fiction - Anastasia Lester Literary Agency

Transcription

ALL TITLES
Dessertine, Philippe: LE GUÉ DU TIGRE.................................................................................... 58
Graham, Patrick: DES FAUVES ET DES HOMMES................................................................ 59
Grangé, Jean-Christophe: KAÏKEN .............................................................................................. 59
Lemaitre, Pierre: SACRIFICES..................................................................................................... 59
Thilliez, Franck: ATOMKA ............................................................................................................. 60
Jaouen, Hervé: DANS L’ŒIL DU SCHIZO ................................................................................. 60
Bouchard, Nicolas: LA SIBYLLE ET LE MARQUIS.................................................................. 61
Rodriguez, Cristina: LE BAISER DU BANNI ............................................................................. 61
Giacometti, Éric & Ravenne, Jacques: ANTOINE MARCAS’ FREEMASONIC
INVESTIGATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 61
Giebel, Karine: THE SHADOW ..................................................................................................... 62
Dillard, François-Xavier: CHILD’S PLAY................................................................................... 62
Toulemont, Manon: SYMFONIA T2 – L’ORCHESTRE DE L’ATOME.................................. 62
Sire Cédric: LE PREMIER SANG ................................................................................................. 63
Chattam, Maxime: LA CONJURATION PRIMITIVE ............................................................... 63
Molas, Aurélien: LES FANTOMES DU DELTA ......................................................................... 63
Salamé, Barouk: UNE GUERRE DE GENIES, DE HEROS ET DE LACHES ...................... 64
Giébel, Karine: JUSTE UNE OMBRE .......................................................................................... 64
Loevenbruck, Henri: L’APOTHICAIRE ...................................................................................... 64
Prévost, Guillaume: LE QUADRILLE DES MAUDITS ............................................................. 65
SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY ...........................................................65
René Barjavel: LE GRAND SECRET. THE IMMORTALS ....................................................... 65
Brussolo, Serge: ALMOHA - VOL. 1 - LA MURAILLE INTERDITE ...................................... 65
Yannick Monget: GAÏA ................................................................................................................... 66
Malagoli, Alexandre: LE ROI SAUVAGE TRILOGY - VOL. 1 : SANCTUAIRE ................... 66
Ange Guéro (aka Ange): SANG MAUDIT SERIES VOLUME 1 .............................................. 67
Colin, Fabrice: 49 DAYS.................................................................................................................. 67
Genefort, Laurent: OMALE (Volumes 1 & 2) .............................................................................. 68
Rozenfeld, Carina: FROM THE ASHES (THE PHÆNIX, PART 1)........................................ 68
Jubert, Hervé: MAGIES SECRÈTES............................................................................................ 68
Clavel, Fabien LES ADVERSAIRES ............................................................................................. 69
Faye, Estelle: LA DERNIÈRE LAME............................................................................................ 69
Brussolo, Serge: THE ARCHER’S DAUGHTER......................................................................... 69
Nuncq, Emmanuelle: BORDEMARGE ......................................................................................... 69
Rouaud, Antoine: LE LIVRE ET L’EPEE.................................................................................... 70
Ségura, Magali: ETERNITE ........................................................................................................... 70
Audouin-Mamikonian, Sophie: LA COULEUR DE L’AME DES ANGES.............................. 70
Pevel, Pierre: HAUT ROYAUME trilogy - Book 1: THE KNIGHT ........................................... 71
ALL TITLES .................................................................................... 73
76
Contact: Mrs Anastasia Lester ; Email:[email protected]
ALL TITLES
WOMEN WRITING ...................................................................................41
Rouart, Jean-Marie: LA GUERRE AMOUREUSE .....................................................................41
Noiville, Florence: L’ATTACHEMENT.........................................................................................42
Greggio, Simonetta: L’HOMME QUI AIMAIT MA FEMME ...................................................42
Hochet, Stéphanie: LES EPHEMERIDES....................................................................................43
Olmi, Véronique: NOUS ÉTIONS FAITS POUR ÊTRE HEUREUX.......................................43
Eliard, Astrid: SACRÉE MARIE! ..................................................................................................43
Lenner, Anne: CA VA TROP VITE................................................................................................44
Pestre, Isabelle: LA RENCONTRE.................................................................................................44
Kerymer, Françoise: SEULS LES POISSONS.............................................................................44
Hug, Nathalie: LA DEMOISELLE DES TIC-TAC ......................................................................44
Nakamura, Eriko: NAAANDE!? LES TRIBULATIONS D’UNE JAPONAISE EN FRANCE
..............................................................................................................................................................45
Atlas, Corinne: LES SŒURS RIBELLI.........................................................................................45
Chocas, Viviane: JE VAIS BEAUCOUP MIEUX QUE MES COPAINS MORTS ..................45
de Bodinat, Caroline: MARATRE ..................................................................................................46
Girod de l’Ain, Alix: UN BON COUP DE JEUNE ......................................................................46
Gans, Valérie: LE CHEF EST UNE FEMME..............................................................................46
COMMERCIAL FICTION ........................................................................47
Frain, Irène: BEAUVOIR IN LOVE ..............................................................................................47
Sulitzer, Paul-Loup: LES CORBEAUX A CRANS D’ARRET ...................................................47
Aderhold, Carl: FERMETURE ECLAIR ......................................................................................48
Bourdin, Françoise: SERMENT D’AUTOMNE...........................................................................48
Delalande, Arnaud: NOTRE ESPION D’AMÉRIQUE ...............................................................48
Agarmen, Pit: LA NUIT A DEVORE LE MONDE ......................................................................49
Pochon, Jean-Pierre: SONATE POUR UN ESPION ...................................................................49
Le Nabour, Éric: LA DAME DE KYOTO......................................................................................49
La Fragette, Marie: LA SOCIÉTÉ DES KAMIKAZES AMATEURS .......................................50
Cohen, Thierry: SI TU EXISTES AILLEURS..............................................................................50
LITERARY CRIME & SUSPENSE NOVELS .........................................50
Roux, Christian: L’HOMME À LA BOMBE ................................................................................50
Chabrol, Elsa: EMPRISE ................................................................................................................51
Galvin, Gerry: KILLER A LA CARTE ..........................................................................................51
Bronnec, Thomas: LA FILLE DU HANH HOA...........................................................................51
Forma, Dominique:VOYOUCRATIE.............................................................................................52
Nozière, Jean-Paul: LE CHAT AUX AGUETS .............................................................................52
Barde Cabuçon, Olivier: CASANOVA ET LA FEMME SANS VISAGE .................................52
Solanes, Martín: PAR LE SANG DE L’ERMITE ........................................................................52
Miské, Karim: ARAB JAZZ ............................................................................................................53
Molay, Frédérique: DEJEUNER SOUS L’HERBE.....................................................................53
Van Cauwelaert, Didier: DOUBLE IDENTITE...........................................................................53
Moore, Viviane: AINSI PUIS-JE MOURIR..................................................................................54
Japp, André H.: EN CE SANG VERSE.........................................................................................54
Japp, Andrea H.: LES MYSTERES DE DRUON DE BREVAUX .............................................55
Quadruppani, Serge: THE SIMONA TAVIANELLO’S INVESTIGATIONS..........................56
Aubert, Brigitte: THE CINEMATOGRAPH DETECTIVE ........................................................57
Monfils, Nadine: LA PETITE FÊLEE AUX ALLUMETTES.....................................................57
Monfils, Nadine: LES VACANCES D’UN SERIAL KILLER.....................................................58
Monfils, Nadine: LES ENQUÊTES DU COMMISSAIRE LÉON VOL 1 & 2 ..........................58
Monfils, Nadine: LA PETITE FÊLÉE AUX ALLUMETTES.....................................................58
THRILLERS ...............................................................................................58
Loevenbruck, Henri & Mazza, Fabrice: SERUM .......................................................................58
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ALL TITLES
Beinstingel, Thierry: ILS DÉSERTENT ....................................................................................... 24
Simon, François: DANS MA BOUCHE......................................................................................... 24
Boidé, Caroline: LES IMPURS....................................................................................................... 25
Condé, Maryse: LA VIE SANS FARDS ........................................................................................ 25
Dancourt, Thierry: LES OMBRES DE MARGE FINALY......................................................... 26
Mordillat, Gérard: CE QUE SAVAIT JENNIE ........................................................................... 26
Binet, Laurent: RIEN NE SE PASSE COMME PRÉVU............................................................ 26
NON-FRANCOPHONE AUTHORS .........................................................27
Sirees, Nirad: SILENCE ET TUMULTE ...................................................................................... 27
Khiyavi, Hafez: UNE CERISE POUR COUPER LE JEUNE .................................................... 27
Dawesar, Abha: SENSORIUM ....................................................................................................... 28
Stefanakis, Dimitris: FILM NOIR ................................................................................................. 28
DEBUT NOVEL..........................................................................................28
Cusset, François: A L'ABRI DU DECLIN DU MONDE............................................................. 28
Deck, Julia: VIVIANE ELISABETH FAUVILLE ....................................................................... 29
Grannec, Yannick: LA DÉESSE DES PETITES VICTOIRES ................................................. 29
Doux, Samuel: DIEU N’EST MEME PAS MORT ....................................................................... 30
Herzog, Félicité: UN HEROS.......................................................................................................... 30
Michel-Amadry, Marc: TWO ZEBRAS ON 30TH STREET...................................................... 31
Cohen-Grillet, Philippe: HAUT ET COURT ................................................................................ 31
Vié, Caroline: BRIOCHE ................................................................................................................ 32
Mondrian, Shake: JUDE R ............................................................................................................. 32
Bied-Charreton, Solange: ENJOY ................................................................................................. 32
Bigio, Maurice: L’IRANIENNE ..................................................................................................... 33
de Bayser, Patrick: NU FEMININ................................................................................................. 33
Gestern, Hélène: EUX SUR LA PHOTO ....................................................................................... 33
CONTEMPORARY TRENDS ...................................................................34
Capron, Julien: TROIS FOIS LE LOYER .................................................................................... 34
Bouzid, Nadia: L'ALPHA ................................................................................................................ 34
Lefranc, Alban: FASSBINDER, LA MORT EN FANFARE...................................................... 34
Cordelier, Jeanne: ESCALIER F ................................................................................................... 35
Hardy, Françoise: L’AMOUR FOU............................................................................................... 35
Chazal, Pierre: MARCUS ................................................................................................................ 35
Mégnin, Jean-Philippe: LA PATIENTE........................................................................................ 36
Leconte, Patrice & d’Equainville, David: RECULER POUR MIEUX SAUTER (Strategic
Retreat)............................................................................................................................................... 36
Patier, Xavier: CHAUX VIVE ........................................................................................................ 36
Salatko, Alexis: LE PARIEUR ........................................................................................................ 37
