies.

The narrative gains particular poignancy from the fact that this is an autobiographical novel about the nature of evil, touching on collective memory.

Sorj Chalandon (b. 1952) is a contemporary French writer and journalist, author of ten novels. "Son of the Scoundrel" was shortlisted for the 2021 Goncourt Prize.