Patrick Modiano, the author of more than 20 books, is one of France's most admired contemporary novelists. Out of the Dark is a moody, expertly rendered tale of a love affair between two drifters. The narrator, writing in 1995, looks back 30 years to a time when, having abandoned his studies and selling off old art books to get by, he comes to know Girard Van Bever and Jacqueline, a young, enigmatic couple who seem to live off roulette winnings. He falls in love with Jacqueline; they run off to England together, where they share a few sad, aimless months, until one day she disappears. Fifteen years later, in Paris, they meet again, a reunion that only recalls the haunting inaccessibility of the past: they spend a few hours together, and the next day, Jacqueline, now married, disappears once again. Almost 15 years after that, he sees her yet again, this time from a distance he chooses not to bridge. A profoundly affecting novel, "Out of the Dark" is poignant, strange, delicate, melancholy, and sadly hilarious. Jordan Stump is an assistant professor of French at the University of Nebraska.