Schmitt, Eric-Emmanuel: LES DEUX MESSIEURS DE BRUXELLES ................................. 37
Lévy, Aurélie: MA VIE POUR UN OSCAR .................................................................................. 37
Cobert, Harold: DIEU SURFE AU PAYS BASQUE................................................................... 38
de Turckheim, Émilie: HELOÏSE EST CHAUVE....................................................................... 38
HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL ..........................................38
Barrière, Michèle: DE SANG ET D’OR ........................................................................................ 38
Brasey, Édouard: LES LAVANDIÈRES DE BROCÉLIANDE ................................................. 39
Convard, Didier: MICHELANGELO ............................................................................................ 39
de Castro, Eve: LE ROI DES OMBRES........................................................................................ 39
D’Aillon, Jean: DE TAILLE ET D’ESTOC .................................................................................. 40
Benzoni, Juliette: LA FILLE DU CONDAMNE........................................................................... 40
Dekker, Alice: CHARDIN, LA PETITE TABLE DE LAQUE ROUGE .................................... 40
Démoulin, Nathalie: LA GRANDE BLEUE.................................................................................. 41
Dicker, Joël: LES DERNIERS JOURS DE NOS PERES ........................................................... 41
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ALL TITLES
FICTION............................................................................................ 3
BEST-SELLERS 2012...................................................................................3
Barbara Constantine: ET PUIS, PAULETTE… ............................................................................3
Bussi, Michel: UN AVION SANS ELLE ..........................................................................................3
Marchal, Eric: LE SOLEIL SOUS LA SOIE ..................................................................................4
Fontanel, Sophie: L’ENVIE ..............................................................................................................4
Laurain, Antoine: LE CHAPEAU DE MITTERRAND.................................................................5
Becker, Emma: MR. ...........................................................................................................................5
HIGHLIGHT FALL 2012.............................................................................6
Dicker, Joël: LA VÉRITE SUR L’AFFAIRE HARRY QUEBERT ..............................................6
Zeller, Florian: LA JOUISSANCE ...................................................................................................6
Bordes, Lucile: JE SUIS LA MARQUISE DE CARABAS ............................................................7
Gaudé, Laurent: POUR SEUL CORTEGE .....................................................................................7
Joncour, Serge: L’AMOUR SANS LE FAIRE................................................................................8
Durin-Valois, Marc: LA DERNIERE NUIT DE CLAUDE EATHERLY ...................................8
Guenassia, Jean-Michel : LA VIE REVEE D’ERNESTO G.........................................................9
Maalouf, Amin: LES DESORIENTES.............................................................................................9
Vallejo, François: METAMORPHOSES .......................................................................................10
Winckler, Martin: EN SOUVENIR D’ANDRÉ............................................................................10
Echenoz, Jean: 14..............................................................................................................................11
Lafon, Marie-Hélène: LES PAYS ...................................................................................................11
Michaka, Stéphane: CISEAUX .......................................................................................................11
Egloff, Joël: LES LIBELLULES .....................................................................................................12
d’Estienne d’Orves, Nicolas: LES FIDÉLITÉS SUCCESSIVES ..............................................12
Garcia, Tristan: LES CORDELETTES DE BROWSER .............................................................13
Némirovsky, Irène: LA SYMPHONIE DE PARIS ET AUTRES HISTOIRES ........................13
Coulon, Cécile: LE ROI N’A PAS SOMMEIL ..............................................................................14
DISCOVERED WRITER ...........................................................................14
Sarrazin, Albertine: L’ASTRAGALE ............................................................................................14
LITERARY FICTION ................................................................................15
Bramly, Serge: ORCHIDÉE FIXE.................................................................................................15
Quignard, Pascal: DERNIER ROYAUME - LES DÉSARÇONNÉS .........................................16
Donner, Christophe: A QUOI JOUENT LES HOMMES ...........................................................17
Ferrari, Jérôme: LE SERMON DE LA CHUTE DE ROME ......................................................17
Fottorino, Eric: LE MARCHEUR DE FÈS...................................................................................18
Kim Thúy: ROUMA..........................................................................................................................18
Genève, Max: VIRTUOSES.............................................................................................................18
Noirez, Jérôme: 120 JOURNÉES ...................................................................................................19
Alexakis, Vassilis: L’ENFANT GREC ...........................................................................................19
Pétel, Gilles: SOUS LA MANCHE..................................................................................................20
Amigorena, Santiago H.: LA PREMIÈRE DÉFAITE .................................................................20
Arditi, Metin: PRINCE D'ORCHESTRE ......................................................................................20
Schneck, Colombe: LA RÉPARATION .........................................................................................21
Aubry, Gwenaëlle: PARTAGES......................................................................................................22
Janvier, Gaspard-Marie: QUEL TRÉSOR!..................................................................................22
Daeninckx, Didier: THE BANQUET OF THE STARVED.........................................................23
Kaplan, Leslie: MILLEFEUILLE ..................................................................................................23
Duteurtre, Benoît: PARIS IS OURS! .............................................................................................23
Le Golvan, Nicolas: RESTE L’ÉTÉ ...............................................................................................24
Contact : Mrs Anastasia Lester Email : [email protected]
73
FICTION
the strongest of emotions can satiate the Angels and give their skin a blue tone when emotions and a red tone
when negative.
Since Angels are invisible, untouchable and immaterial, they can influence humans without them every
being aware of it. As Jeremy tries to find out why he was killed, he follows Allison, a beautiful 20 year old who
was the unwitting witness to his execution. By following her day and night, Jeremy falls madly in love.
But Jeremy’s killer is also on Allison’s tail. Followed by three Red Angels who feed off of his extreme,
negative emotions, the killer will do anything to eliminate the unwanted witness to his crime…
Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian, the crown princess of Armenia, is France’s number 1 bestselling author
of YA novels. Her TARA DUNCAN series has 1 million followers in France and 7 million around the world.
The first book in her most recent best-selling series Indiana Teller was published in March 2011. Russian rights
for TARA DUNCAN series sold to Ripol-Classic.
Pevel, Pierre: HAUT ROYAUME trilogy - Book 1: THE KNIGHT
(Bragelonne, Text available in spring 2012, 50,000 words per title)
•
Rights already sold to Orion Gollancz in the UK !
•
Dynastic power struggle and intrigues
•
Perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin and David Gemmell
•
A series to publish as separate volumes or in omnibus editions
•
Winner of the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best newcomer
Pierre Pevel is bringing all the skills of a historical fantasy writer to an epic stage.
The High Kingdom is facing its darkest hour. Its King has been weakened by illness and many are
discontent with the Queen’s regency. As rebellion rumbles throughout the land, new threats are massing forces at
the realm’s borders.
Desperate, the King decides to free Lorn, who has spent the past year locked away on trumped-up charges in
the citadel of Dalroth. Acting on the advice of a mysterious emissary of the Dragon, he dubs Lorn “Knight of the Onyx
Throne”, making him the upholder of royal authority.
Lorn accepts the King’s mission but also hunts those responsible for his imprisonment. Reinstating the
Onyx Guard, a once-powerful elite force, he intervenes in time to avert a war and becomes a new figure of hope for
his people. But some take a dim view of his growing popularity and influence, and they are busy plotting his
downfall.
If he foils his enemies, will he assume the role of champion that the Dragon’s Council of Emissaries have
been seeking, the one capable of facing the Black Prince? He must first confront an evil that gnaws at him ever
since he was exposed to the Obscure at Dalroth, which now threatens to overwhelm him.
Pierre Pevel, born in 1968, is one of the foremost writers of French Fantasy today. The author of seven
novels, he was awarded the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire in 2002 and the Prix Imaginales in 2005, both for best
novel. His CARDINAL’S BLADES trilogy – part historical novel, part old-fashioned swashbuckling high-action
adventure and part classic fantasy – is sold to UK (Orion Gollancz), Germany (Heyne), Holland (Mynx), Spain
(Edhasa), Russia (Geleos), Czech Republic (Albatros) and Estonia (Varrak).
“Pevel (…) makes a stunning English-language debut with this breathless, swashbuckling tale of
intrigue, spying, and swordfights. In an alternate 17th-century Paris, dragonnets are exotic pets, wyverns are
high-class riding mounts, and drac thugs are the coarsest of mercenaries. After a five-year hiatus, Cardinal
Richelieu reunites his elite force to aid France in its complex relationship with Spain's Black Claw cult of halfdragon royalty. A mostly straightforward adventure plot leaves plenty of room for character development,
drama, and excitement. (…) Published in France to great acclaim in 2007, Pevel's adventure is just as likely to
charm Anglophone audiences who enjoy action-packed adventure with a true historical sensibility.” Publishers
Weekly, August 30, 2010
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SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY
Emmanuelle Nuncq was born in 1984. She studied modern and classical literature and was a librarian
for three years. Today she is a novelist who has created a highly original and coherent universe that young
readers will love.
Rouaud, Antoine: LE LIVRE ET L’EPÉE
(Bragelonne, to be published in 2013, Volume 1 of a series of 3)
A stunning narrative, admirably constructed in a fashion seldom seen in a work of fantasy.
Year 10 of the new Republic, in the remote port city of Masalia. Dun-Cadal, once the greatest general of
the Empire, has been drinking his life away for years. Betrayed by his friends and grief-stricken at the loss of his
apprentice, he’s done with politics, adventure, and people. But people aren’t finished with him – not yet. Viola is
a young historian looking for the last Emperor’s sword. Her search not only leads her to the former general, but
embroils them both in a series of assassinations. Because someone is murdering Dun-Cadal’s turncoat friends
one by one... Dun-Cadal learns the identity of the culprit… and decides to help him prevent the ruling People’s
Councillors – the very men who betrayed the Empire – from gaining possession of the Book of Destiny, whose
powers are terrible. As the fates of all human beings are inscribed in its pages, whoever is able to alter the text of
this book will become the master of their lives. And the only weapon capable of destroying it is… the Imperial
sword.
This tale of loyalty, revenge, grief and hope, is set against a backdrop of political intrigue. Packed with
masterful twists and revelations, it sustains a high level of suspense, while depicting mortal characters thrown
into the maelstrom of History, who ultimately become figures of legend. THE BOOK AND THE SWORD is the
ideal epic saga for fans of George R.R. Martin’s SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.
Antoine Rouaud, born in 1979, works as a copywriter in advertising, and composes, writes and acts in
audio drama series, which have already earned him two awards.
Rights sold to: UK (Gollancz), Germany (Heyne Verlag), the Netherlands (Boekerij) and Spain
(Planeta)
Ségura, Magali: ÉTERNITÉ
(Bragelonne, June 2012, 350 pages)
A simple family drama, but which takes place against the backdrop of a richly imagined and plausible
universe. As their past returns to haunt them, young Jelis’ parents set aside their pride and rancour to resume
their quest for the seed of Eternity, confronting their most terrifying memories in the hope of saving their son.
In the Saltearth archipelago, a seed containing a gift is received from the gods every 500 years, and an
individual is elected to decide how it will be used.When several minor sorceresses are murdered, Naslie, a
descendant of those endowed with the gift of Magic, flees from the Ancient One, whose menacing shadow she
has sensed pursuing her over the years.
Her eight-year-old son Jelis goes off to his father, a powerful warrior of the Steel, determined to force
his parents to reconcile. But Jelis remains unaware that he represents the impossible fruit of an alliance between
Magic and Steel, a combination whose powers are dreaded. Threatened by the devious tricks of a sorcerer and
the ghost of a demonic queen, he must place his trust in the counsels of the strange “luminis” who watches over
his family. An engaging tale with a feminine touch, presenting well-constructed characters with psychological
depth.
