Ivory Pearl by Jean-Patrick Manchette (1996)

A feral child adopted by troops during World War II later becomes an international war photographer who then adopts another feral child exposed to violence.

Mystery Review: Ivory Pearl remained unfinished when Jean-Patrick Manchette (1942-1995) died. I rarely read uncompleted novels because they're ultimately unsatisfying, for a variety of reasons. Translator Donald Nicholson-Smith calls this "an unrevised manuscript." There was, however, much to be gleaned from Ivory Pearl. The reader gets to see Manchette constructing his novel, writing the basic structure and leaving spaces to be realized later with phrases such as "and other things." Some chapters are truncated suggesting that they would've been expanded with more description or action. This novel was intended to be the first in a series assessing the political world stage post-WWII, including both notable events such as Castro's revolution in Cuba and lesser known actions such as CIA involvement in opium. Looking back on history was a way for Manchette to present a social critique and explore his socio-political-economic worldview, his thoughts on various economic and political movements. Which view here acts as a parallel to the "thriller" storyline of  a munitions-dealing family and the collateral damage of their actions. Manchette always injected politics into his novels, but left the reader with the feeling that there was much more he would've discussed but for fear of weakening the story. Manchette writes women well, especially women of action with fearsome agency. Here our war photographer (think Robert Capa, namechecked herein) nicknamed "Ivory Pearl" (rhymes with "girl") is intriguing and challenging, and if tragically unable to have been fully developed is as compelling as his female protagonists in The Mad and the Bad and Fatale. The ending is a series of paragraphs apparently taken from the author's notes, but it's unclear just how he would've wrapped up the story and if anyone would've lived happily ever after. Ivory Pearl is interesting in its insights into how authors work, but is worthwhile only for someone determined to read everything the French neo-noir author wrote.  [3★]