Paris Nocturne.

Paris Nocturne is another short book by Patrick Mondiano. (I recently read After the Circus by the same author and was enchanted by it.) 

Set in 1960's Paris this book opens with a young man being struck by a car at twilight. He is taken to a hotel along with the car's female driver and there follows a dreamlike ethereal tale where both the young man and reader find themselves befuddled and left wondering what is reality and what is imagined.  

Then, after a short stay in hospital the young man is given a considerable sum of money by a sinister gangster type. The tale continues as the young man spends his days ambling around Paris trying to find the car's driver in the hope that she will shed light on what happened.

This book is very similar in feel to After the Circus. The protagonist and his lifestyle are once against based on that of the author and the characters from both books are so similar as to be interchangeable. Similairly there is a blurring of what is real and what is imagined and once again the prose is impeccable. (The translation is also to be praised).

Of the two books (that I feel I have to compare as they are so similar) I preferred After The Circus as I found that story to be more interesting and the characters more defined, but Paris Nocturne is also a great book, excellently written and very atmospheric.
I will certainly pick up more works by this author.