Magali Ségura was born in 1972. Her first publication, a short story called AGAINST FATE, was
nominated for the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, and won the Prix Bob Morane - Imaginaire 2000. Readers had
impatiently awaited Ségura’s first novel, and with the LEÏLAN trilogy, she has fulfilled both her initial promise
and her reader’s hopes. ÉTERNITÉ is her new novel.
Audouin-Mamikonian, Sophie: LA COULEUR DE L’ÂME DES ANGES
(Robert Laffont, January 2012, 456 pages)
The exciting new series from France’s #1 best-selling author of YA novels
At 23, Jeremy is violently murdered. Now an Angel, he quickly realizes that the struggle for survival is
hardly over, and that he still risks death. Because the afterlife and Angels are nothing like he imagined…
In order to survive all Angels must feed off of human emotions. For that to work, Jeremy soon
discovers with horror that he must provoke these emotions: hatred, love, joy, sadness, fear, compassion…Only
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FICTION
Clavel, Fabien LES ADVERSAIRES
Collection PANDORE
(Place des editeurs, November 2012, 384 pages)
Angel versus demon. Only one will survive. Yet the battle has only just begun...
For centuries, a tournament has put into competition the angels of The Order against the legions of
Chaos. These duels must remain hidden from humans. And they do, until the day that Ayati witnesses one of
these battles to the death just at the end of her street. She unwittingly becomes engaged in the ultimate battle
between these immortal clans. She will risk her soul and put the love of her life in danger while the world
threatens to fall into the Apocalypse.
Fabien Clavel, born in 1978, quickly became a star author of fantasy novels. He writes for both adult
and children. The recipient of several literary prizes, his novels have been both critically acclaimed and
commercially successful.
Faye, Estelle: LA DERNIÈRE LAME
Collection PANDORE
She is beautiful, courageous, respected. That is her curse... Once upon a time, the world was in an
enchanted Golden Age. But now, it is nearly entirely flooded by the waters that are filled with dangerous, mutant
sea creatures. Vorastburg is one of the rare cities not yet submerged underwater. Its people sink into madness
waiting for the end to inevitably come.
Amidst the pervading chaos, Joad attempts to appease the suffering. This experienced soldier knows
that the Army of Ashes will soon descend on the city with the beautiful Marie leading the charge. Defending the
actions of God, the Army stops anyone who tries to get in the way of the world’s flooding. When Joad discovers
the key to stopping this destruction the race is on to stop Marie before it’s too late...
Estelle Faye, born in 1978, is a young filmmaker (both screenwriter and director). This is her first novel.
Brussolo, Serge: THE ARCHER’S DAUGHTER
(Fleuve noir-10/18, June 2012, 300 pages)
Not long after the 100 Year War, Wallah, who has come from the North with her father, is welcomed
into a clan of carnies. Her life changes when, after a meeting in the forest with a witch, she becomes a Valkyrie:
one who “chooses who will die”. Like her father she is an exceptional archer and she is granted the ability to hit
her target every time, only by imagining it. In return, however, one year is taken off Wallah’s life for every
animal or person killed..
This proves to be a stroke of luck for Bezelios, the clan leader, who learns that a knight is looking for an
expert archer. Wallah thus becomes, at her own risk, his huntress.
Serge Brussolo returns to one of his favorite eras, the Middle Ages, a period where mystery reigns.
Nuncq, Emmanuelle: BORDEMARGE
(Bragelonne, April 2012, 320 pages)
A cloak-and-dagger novel, packed with action as well as subtle literary allusions.
In the imaginary kingdom of Bordemarge (Borderedge literally), the rules of fiction reign supreme and
swashbuckling characters abound. Violette, a bored librarian who would love reading about just this kind of
extravagant universe, is fed up with the tedium of her own life. That isn’t the case with Roxane, heiress to the
throne of Bordemarge, now pursued by pirates working for the usurper Duke Silas. Escaping into a magic
painting found in a goldsmith’s caravan, she emerges in the real world, literally tumbling down on top of
Violette. Roxane switches clothing with her, fooling the pirates who abduct the librarian instead and take
unconscious Violette back to Bordemarge. But while Roxane frantically seeks to rescue her, Violette grows
attached to the pirate holding her captive and starts knocking some realism into him. All of these fine characters
will come together at Bordemarge Castle for an epic final battle, where the good guys will triumph over the
villains with a display of immense courage, allowing Violette to recover her taste for life, and Roxane, her
rightful throne.
An easy read, with a lively pace and a healthy dose of humour
69
“Reading this book is exulting. Fabrice Colin writes images and makes every part of his stories
fantastic.” Libération
“You can’t put his novels down.” L’Express
“We fell in love with Fabrice Colin’s work.” RTL
“Fabrice Colin makes a masterpiece of ambiguity between realism and fantastic. A real page-turner,
the book gradually becomes as fascinating as the best suspense.” Télérama (BAL DE GIVRE À NEW YORK)
Genefort, Laurent: OMALE (Volumes 1 & 2)
(Denoël, November 2012, 700 pages)
Awarded the Prix Rosnay aîné 2002
After being transported from earth into a sphere of super-dense matter, human beings find they have to
start all over again, cohabiting with the god-like Chiles and Hodgqins, the inhabitants of Omale.
Imagine a superstructure with a sun and several million times the surface area of the earth contained
within. This is Omale, and inside this shell a breathable atmosphere and various forms of intelligent life are to be
found. Underneath a forever-still sun, humans find they have to rebuild their lives from scratch after being
teleported there from earth through a temporary Vangk gate. Over the course of the centuries, memories from
their distant home planet become legends, and they gradually build a shared history with their extraterrestrial
neighbours: the Chiles, who are tall and powerful, and the wise Hodgqins.
A history based on trade and war, and the joint exploration of the Borders. Still, great mysteries remain
unanswered: who are the god-like creatures who made Omale, and why did they gather and lock up all the
species of the Galaxy in it? The Omale cycle is one of the greatest achievements in French sci-fi, comparable
even to Jack Vance’s best fiction.
Laurent Genefort was born in 1968. He is the author of over 40 novels. The OMALE series, hereby
available in a two-volume edition, is his most remarkable work so far and won the Prix Rosny aîné for Best
Novel in 2002.
Rozenfeld, Carina: FROM THE ASHES (THE PHÆNIX, PART 1)
(Robert Laffont, October 2012, 326 pages)
As two, they complete the Phænix, the mythical bird that springs from the ashes…
The Phænix dies and is reborn from its ashes. To be resurrected, the two halves of the creature must find
each other and fall in love. But, unless unified, the legendary bird forgets its prior lives…
Anaïa, nearly 18 years old, is a student dedicated to music and theatre. She leads a normal life until she
starts having a series of troubling and recurrent dreams, in which a young man talks to her. Stranger still: two
boys start acting as if they have always known her. Anaïa must distinguish real from unreal, and discover who
she really is, connected to a millennial memory. A new reality will open to her in which love and fantasy are
connected.
Carina Rozenfeld was a journalist for Cyberpress Publishing children’s magazines. She has published
nearly a dozen YA novels in France. The second PHÆNIX tome will published in a few months’ time.
Jubert, Hervé: MAGIES SECRÈTES
Collection PANDORE
Emperor Obéron reigns over Sequana, a fantastical city reminiscent of Paris in which magical and
human beings co-exist. The tyrant wants to banish all magic, which is why he persecutes enchanted beings.
Some, however, manage to find refuge with Georges Beauregard who officially works for the Power.
For a certain time, magical spells have been targeting those close to the emperor. The Face, an evil
force, is suspected of these attacks. Since Georges has experience going head to head with the Face, he is
assigned to stop him. Taking advantage of the chaos, the enchanted beings spread terror and nobody is safe.
Beauregard is directly involved because he is the son of a fairy and a human. And now he must choose which
side he is on...
Hervé Jubert, born in 1970, is a specialist of fantastical literature. His trilogy, Morgenstern, was
published in several languages and was a success in the United States where it was published by Harper Tee.
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In the East, the King of the Night Kingdom has died, and Prince Memnon has to face his own brother.
Setting out to the Earth Kingdom, Memnon plans to obtain possession of the Elora Shield, which represents his
only chance of victory. Becoming one of the Sanctuary’s teachers is a first step, but he has no idea what effects
the students and the mysterious crimes that are occurring will have on him…
Alexandre Malagoli was born in 1976. He has established himself as one of the best French fantasy
writers.
Ange Guéro (aka Ange): SANG MAUDIT SERIES VOLUME 1
(Bragelonne, November 2012, 385 pages / Book 2 : forthcoming in 2013)
Sample chapters available in English
A crossover vampire romance series
st
All the charm and ceremony of the French Ancien Régime... transported to the 21 century ! Written in
an easy-going, contemporary style : a real page turner! Paris ! Le Château de Versailles, ball dancing, fashion,
parisian nightlife, the Champs Elysées ! Marie-Antoinette meets Buffy the vampire slayer Paris in the 21
century.
st
Louis xxiv is the young king of France, and his fashionable, wealthy nobles amuse themselves in the
court of Versailles. Designer crinoline dresses are all the rage, and rich young aristocrats pack the trendy Paris
nightclubs. But behind the scenes two rival families via for power : the Condés, rumoured to be descended from
an angel ; and the Orléans, who claim a demon amongst their ancestors…
Angélique was born into this world. She’s a sweet seventeen year old, and she has a secret power : she’s
an empath, able to sense other’s emotions of others, and she thinks her ability has gone unnoticed… until the day
she has to use it, to escape an attempt on her life.
Who would want to kill her ? And why ? The answer lies deep in the files of Louis xxiv’s sinister secret
service – and to seek them Angélique must first become a spy and then, perhaps, a traitor…
Plunging the reader into a highly original and carefully thought-out universe which plays with the
contrast between the traditional values of the French monarchy and an ultra-contemporary context, Ange Guéro
offers us here a novel of exceptional commercial potential. The author skilfully sets up the dilemma of her
heroine, catapulted into the universe of the royal court and its web of intrigue, where she finds herself torn
between the role demanded by her social rank and her own feelings. Blood Curse is also a return to the original
myth of the vampire, cruel and dangerous, a far cry from the vapid, toned-down versions we usually see today.
Ange Guéro is one of the most renowned graphic novel writers in France, whose work includes THE
LEGEND OF THE DRAGON-KNIGHTS (now published by Marvel). She is a multi-award winning adult and
children’s fiction writer whose work is already translated into a number of languages.
“Ange possesses an undeniable talent as a storyteller, the art of recounting adventures in breath-taking
fashion” Le Monde
Colin, Fabrice: 49 DAYS
(Michel Lafon, November 2012, 400 pages)
“My name is Floryan; I’m 17-years-old. I died a few days ago: a bomb attack in the subway. I woke up
in a sumptuous landscape of plains and mountains as far as eyes can see. A being of light came to me – a
“Elohim” as he said. He offered me a choice: I could either follow him in the Kingdom – some kind of paradise,
he said, but I wasn’t allowed to see it before going there; or I could follow him to the Nihil, a gigantic abyss
leading to… to what? That is the question. I don’t know anything about the Nihil, like I ignore everything about
the Kingdom. And I have 49 days to make a decision. No more. The thing is that I’m not the only one involved
in this choice…”
In his new series in two books, in the same vein as 1984, Fabrice Colin explores the mysteries of life
after death. In this first opus, he brings us to the Interworld, a lost and forbidden place. The young Floryan will
have to challenge his beliefs and convictions to discover the truth about the world which is expecting him.
