Toby and the Secrets of the Tree by Timothée de Fombelle

Author:Timothée de Fombelle [de Fombelle, Timothée]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5196-1
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2009-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Alamala had been a very dear friend of Sim’s. Everybody remembered the painter who had been accused of killing his own wife.

Sim had defended his friend in the trial.

It was a terrible story, and one that had changed the lives of the Lolnesses forever.

Beautiful Tess Alamala had been found on a branch with her skull smashed. She was a dancer and a tightrope walker. It soon became clear that she had fallen from her high wire a few branches higher. Nino was inconsolable.

The initial investigations concluded that it had been a stupid accident. Many people insisted that Tess Alamala had brought it on herself. Nobody had asked her to balance on a wire. Why couldn’t she walk like everybody else, with her feet on the branches?

Soon the reproaches were directed at Nino, the painter, who had chosen an equally dreamy and pointless vocation and who had been the one to let his wife climb up high like that. People kept saying that it was irresponsible and criminal — they had a baby to look after.

These last accusations had led to an inspector coming to Nino Alamala’s house, to rummage through his affairs. He had found a small painting in one corner. The portrait depicted Tess walking on air, and a sentence on the back served as a title: I will cut the wire to see you fly.

The same evening, Nino Alamala was thrown in prison.

The trial began a few months later. Defending his friend, Professor Lolness’s speech was brilliant. He claimed that poetry itself was on trial, that life wouldn’t be life without painters and tightrope walkers. Sim had said, “If I write to my wife, ‘You are my little flame,’ I don’t necessarily intend to grill her in my fireplace. The marvelous Tess Alamala died in an accident, practicing her art. We can only mourn this loss with Nino.”

Nino Alamala looked dignified and handsome, sitting on the bench for the accused. He had been instantly reproached for turning up with paint stains on his hands. People talked about a lack of respect. He had apologized humbly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.