Because now the fate of Humanity depends on his choice.
Fabrice Colin is one of the most talented French writers of its generation. He won the Grand Prix de
l’Imaginaire four times. From science-fiction to Fantasy, his skilled and elegant writing appeals to both a young
and adult readership. He’s the writer of LA MALÉDICTION D’OLD HAVEN (30 000 copies sold) and BAL
DE GIVRE À NEW YORK (20 000 copies sold).
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days fighting tyrannical sentinels and demons lurking in the fog. He is too young to die, and unwilling to become
a monster, so he has no choice : if he wants to survive, he has to get over the wall.
Nobody knows what kind of universe is on the other side. There are only stories about a thriving,
beautiful land. But how much faith can you have in a legend? Despite this uncertainty, Nath is ready to conquer
paradise at any cost. But this paradise is not exactly what Nath expected. It’s a poisonous version of the Garden
of Eden, full of terrifying threats and evil spirits who manipulate Nath and make him their slave. When he finally
manages to rid himself of them, true paradise is still far: Nath reaches a hellish land, devastated by creatures of
fire. A war breaks out between the human beings and the monsters in flames. The only weapon they have is a
treasure as invaluable as it is rare: blue gold. Nath must carefully choose his allies: the vulnerable victims or…
the monsters.
Serge Brussolo was born in Paris in 1951. Through his fantastical and science-fiction works, he
captivates readers of all ages with his famed creativity and ability to create suspense. His greatest success,
PEGGY SUE AND THE GHOSTS, has been translated into seventeen languages.
“One of these very rare books we devour endlessly” Nosfere
Yannick Monget: GAÏA
(Bragelonne, July 2012, 455 pages)
Highly successful self-published author: 25 000 copies sold!
Movie rights sold
Sample chapters available in English
An adventure of epic proportions, full of action and vivid characters, in the manner of Michael Crichton
Universal themes that will find an international resonance and interest.
Man had no respect for Nature. Now there’s no need for Nature to respect Man. A mysterious epidemic
is spreading across the planet. Soon millions will die. Contact has been lost already with remote regions of the
Earth.
In these frightening circumstances Alexander Grant, head of Genetics, a New York biotechnology
company, meets Anne Cendras, a prominent French biologist. She’s convinced a sudden and terrible change in
the balance of the world’s ecosystem is happening. The behavior of animals has modified, and vegetable species
show highly aberrant mutations. These events are threatening the very survival of humanity.
No international organization has the means to confront the epidemic. Only a few individuals in Europe
and the USA are determined to fight back, to understand the causes of this environmental cataclysm, and to stop
it in its tracks.
A fast-paced, easy-to-read topical thriller about the protection of our environment.
Yannick Monget is the author of THE WORLD TOMORROW (Abrams, 2007), a scientific work
detailing the altered climatic future of planet Earth. He is the European founder and director of Symbiome
International Group (www.symbiome-international.org) and is currently coordinating the international “Terres
d’Avenir” project with the support of the United Nations. He managed to sell 25,000 copies of GAÏA, without
the help of a publisher or of a distributor!
Malagoli, Alexandre: LE ROI SAUVAGE TRILOGY - VOL. 1 : SANCTUAIRE
(Bragelonne, August 2012, 696 pages)
Strong appeal for both adult and young adult readers
Books 2&3 forthcoming in 2013
This new book by one of the French fantasy greats is packed with adventure and wizardry: as we follow
the ventures of five youngsters, we too discover the school of magic, romance, and a world of crime and
mystery.
After their village is destroyed, five teenage orphan flee to the capital of the Earth Kingdom, where the
lies that surrounded their existence are revealed. They discover their ability to use the Wyrd, the core of magic,
and must therefore go to the Sanctuary, the knighthood academy. But most of the students come from aristocratic
families, and the five teenagers find themselves lost in a world they don’t belong in, despised by almost
everyone. As the days go, they turn out to be gifted and powerful, but they are confronted with frightful insectlike creatures that no one else can see. And when murders start happening within the Sanctuary and a strange
new teacher joins the school, the mystery surrounding their destiny deepens…
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also issue threats to perform the most elaborate tortures on Juan Hernandez Manau, a man of letters to whom
Andrea recently paid a visit, and a member of the enigmatic Schola Gnosticos society.
Andrea asks Abbot Baudoin to protect two female prostitute friends when the Pope envisages rounding
up ladies of pleasure in whorehouses supervised by the Church. But he is forced to flee when he discovers that
the police has set fire to his house and killed his valets…
Henri Loevenbruck is 36 years old. A journalist and author, he also writes screenplays for films. He has
published more than ten novels with Flammarion and Bragelonne.Translated in thirteen countries, the novels of
Henri Loevenbruck are also enormously successful in bookshops.
The previous novels are published in Russia by Azbooka-Atticus
Prévost, Guillaume: LE QUADRILLE DES MAUDITS
(Robert Laffont, April 2012, 350 pages)
Les maudits, a popular thriller, brings crowds of movie-goers into to the Parisian cinemas. Each new
episode of this cinematographic series draws in more and more people, and a killer decides to mix fiction with
reality. A murderer stabs young, blond women in the middle of the projection imitating the actors on the screen
and their ways for committing the murders. The police quickly turn their suspicions towards the animated world
of the Vincennes studios where crimes keep taking place one after the other.
Detective François-Claudius Simon leads the investigation. He understands that in order to flush out the
killer he’ll have to create some of his own movie magic. But with his personal life in shambles, he has neither
the heart nor head for that.
His girlfriend, the sublime Elsa, has disappeared overnight, his past as an orphan brutally comes back to
haunt him, and his ex-fiancée, who he may not be completely over, has come back into his life in the worst
possible way - at the top of his list of suspects…
Guillaume Prévost is a history teacher in a high school outside of Paris. He wrote LIVRE DU TEMPS,
a successful trilogy published by Gallimard Jeunesse and with NiL, three historical thrillers: LES SEPT
CRIMES DE ROMES, L’ASSASSIN ET LE PROPHÈTE and LE MYSTÈRE DE LA CHAMBRE OBSCURE.
The first two books in the trilogy featuring François-Claudius Simon were LA VALSE DES GUEULES
CASSÉES (2010) and LE BAL DE L’ÉQUARRISSEUR (2011).
René Barjavel: LE GRAND SECRET. THE IMMORTALS
The new edition of an important science-fiction classic...
THE IMMORTALS is the story of a couple separated by an extraordinary event only to be reunited by
exceptional circumstances that no man or woman ever knew. It is also the story of a mystery that, since 1955,
secretly brought together the leaders of the most powerful nations. It is this “secret” that put an end to the Cold
War, that led to Ken- nedy’s assassination, that makes Charles de Gaulle’s behavior in May 1968
understandable, that makes Nixon’s trips to Moscow and Beijing indispensable.
It is the secret of both the greatest fear and the greatest hope in the world...
As an author and screenwriter, René Barjavel is one of the major figures of French science-fiction. His
books have been bestsellers, published around the world.
Brussolo, Serge: ALMOHA - VOL. 1 - LA MURAILLE INTERDITE
(Bragelonne, May 2012, 448 pages)
Adventures, legends and a dark atmosphere keep the reader in constant suspense
Full of the vivid imagination that has made Serge Brussolo a great success
The Kingdom of Almoha is divided into two parts by an impassable wall. In the North, humans turn
into monsters, starve and crawl in the mud. It is here that we encounter Nath, our young hero, who spends his
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Everyone wants to get hold of this child-talisman, so how can they protect her? And how can they avoid sinking
with her into the bloody chaos that has overtaken the country?
Aurélien Molas is 26. His first novel, LA ONZIÈME PLAIE, was greeted with fine reviews from the
critics and enthusiasm by booksellers. With LES FANTÔMES DU DELTA, he brings us an original thriller,
intense and contemporary.
“LES FANTôMES DU DELTA confirme l’habilité narrative du jeune romancier. Aurélien Molas s’est
affirmé d’entrée de jeu comme un auteur de polars à suivre. (…) L’art de camper des personnages incarnés, de
faire avancer une intrigue à rebondissement parfaitement maîtrisée.” Livres Hebdo
“Un thriller original dont les thèmes rejoignent ceux de nombreux essais politiques et économiques
actuels.” Passion-polar.over-blog.com
Salamé, Barouk: UNE GUERRE DE GÉNIES, DE HÉROS ET DE LÂCHES
(Rivages, March 2012, 320 pages)
A spellbinding thriller set during the Algerian War.
A French child whose family has been living in Algeria for many years fights in the War on the rebels’
side. After his initial idealism fades, he discovers the conflict’s endless cycle of violence, and the “war within the
war” that is decimating Algerian nationalist forces. From Djelfa, a tiny town on the high Saharan plateaus,
controlled by a third force, to the Oran massacre on Independence Day, Serge is unwittingly involved in a plot to
reduce the FLN-ALN soldiers’ influence. But isn’t it already too late for Algeria to become the non-secular,
cosmopolitan nation that the original anti-colonialists dreamed of?
Barouk Salamé, who has Algerian roots, uses the investigator from TESTAMENT SYRIAQUE’S youth
to reveal a particularly dark side of the Algerian War.
“La sensibilité philosophique, l’émotion et l’humanisme érudit qui imprègnent ces pages dessinent en
effet la silhouette d’un corps social mort-né, disent la disparition d’un Etat laïc, le deuil du multiculturalisme…”
Librairie L’Étoile Polar
Giébel, Karine: JUSTE UNE OMBRE
(Fleuve Noir, March 2012, 512 pages)
Sample English translation and Reader’s report available
The perfect crime exists. It is deceitful, it takes its time and, most of all, it doesn’t appear to anyone…
but the victim. Cloé Beauchamp is a young woman who seems to have it all; she is beautiful, intelligent, about to
be named head of a prestigious advertising agency and she has recently fallen in love with a charming man.
But her life slowly transforms into a nightmare. She becomes convinced that a shadow is constantly
watching her, that it follows her on the street and sneaks into her apartment when she is not there or while she is
sleeping. Though no one takes her seriously. Alexander, a marginalized cop, is the only one who decides to help
her. Who wants to destroy her? Who wants to push her over the edge to the point of suicide? By the time he
figures things out it may just be too late…
A complex, multi-layered thriller that takes the reader on an intense, sometimes shocking, often
frightening voyage of one woman’s struggle against one man’s dangerous and inescapable psychosis. Vivid,
strongly portrayed characters will draw us into their drama.
Karine Giébel was born in 1971. Her first novel, TERMINUS ELICIUS (LA VIE DU RAIL, 2004) won
the Marseille Detective Novel Award in 2005. It was followed by Meurtres pour rédemption (republished by
Fleuve Noir in 2010), which was nominated for the Cognac Detective Novel Award.
Rights for previous titles sold to: Italy (BUR), The Netherlands (The House of Books), Spain (Circulo
de Lectores), Ukraine/Russia (Family Leisure Club)
Loevenbruck, Henri: L’APOTHICAIRE
(Flammarion, October 2011, 608 pages)
Following a childhood as an orphan raised by Abbot Baudoin, Andrea de Saint-Loup becomes a
renowned apothecary who employs all his might to giving logical meaning to the irrational events surrounding
him. He attracts the attention of the Inquisition that wishes to interrogate him about a small empty room recently
discovered in his home, the existence of which he had been completely unaware. The Inquisition’s emissaries
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on the other hand, are now enrolled in the “Evnôm Institute,” in Brocéliande, where they are learning to use their
gifts as they find out about a fantastic but dangerous world whose existence they never dreamt of. Meanwhile, a
man called Luther Lake, a mad composer and an expert in Symfonia, is recruiting magicians to serve his dark
purposes. The pieces start to come together when Lake hears about Evnôm, and one of his disciples, the
formidable Natasha, hears about Wolf. The three groups are destined to confront each other, but in what
circumstances? This second volume, which can be read independently of the first, is more mature, complex and
masterful. The characters evolve, their world becomes more detailed and the writing style flows more easily,
making for an easier read. A real page turner right up to the end, leading into Volume 3.
At age 19, Manon Toulemont has now devoted herself entirely to her writing, her “special interest” – a
characteristic shared by most high-functioning people with Asperger’s Syndrome. The publication of the first
volume seems to have liberated the creative and mature writer trapped inside the social handicap of her
syndrome.
Sire Cédric: LE PREMIER SANG
(Le Pré aux Clercs, March 2012, 458 pages)
The greatest terrors are born in our childhood, and take root in our inner depths. Are we capable of
overcoming them? With the help of Commissioner Vauvert, Eva tries to resolve this strange murder case, linked
to sorcery and black magic…and her dark past. A captivating investigation –- which takes the reader into a
singular world, somewhere between nightmare and reality…As Eva Svärta - assists her colleague Erwan Leroy
with a murky drug affair, they discover that the case is more sordid than expected…They find the carbonized
body of a cocaine dealer, with tongue and heart torn out, in a procedure echoing the punishment reserved for
witches in the Middle Ages. But even worse, when seeking clues in the victim’s apartment, they discover the
dead body of a newborn baby…This dark investigation reminds Eva of her own tragic past – witnessing the
murder of her twin sister as a child – she becomes fully involved in this new case. She discovers quickly that
there are similar cases in other French towns, all the victims have one point in common: they all studied at the
same university in Southern France…
Sire Cédric is an already established author in the French Gothic world. Born in 1974, he has been
writing since an early age, claiming the generational author Stephen King an inspirational source. Cédric also
figures as a singer in a metal band called Mandragore, as well as doing translational bywork.
“La détermination et le sens de l’anticipation qui caractérisent l’enquêtrice suffiront-ils à la proteger
des autres d’elle-même? La réponse dans ce PREMIER SANG tout simplement glaçant!” Le Marseillaise
“Un style narratif, proche d’un scénariste de film d’action.” 20 Minutes
Chattam, Maxime: LA CONJURATION PRIMITIVE
(Albin Michel, May 2012, approx 400 pages)
A horrific thriller set in Canada, Poland and Spain. The famous hero, Josh Brolin of the Autre-Monde
series is finally back.
All over the world, women, men and teenagers are being tortured and massacred according to unique
rituals. There is a link between all these crimes, however different they may seem. Throughout France, Poland,
Spain and Quebec, a special investigation unit is striving to put a stop to the series of murders carried out by
ruthless killers who appear not to know each other, yet whose aim is identical.
Maxime Chattam is a master of the French thriller. His Autre-Monde series has been published in
Germany (Droemer Knaur Verlagsgruppe Gm), Korea (Sodam & Teil Publishing House), Italy (Fazi Editore),
Turkey (Dogan Egmont Publishing), Poland (Sonia Draga Wydawnictwo) and Russia (Ripol) and has sold more
than 1 million copies!!
Molas, Aurélien: LES FANTÔMES DU DELTA
(Albin Michel, March 2012, 516 pages)
An original thriller evoking current political and economic themes.
Nigeria, 2004-2010. The country is devastated by oil companies, the corruption of the elite and guerilla
warfare. Benjamin Dufrais and his colleague Megan, both working for Doctors Without Borders, try to fight
malnutrition and help the refugees. But they are caught up in the labyrinth of geopolitical interests and civil wars
which are beyond their comprehension. The stakes are high: a little girl whose DNA could change the world.
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Jacques Ravenne is the pseudonym of a high-ranking Freemason with intimate knowledge of the history
and culture of the Order.
Éric Giacometti is an investigative journalist who has reported extensively on Freemasonic mores.
Giebel, Karine: THE SHADOW
(Fleuve Noir, March 2012, 512 pages)
Sample English translation and Reader’s report available
Over 30,000 copies sold in France
The perfect crime exists. It is deceitful, it takes its time and, most of all, it doesn’t appear to anyone…
but the victim.
Cloé Beauchamp is a young woman who seems to have it all; she is beautiful, intelligent, about to be
named head of a prestigious advertising agency and she has recently fallen in love with a charming man. But her
life slowly transforms into a nightmare. She becomes convinced that a shadow is constantly watching her, that it
follows her on the street and sneaks into her apartment when she is not there or while she is sleeping. Though no
one takes her seriously. Alexander, a marginalized cop, is the only one who decides to help her. Who wants to
destroy her? Who wants to push her over the edge to the point of suicide? By the time he figures things out it
may just be too late…
Karine Giébel was born in 1971. Her first novel, TERMINUS ELICIUS (La Vie du rail, 2004) won the
Marseille Detective Novel Award in 2005. It was followed by MEURTRES POUR RÉDEMPTION (republished
by Fleuve Noir in 2010), which was nominated for the Cognac Detective Novel Award.
Rights for previous books sold: Italy (BUR), The Netherlands (The House of Books), Spain (Circulo de
Lectores), Ukraine/Russia (Family Leisure Club)
“The great female thriller writer has returned with a blood chilling story.” Ici Paris
“SUCCESS! Relentless plot line coupled with a fascinating portrait of a woman.” Metro
Dillard, François-Xavier: CHILD’S PLAY
(Fleuve Noir, January 2012, 240 pages)
3 players left in the final game. Who will come out the winner?
When a luxury jeweler in Place Vendome wants to have his collection photographed, he uses the utmost
discretion. No big convoy to the studio, but rather a young student with a backpack and a bodyguard who
follows 100 meters behind. Emma, struggling PhD student, accepts the job that seems easy and is well paid. A
simple and juicy steal for Momo, a big time Parisian bandit, who gets wind of the operation. He puts together a
small team to divert the loot. Marc, a police captain, knows their plan and imagines that capturing this clumsy
gang is a sure way to get promoted.
Although sometimes just one hitch is enough to bring everything to a grinding halt...
An original and captivating narration: one by one, each of the characters delivers their thoughts, feelings
and impressions of a shared event. The suspense is subtle: we know that the outcome will be bad and the reader
moves toward the end with anxious anticipation.
Francois-Xavier Dillard was born in 1971 in Paris, where he still lives with his wife and two young
daughters. After studying Law and Management, he integrated a major French energy firm in the Human
Resources Department, and then the Communication Department where he cultivated his love for writing and
story-telling. UN VRAI JEU D’ENFANT is his first novel.
“A fast paced first thriller from a promising new author.” Le Point
“In the world of thrillers, innovation and originality are impatiently awaited (…) Un Vrai jeu d’enfant,
the first novel by François-Xavier Dillard falls into this category.” Direct Matin
Toulemont, Manon: SYMFONIA T2 – L’ORCHESTRE DE L’ATOME
(Rocher, September 2012, 290 pages)
After Volume 1, OUVERTURE, the characters’ situations have now changed. The vampire Pacôme and
the siroy Ange have joined “Dragon Rouge” in Germany, where they are training their predatory instincts in an
obscure organization called “Wolf,” ruled by corruption, manipulation and betrayal. Alice, Joseph and Olympe,
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Bouchard, Nicolas: LA SIBYLLE ET LE MARQUIS
(Place des editeurs, May 2012, 312 pages)
Paris. September 1797. A series of barbaric murders target the mistresses of influential politicians.
Struck by visions of these murders, Marie-Adélaïde Lenormand, the Sibyl, investigates and finds a tie between
these murders and those that take place in the writings of the Marquis de Sade. Unware of these murders, Sade,
living nearly penniless now, agrees to write a libertine musical reminiscent of his literary works. The mysterious
organization that commissions him to create this show has far darker intentions than he could possibly have
imagined. Will the Sibyl see what needs to be done in time to save so many innocent lives?
Nicolas Bouchard writes science fiction, mysteries and historical novels. His works have been published
with Fleuve Noir, Flammarion and Belfond. La Sibylle et le marquis is the final book in a trilogy that follows the
adventures of an 18th century clairvoyant.
“Une vision très coquine de l’histoire. A very naughty take on history.” Sud Ouest
Rodriguez, Cristina: LE BAISER DU BANNI
(Place des editeurs/Le pré aux clercs, October 2012, 320 pages)
What if Angels lived among us for centuries? What if an order dating back a thousand years secretly
protected their existence in order to save humanity? Dalach Cuevas Matamoros, aka “la Murena” is a
phenomenon. He is a hermaphrodite and disposes of a genetic anomaly that allows him to control his emission
of pheromones and to choose whether men or women are affected. This power of seduction makes “la Murena”
a formidable negotiator. He is often put to use by powerful businessmen in order to influence a potential buyer.
While preparing to go to a business meeting, Dalach discovers on TV the fossilized remains of a human
adorned with a pair of wings dating from several million years ago. The discovery seems absolutely incredible
and could unsettle the current world order as well as Dalach’s peaceful existence...
Cristina Rodriguez is a historian, screenwriter and novelist. She is the author of nearly 100 short stories
and a dozen novels including the crime series LES MYSTÈRES DE POMPEÏ (Editions du Masque) and the
series LES FEUX D’HÉPHAÏSTOS (Flammarion).
Giacometti, Éric & Ravenne, Jacques: ANTOINE MARCAS’ FREEMASONIC
INVESTIGATIONS
(Fleuve Noir, 2011-2012, 450-600 pages each title)
Over 1 million copies sold in France
Suspenseful thrillers that introduce the reader to the secrets of Freemasonry and offer an enlightening
historical parallel to modern investigations.
THE SEVENTH TEMPLAR
(Fleuve Noir, June 2011, 576 pages)
Sample English translation and Reader's report available
Nearly 150,000 copies sold
1307. The Pope Clément V commands the total annihilation of the Order of the Temple. 2011.
Freemason Detective Antoine Marcas is set on the tracks of the Templars’ longlost treasure by a mysterious
brotherood that has been protecting their secret for centuries. But the treasure also interests the Catholic Church,
on the verge of bankruptcy, who will stop at nothing to lay hands on it...
“Rich, well-documented, strongly founded, and devilishly addicting.” Le Parisien
“Between the cascade of entertainment and the unique revelations, The Seventh Templar is sure to
appeal to a large audience.” Lire
THE DARK TEMPLE
(Fleuve Noir, June 2012, 658 pages)
1232. In the Holy Land a relentless fight opposes the Grand Master of the Templars and the Legate of
the Pope in order to obtain a secret desired by all religions and all powers. 2012. In London a secret society
named the Black Temple plans to change the course of history. The only way for Antoine Marcas to stop them is
to solve the ultimate mystery of the Templars.
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identified, and Verhoeven is familiar with his habits and modus operandi, though he knows less about the victim
who was left for dead. The cop plunges head-first into a relentless man-hunt that soon becomes a shattering
personal affair. Here, the art of suspense and fear are taken to the point of perfection, without devices or trickery.
Pierre Lemaitre is a master of the crime genre. His last novel, ALEX (Albin Michel, 2011) rights sold to
UK (Maclehose Press /Quercus), Germany (Ullstein), Spain (Circulo de Lectores), Italy (Mondadori), Portugal
(Porto Editora / Sextante), Poland (Muza SA), Romania (Trei Editura), Russia (Inostranka), Turkey (Can
Yayinlari) and Korea (Dasan Book) , won him outstanding critical and public acclaim, both in France and
abroad.
Rights sold to: Italy (Mondadori)
Thilliez, Franck: ATOMKA
(Fleuv noir-10/18, October 2012, 336 pages)
There is a frontier between the moment when life ends and death begins. Some have been there….
A year and a half after the end of GATACA, Detective Lucie Henebelle and Inspector Franck Sharko
live together and are trying, in vain, to have a baby. A few days before Christmas what is waiting for them is far
from the good news they had been hoping for.
A current events journalist is found frozen to death trapped in his freezer. His colleague, and girlfriend,
has gone missing while investigating and visiting the most polluted areas of the world. Her only trace is her
name scribbled on a piece of paper found on a wandering and extremely ill child whose organs show signs of
premature aging. At the same time, a case regarding abducted women resurfaces; women who were thrown
unconscious but alive into near frozen lakes and rescued in extremis thanks to mysterious phone calls to the
police.
A double manhunt that will lead them to a killer obsessed by the phenomena of hypothermia and whose
traces bring them to the darkest of all destinations: Chernobyl and its exclusion zone.
Franck Thilliez is the author of TRAIN D’ENFER POUR ANGE ROUGE and DEUILS DE MIEL (La
Vie du Rail, 2003 and 2006), LA CHAMBRE DES MORTS, LA FORÊT DES OMBRES, LA MÉMOIRE
FANTÔME, L’ANNEAU DE MOEBIUS and FRACTURES (Le Passage, between 2005 and 2009). LA
CHAMBRE DES MORTS, adapted to the screen in 2007, received the Quai du Polar Reader’s Prize in 2006
and the SNCF French Thriller Award in 2007. All his works, acclaimed by the critics, have turned into
bestsellers immediately after publication.
Rights sold for previsou books sold: US (Penguin), Spain (Destino), Spain Catalan (Columna), Italy
(Nord), Germany (Goldmann), The Netherlands (Sijthoff), Brazil (Intrinseca), Russia (Atticus), Taiwan
(Eurasian Publishing Group), Portugal (Sextante), Turkey (Pegasus), Japan (Hayakawa)
Jaouen, Hervé: DANS L’ŒIL DU SCHIZO
(Presses de la Cité, October 2012, 340 pages)
The delirium and madness of a man turns into a nightmare for his family and society at large...
Raised in a well-off family, Jean-Luc Gouézec leads the picture-perfect life with his wife and two
children. He found success early on – he created his own company after school and now finds himself at the
head of a multinational corporation. But two failures, one right after the other, reveal his pre-existing
schizophrenic personality.
Little by little, Jean-Luc becomes the prey of a paranoid sense of persecution combined with a form of
zoopsy; he sees terrifying animals everywhere. Jean-Luc’s wife tries to get him to seek help but he resists. She
develops a plan to leave with their two children, but she waited too long to execute it. When his mental illness
reaches it peak, Jean-Luc begins to kill. After being temporarily held in a psychiatric hospital, he manages to
escape and for three days, goes on a merciless killing spree...
Hervé Jaouen is the author of several thrillers and general fiction including CEUX DE KER-ASKOL
(2009) and CEUX DE MENGLAZEG (2011), both published by Presses de la Cité. He has won several literary
prizes for his work.
“One of the most talented prophets of the neo-noir and one of the most original French novelists.” Le
Magazine littéraire
60
FICTION
What if the most important presidential change in 2012 were not the outcome of the French or even the
American elections? What if the political upheaval with the most ominous consequences for the future of the
planet was taking place in China, where, following the 18th Communist Party congress, a new leadership was
chosen? The bloody battle has already begun… on February 6th, 2012.
As the sombre, grey day draws to a close, a policeman steps out of an official car driven by a vice
colonel of the Chinese army and enters the Chengdu American consulate, where he remains for almost thirty
hours. This policeman’s nickname is ‘China’s Eliott Ness’ and he holds secrets that could pull down China’s
entire political system, creating a shock-wave with incalculable consequences.
Everything is true in this nail-biting novel that keeps its readers on tenterhooks. The author’s ultimate
goal is to give us the keys to understand today’s geopolitics.
Philippe Dessertine is a professor at Nanterre University and director of the Institut de haute finance. He
has written three well-received analyses of the state of today’s world economy: CECI N’EST PAS UNE CRISE,
LE MONDE S’EN VA-T-EN GUERRE and LA DÉCOMPRESSION.
Graham, Patrick: DES FAUVES ET DES HOMMES
(Anne Carrière, September 2012, 442 pages)
Alabama, 1931. The Great Depression and dust storms have hit the southern states of the USA, ruining
investors and putting thousands of families on the road. As the economy flounders and refugee camps mushroom
along the highways, a bank manager is shot down by a certain Sidney Clifford, a black tenant farmer who’s lost
everything he ever owned. But Clifford doesn’t leave the scene of the crime empty-handed; he takes with him
compromising documents that his victim was holding for the Mafia.
Swept into a gory road-movie that takes them through a country ravaged by economic crisis, Sidney
Clifford and Carsona, a teenager who escaped when his family was massacred, get tied into a merciless struggle
for survival, against banks and corrupt men from Washington. As the rumour of their exploits spreads, and they
become legends in the press, their paths cross the magnificent and the miserable, lives built and demolished,
wolves and men.
After the success of L’ÉVANGILE SELON SATAN, L’APOCALYPSE SELAON MARIE and
RETOUR À RÉDEMPTION, Patrick Graham has become one of the most distinguished authors of the thriller
genre in Europe. Translated into nine languages, his books have been in the best-seller lists in France, Germany,
Italy and Spain.
Grangé, Jean-Christophe: KAÏKEN
(Albin Michel, September 2012, 400 pages)
When Olivier Passan, a crime squad cop, and Keïko, his Japanese wife, decide to divorce and to take
turns occupying their home, they have no notion of the nightmare to come!
On her first night, Keiko discovers a skinned foetus in the fridge. The second night, bloods streams
down the walls of the shower cabinet – the blood of their own children, drained each night from their veins…
Passan is convinced that these acts of vengeance are perpetrated by a murderer he’s been tracking for months.
But after the killer dies, he realizes that the threat is in some way connected to Keiko’s past…
So he sets off for Tokyo to find his wife. There, he discovers her mind-blowing secret and the terrifying
origins of their children.
An author of unique thrillers whose works, from LE VOL DES CICOGNES to LE PASSAGER, are
translated into 30 languages and regularly adapted for film, Jean-Christophe Grangé is the only French novelist
capable of holding his own among the international masters of the genre.
Rights sold to : Germany (Lübbe), Poland (Albatros), Greece (Kalendis), Russia (AzbookaAtticus/Inostranka) and Turkey (Dogan Kitap)
“Un thriller haletant et violent avec une chute spectaculaire très réussie, relevée d’une pointe
d’humour.” Le Figaro
Lemaitre, Pierre: SACRIFICES
(Albin Michel, October 2012, 368 pages)
Witness to a hold-up among the Champs-Elysées jewellers, Anne Forestier, Commander Verhoeven’s
lover, manages to escape the robber’s murderous rage by the skin of her teeth. The master criminal is very soon
59
THRILLERS
Born in Belgium, Nadine Monfils is renown in the realm of crime novels. She has published several and
has made her mark with her original writing style. Her last novel LES VACANCES D’UN SERIAL KILLER
(Belfond, 2011) was a great success and has been translated into Italian (Neri Pozza).
“Really poignant, colourful, joyful!” Jean-Pierre Jeunet (film maker)
Monfils, Nadine: LES VACANCES D’UN SERIAL KILLER
(Belfond/Place des editeurs, June-November 2012, 300 pages)
50,000 copies sold in France
In this black comedy, the Destrooper family is on holiday at a bed & breakfast where another one of the
guests is a serial killer who recently escaped from prison. After filming one of his murders, the teenage kids try
to blackmail him. It’s probably not wise to confront a serial killer, but then again, nobody has a Granny quite like
theirs.
Rights sold to: Italy (Neri Pozza)
Monfils, Nadine: LES ENQUÊTES DU COMMISSAIRE LÉON VOL 1 & 2
(Belfond/Place des editeurs, February 2012, 230 pages)
In two volumes, rediscover the first four investigations of the quirky Commissioner Léon, the cop who
secretly knits ever since he quit smoking, makes old-fashioned clothing for his dog, spends all of his time in a
bistrot in Montmartre and still lives with his mother...Nadine Monfils in all her splendor!
Monfils, Nadine: LA PETITE FÊLÉE AUX ALLUMETTES
(Belfond/Place des editeurs, February 2012, 230 pages)
After her grandmother’s death, Nake discovers terrifying family secrets. This on top of the awful
visions of little girls’ dead bodies that appear each time she lights a match. And when the photos of these same
little girls are published in the newspaper the day after each vision, things get complicated...A quirky thriller
tinged with black comedy and poetry.
Author and filmmaker, Nadine Monfils has written nearly 20 crime thrillers. She has won a number of
literary prizes for her works.
THRILLERS
Loevenbruck, Henri & Mazza, Fabrice: SERUM
SAISON 1, ÉPISODE 1, 2 ,3, 4
(Flammarion, March 2012, 192 pages)
1773: Mesmer invents hypnosis. 1886: Freud invents psychoanalysis. 2012: Draken invents serum…
One injection. Seven minutes to gain access to the deep subconscious of Emily Scott. One notebook to
decipher her phantasmagorical visions. A few days to prevent the worse. But, as the number of suspicious deaths
increases, the NYPD starts to wonder whether Arthur Draken is a brilliant psychiatrist or a dangerous criminal…
Henri Loevenbruck is 36 years old. A journalist and writer, he also writes film scripts. He is the author
of thirteen books, including thrillers and adventure novels. He has published ten novels with Editions
Flammarion and Editions Braguelonne. His books have been translated into more than fifteen languages. The
Russian rights for his previous books are sold to Inostranka/Atticus.
In France, Fabrice Mazza is the grandmaster of brainteasers. More than one million of his puzzle books
have been sold across the globe.
Dessertine, Philippe: LE GUÉ DU TIGRE
(Anne Carrière, October 2012, 325 pages)
Philippe Dessertine, a specialist in finance and international economy, produces a gripping thriller about
one incredible night, whose protagonists are a man and a woman who have nothing in common, and shadowy
background figures who are none other than the masters of our world.
58
FICTION
Caught between militant radical ecologists and powerful industrialists who have the police as allies,
Commissioner Tavianello will have a hard time keeping a cool head and not letting herself get caught up in a
conspiracy theory.
“Quadruppani’s writing is both light and acerb, cuttingly funny.” Le Monde
SATURNE
(JC Lattès, September 2010, 250 pages)
A politico-crime thriller against the backdrop of high finance and shady transactions.
In the thermal baths of Saturn, Rome’s most popular relaxation spot, a man opens fire, killing three
people and wounding several others before making an escape. Commissioner Simona Tavianello, in charge of
the investigation, sides with private detective Cedric Rottheimer, hired by a jealous husband to trail an unfaithful
wife, who is one of the victims of the shooting. Soon the investigation uncovers multiple and complex interests
in the drama at Saturn: mafia, screen companies, and even the government, all want a share of a huge sum of
money acquired in a most shameful manner.
“The reader is carried away by the force of the narration and the numerous twists and turns in this
literally devouring novel.” Le Canard enchainé
Well known author of crime novels and essays, Italian translator (Camilleri, Evangelisti), Serge
Quadruppani collaborates with several publications such as Le Monde diplomatique. He also heads the
collection Bibliotèque italienne with Editions Métaillié. He was awarded the Prix de Quai des Polars – 20
Minutes for Saturn.
Foreign rights of his Simona Tavianello sold in Italy, Greece and the US.
Aubert, Brigitte: THE CINEMATOGRAPH DETECTIVE
1. THE MIRROR OF SHADOWS
2. THE DANCE OF ILLUSIONS
3. MACABRE SCREENINGS
4. THE SECRET OF THE ABBAYE
(Fleuve Noir-10/18, 420 pages)
Louis Denfert is a young and dashing reporter who happens to investigate a series of dark mysteries.
Like a precursor to Rouletabille, he hunts the truth down across Europe. This series covers the years 1890 to
1900 and the highly original plots are based on the cinema, the opium of the decade that totally remodeled the
20th Century’s imaginary.
Savory anecdotes and references to the cinema, all from an expert who passionately distills everything
you have always wanted to know about the beginnings of the 7th art.
Brigitte Aubert was born in Cannes in 1956. She works as a program planner for the cinema and has
published fifteen or so thrillers (Le Seuil), including La Mort des bois, which received the Grand Prize for
Detective Novels in 1997, as well as detective novels for young adults.
“Orchestrating unstoppable suspense and skillfully manipulating the art of the cliffhanger and the
unexpected, Brigitte Aubert has begun a promising series.” Ciné Live
“The first two volumes are a delight and can be read like a comic book.” Cosmopolitan
Monfils, Nadine: LA PETITE FÊLEE AUX ALLUMETTES
(Belfond, February 2012, 264 pages)
A new thriller, full of black humour and poetry, by one of the most comical writers of crime novels.
One night, in the streets of Pandore, Nake, a young woman, meets a crazy man who abducted her. She
manages to escape and takes refuge at her grandmother’s place. Her grandmother raised her since her mother
died when she was only a child. But Nake finds her grandmother dead, with a box of matches in her hand, which
reminds our heroine of the famous Little Match Girl’s story… She soon realises that each time she strikes a
match, she can see a dreadful crime scene, one that really does take place only a few hours later…
57
LITERARY CRIME & SUSPENSE NOVELS
Brou-la-Noble, where a clue is hidden. The young mire (doctor) then heads to Alençon where she wants to
confront the bishop who betrayed her father. Next stop, Nocé, where indignation and anger flare up: the priest of
Saint-Martin’s church and his sexton are impaled, precious religious objects are stolen, and the church
vandalised.
Apparently none of the villagers have seen or heard a thing. This does not however stop them from
persecuting a man whose sole defects are laziness and drunkenness. Will Druon manage to save him? And why,
then, is a notary found murdered in the same detestable manner? Why do some believe that the solution to the
enigma lies in the stained glass? And what if the secret to the stone were lodged in the stained glass representing
the martyr St Eustache of Rome?
Druon is both enthralled and moved to hold in her hands thousands of years of human knowledge that
Church powers are attempting to cover up. And what if her father’s quest aimed at restoring knowledge to
humanity?
Andrea H. Japp is one of the queens of the French detective novel. She has already published 28 works
and is translated into 5 languages English, German, Spanish, Russian (Geleos and Family Leisure Club/Hemiro)
and Portuguese. This is the third volume of a highly acclaimed and successful series Druon de Brévaux: already
published AESCULAPIUS and LACRIMAE.
T.4 IN ANIMA VILI
France, in the early 14th century. Héluise, who is wanted by the Inquisition, takes to the road in the guise
of an itinerant male doctor, and goes under the name of Druon de Brevaux. Her father, Jehan Fauvel, died while
jailed by the Inquisition. Igraine, a descendant of Druids and protector of her people, is using a piece of a
stained-glass church window to try to get back an important manuscript that Fauvel found; but the Church is on
her trail, as are other powerful people who want these key texts.
Héluise-Druon realizes that her enemies will stop at nothing to prevent her from accomplishing her
father’s quest: bringing knowledge to humanity to free it from fear and superstition. Terrified that the ancient
texts might fall into the wrong hands, Héluise-Druon gains entrance into Dame-Marie Abbey, where there has
been a strange and deadly epidemic. Will she find the truth in the age-old texts everyone is searching for?
Andréa H. Japp is the author of many historical detective novels. In anima vili is the fourth volume in
the popular “The Mysteries of Druon de Brevaux,” series, about a medieval doctor-detective. The quality and
success of Druon de Brevaux’s preceding adventrues: AESCULAPIUS, LACRIMAE and TEMPLA MENTIS.
Altogether, over 50,000 copies sold.
Quadruppani, Serge: THE SIMONA TAVIANELLO’S INVESTIGATIONS
MADAME COURAGE
The third investigation by the vivacious Simona Tavianello, retired anti-mafia police commissioner,
takes place between the corruption of Northern League of Venetia and a section of Paris dealing with tense
religious and racial conflict.
Simona Tavianello was forced to retire because of her participation in a public protest. Her husband has
offered her a trip to Paris in order to put some distance between Simona and a handsome beekeeper who has
caught her eye. While dining in a chic couscous restaurant in the Marais, a severed hand appears in the middle of
the serving dish. This macabre event is linked to the propagation of a mixture of drugs called Madame Courage,
used by Algerian army commandos during the war in the nineties. Much to her husband’s chagrin, Simona
becomes interested in the zombie killers of this war who were recycled into a corrupt secret service with
financial interest all the way to Venice.
LA DISPARITION SOUDAINE DES OUVRIÈRES
Une enquête au cœur des débats écologiques
A series of unexplained murders has begun to traumatize an Italian region and it won’t take long before
Simona gets involved. Who has been distributing tracts signed “The Bee Revolution”? Who would harm a
defenseless beekeeper? What suspicious experiments are being carried out in the laboratories of the
multinational agricultural company, Sacropiano?
56
FICTION
DETECTIVE SERIES
Japp, Andrea H.: LES MYSTÈRES DE DRUON DE BRÉVAUX
(Flammarion, 2010-2011)
Through lively, poignant and effective stories, Andrea H. Japp brings together the art of breathtaking,
twist-filled stories and the universe of the historic novel. The breathless plots of her novels are set off by a
formidable writing style.
Jehan Fauvel, reputed mire (doctor), is sentenced to death during the Inquisition (14th century), because
of his unusual medical practices. But the real reason for his arrest is no other than a red stone, which has already
caused much blood to flow, and whose mystery he seeks to penetrate. When Jehan understands that he has been
betrayed, he is dogged by only one fear: that the Inquisition will encroach on his daughter Héluise, his passion
and his most brilliant student. The young woman has no choice but to escape. Disguised as a young doctor
named Druon, she is determined to solve the deadly enigma of the stone. On the way, Druon meets Huguelin,
and he takes her along with him.
Andrea H. Japp is one of the queens of French detective novels. Her works include a successful
historical detective series, called LA DAME SANS TERRE (150,000 copies sold in France and rights sold in 5
countries: the UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Russia).
T. 1 AESCULAPIUS
(Flammarion, February 2010, 448 pages)
Shortlisted for the Grand Prix Palatine du Roman Historique
Over 11,000 copies sold through the GLM book club
Druon and Hugelin cross paths with the imperious and imposing Countess Béatrice, who governs her
domain with an iron fist. While it would be within her power to kill Druon and Huguelin, she decides to spare
their lives. On one condition: that the young mire rids her of a monstrous creature that has already brutally
massacred half a dozen peasants and a priest. A superstitious terror has infiltrated all of the Countess’
underlings; some believe that the devil himself is at work. Relying on science and reasoning, and after a series of
twists, Druon will gradually undo the nefarious web woven around the Countess. And unravel the mystery.
“With this rich and suggestive novel, Andrea H. Japp makes us shake with fear but also entertains us
cleverly.” Le Figaro Littéraire
“A brilliant toxicologist, Andrea H. Japp renews the usual recipe for the medieval thriller – politico
religious plots, millenarian atmosphere – with her investigator of a brand new genre; she has concocted a
diabolical cocktail for which there is no antidote.” Le Point
T. 2 LACRIMAE
Over 11,000 copies sold through the GLM book club
Druon is back on the road, accompanied by the young Huguelin. Practising medicine along the journey,
She arrives at the wealthy and renowned Abbey of the Holy Trinity, whose monks are scathingly criticised,
accused of lacking charity and exploiting the common folk to get rich. A miserly well-to-do haberdasher is
found, and a little while after, a young monk is discovered dead in the forest, executed in the same manner.
During the stay of Druon and Huguelin in the neighborhood, five murders occur: the victims are stabbed in the
back with their right hands cut off – the punishment inflicted on thieves. The head abbot has no intention of
allowing the forces of secular justice to investigate, but the bailiff of Nogent-le-Rotrou requests Druon’s help to
solve this mystery.
The young doctor wonders what the five murdered men had in common and, as always, he relies on
science and reasoning.
T.3 TEMPLA MENTIS
Héluise is still roving under the alias of Druon de Brévaux, hounded by the Inquisition and Monsieur de
Nogaret, the bishop of Alençon. Her aim is to discover why the illustrious Jehan Fauvel, her father, was tortured.
And to find out what he knew about the powers of the red stone which the Vatican and the King of France are
itching to possess. In this new adventure, following the advice of the sage Igraine, she approaches the town of
55
brain injury, Stephen suffers from identity problems and sometimes thinks he really is the scientist. When the
real Harris dies, Stephen decides to continue his battle and sets off to Ecuador with Harris’ widow to lead an
investigation. They find themselves caught up in a cascade of extraordinary adventures before falling in love
with one another…
DOUBLE IDENTITÉ is a thriller as well as a romantic novel. With a great sense of humour, in the style
of Indiana Jones, this book evokes scientific questions about earth and environment but also about hypnosis,
coma and the healing effect of plants.
A novelist, Didier Van Cauwelaert is also successful with playwriting, screenwriting or even writing a
libretto for a musical. Having conquered the French audience, Didier Van Cauwelaert now reaches to the whole
world with translations into 25 languages and worldwide sales of 4 300 000 copies. His first book gathered
praise from readers, critics and literary prizes, the most prestigious of which, the Prix Goncourt, was awarded to
him in 1994 for UN ALLER SIMPLE. The American movie Unknown, based on HORS DE MOI, came out in
2011, starring Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger.
Moore, Viviane: AINSI PUIS-JE MOURIR
(Fleuve Noir, February 2012, 312 pages)
Sample English translation available
In present days haunted by tragedies of the past, History and passion intertwine After marrying Philip
Sedley, the young romance novelist Gabrielle Dancel moves into the Chateau de Tourlaville. Her rural childhood
was filled with stories of the dramas that unfolded in this castle, which she now yearns to make her own. She
finds the society disconcerting, with all the codes, unspoken rules, and a husband who is infinitely more
mysterious than he initially seemed.
A world from which she draws the subject of her next novel, inspired by the true story of Julien and
Marguerite, a brother and sister who, in the 16th century, lived a strong relationship until their death which may
have been not only tragic but also incestuous.
Inhabited by her novel in progress, Gabrielle seems to straddle the past and the present and Philip’s
sister’s arrival to the castle leads to further confusion. Is History repeating itself? Madness, tragic love affairs,
murder… Perhaps it is the castle itself that, throughout the centuries, relentlessly besieges its inhabitants?
Of Irish-Italian origin, Viviane Moore is completely French, although her name certainly wouldn’t tell
you so. Her writing knows no borders, neither geographic nor temporal. At the age of 19 she became a
photographer, then a journalist and then worked for the Cartier Foundation. Her first novels were published in
1997, to immediate success. She has already published the series “MYSTERIES IN 12TH CENTURY
EUROPE” that sold nearly 180.000 copies at Éditions 10/18. Her books have been translated into English,
Italian, Polish and Korean.
Japp, André H.: EN CE SANG VERSÉ
(Flammarion, May 2012, 408 pages)
The Kingdom of France, in the early 14th century. Hardouin cadet-Venelle is Mr. Justice de Mortagne,
the town’s executioner. He is cultivated, handsome and has amassed a substantial fortune. Torturing and killing
do not bother him particularly, even though he draws no “satisfaction” from them. But one day, everything
changes as he executes an innocent woman. Feeling complicit in a murder, he decides to take justice into his own
hands.
In this, the second episode of Hardouin’s adventures, Agnes, the daughter of Deputy Bailiff Arnaud de
Tisans, who has become a nun in the Abbey of Clairets, is found strangled. Is it a heinous crime? Most probably,
as her pittance was stolen. In charge of the investigation, Hardouin suspects the Abbess, Mme de Gausbert. In
spite of her sorrow at the death and her own flawless reputation, she seems unwilling to see them search the
place. Will this murder lead to others? And what does Mahaut de Vigonrin – accused of poisoning – have to do
with it all?
Hardouin will have to threaten, bully and blackmail to ensure that justice is served. Unfortunately,
justice is merciless and those who want it must never expect to be rewarded.
Andrea H. Japp has already published numerous novels; crime and historical fiction. EN CE SANG
VERSÉ is the second volume of the series "M. DE MORTAGNE, BOURREAU".
54
FICTION
Which could put a serious stopper on the island’s renowned piano-music festival, which attracts the rich
and famous from around the world. Will the answer be found in the Chartreuse’s 15th-century pharmacy, whose
ancient formulas for poisons have disappeared, or in an ancient malediction spreading through the streets
crammed with tourists? Past and present intertwine. Once again, Pilar Más is confronted with an obscure truth
that forces her to observe her island and her nearest and dearest with an investigator’s cool eye. Like the
Inquisitors used to?
Martín Solanes has Catalan roots. She has been spending part of the year in Majorca for almost 20
years. A specialist in medieval literature and cooking, she explores the secrets of an island that is far more
mysterious than the millions of tourists who visit it each year would ever dream of. A novel with all the magic of
Majorca, featuring the singular duo of police officers introduced by Martín Solanes in QUAND LA LUNE
SERA BLEUE, the first tome of SUITES MAJORQUINES.
Miské, Karim: ARAB JAZZ
(Viviane Hamy, March 2012, 320 pages)
English sample available
Paris: in the cosmopolitan 19th arrondissement, Ahmed, a daydreamer addicted to thrillers, is horrified
to discover his neighbour’s body hanging from her balcony. The crime scene has been laid out for gruesome
effect: alongside the corpse, with its savagely mutilated genitals, someone has placed a bloodstained joint of
pork. Symbols that label her, in the eyes of the local residents, as a ‘woman tainted by impurity’.
Rachel Kupferstein and Jean Hamelot – she, a fiery Jewish woman, he the son of a rationalist
communist – are put in charge of the investigation. Are they dealing with a religious crime, carried out by a
fanatic from the Lubavitch or Salafist communities? Should they listen to idle tittle-tattle from a neighbourhood
barber who points the finger at Ahmed? And what about Laura’s strange family, Jehovah’s Witnesses whose
influence extends as far as New York? Is this act connected with the appearance of a particularly powerful drug
in the area?
Laura’s closest friends – Rebecca, who is Jewish and has left to marry a Jew in Brooklyn, and Bintou
and Aïcha, sisters of the local Muslim leaders – will be key to solving a gigantic puzzle linking drug traffickers
and religion all the way from Paris to New York.
Born in 1964 in Abidjan to a Mauritanian father and French mother, Karim Miské grew up in Paris
before leaving to study journalism in Dakar. He now lives in France, and has been making documentary films
since 1990. ARAB JAZZ is his first novel.
“Une entrée remarquée dans le genre. (…) deux flics qui pourraient être inventés par Fred Vargas.
Plus le récit avance, plus Karim Miské maitrise le tempo et trouve sa propre voix (…) Un auteur est né.”
L’Express
Molay, Frédérique: DÉJEUNER SOUS L’HERBE
(Fayard, March 2012, 330 pages)
Twenty-seven years after burying the remains of a feast under the lawn of the Parc de la Villette, amid
great ceremony, Samuel Cassian inaugurates an archaeological dig to uncover the buried work. Aired live on
television around the world, nobody expects to discover a human skeleton among the excavator's first shovelfuls.
Nico Sirsky, head of France's famous criminal investigation division 36, Quai des Orfèvres, is on the spot.
However, the Parisian park, built on the old site of the huge Parisian abattoirs (slaughterhouses), soon offers up
another victim: a young man is brutally murdered in the park that very night. The following day, another man
falls victim to the murderous frenzy of the killer already being called the “ butcher of the Villette”... Convinced
the cases are connected and that he is dealing with a Homophobic killer, Nico Sirsky finds himself swept up in a
race against the clock.
Frédérique Molay skillfully explores essential questions of human existence. Her subtle character
portrayal and attention to detail rivaling the works of Mary Higgins Clark. DÉJEUNER SOUS L’HERBE is the
sequel to DENT POUR DENT and LA 7E FEMME, translated into seven languages.
Van Cauwelaert, Didier: DOUBLE IDENTITÉ
(Albin Michel, April 2012, 245 pages)
In this tremendous adventure story we meet once again the hero of HORS DE MOI, the CIA agent
Stephen Lutz. Stephen Lutz’s cover name is Martin Harris, a famous botanist who fights against multinational
firms, guilty of despoiling the Amazonian Indians by exploiting their sacred plants for profit. After a traumatic
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Forma, Dominique:VOYOUCRATIE
(Rivages/noir, September 2012, 192 pages)
Francis Demado, a.k.a. “Francis the Parisian” has risen through the ranks of the hoodlumocracy: drugs,
robbery, nightclubs… At age 51, he’s ready to turn things over to his friend and associate, Buko. But amongst
mobsters, trust is even harder to earn than money, and before he hands over his business, Francis needs to see
how reliable his partner is. And the best way to do that is to spread rumors. So Francis lets it be known that he
pulled off a sweet deal but didn’t give Buko his fair share. How will Buko react? All Francis has to do is wait
and see. And he sure is going to get an eyeful. He has opened a terrible Pandora’s Box. Bye-bye, comfortable
retirement. There is no rest for weary thieves. You always have to stay one step ahead of the competition.
A novel composed of short, efficient scenes; you can tell that Dominique Forma is a filmmaker. Doing
away with psychology, he makes room for action and dark humor, portraying the hoodlum life with caustic
irony, like an anthropologist describing an exotic tribe. Light years away from typical gangster mythology,
VOYOUCRATIE is a good, old-fashioned, hard-boiled tale, unlike anything else in contemporary crime fiction.
Nozière, Jean-Paul: LE CHAT AUX AGUETS
(Rivages/noir, October 2012, 352 pages)
A rape, followed, years later, by three unexplained deaths. The only thing all four crimes have in
common is some ceramic statuettes.
Milène and Yonis, nicknamed Mickey and Minnie, have been head over heels in love since they were
little kids: yet when she was 10, Minnie was raped, and nothing has ever been the same. Former cop Christian
Milius, a.k.a. “Slo,” hasn’t been able to get over the murder of his colleague Bénédicte. Visiting her grave, he
finds strange figurines of a cat, a lamb, a dog and a golf club, as well as a box of matches, on the tombstone.
With the help of Yasmina, he tries to figure out what they mean, and winds up uncovering two other crimes.
Nothing seems to connect them, aside from the presence of the same statuettes.
What do all these corpses have in common? What do the figurines mean? Slo and Yasmina try to solve
the mystery before death strikes again.
In this fourth investigation for the duo composed of Milius, a retired policeman, and Yasmina, a young
North African woman whose brother, a cop, was assassinated, the dramatic tension builds gradually, and the
clues appear little by little. The surreal madness of Nozière’s world is disturbing, frightening and fascinating…
right to the very last page.
Jean-Paul Nozière, is a key name in French crime fiction. He has written over 60 books, both for young
people and for adults. He won the 2007 Grand Prix du Roman noir français at the Cognac Detective film festival
for LE SILENCE DES MORTS, the first investigation in the Christian Milius cycle.
Barde Cabuçon, Olivier: CASANOVA ET LA FEMME SANS VISAGE
(Actes Sud, February 2012, 328 pages)
In 1759 a faceless woman is found dead in Paris. Volnay, the Inspector in charge of the suspicious
deaths, is to deal with the inquiry. Overseen by Sartine, who has a dim view of this unorthodox investigator, and
assisted by both a strange monk and by Casanova himself, Volnay follows the trail of a crime that could
implicate Louis XV and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour.
This is the first exhilarating instalment of a promising set of historical detective novels starring Volnay,
the Inspector of the Suspicious Deaths.
Olivier Barde-Cabuçon, passionate about literature, art, and history, is the author of ADIEUX A
L’EMPIRE and of DÉTECTIVE DE FREUD. His partiality for detective novels and his interest in the 18th
century have led him to create the “Inspector of the Suspicious Deaths.”
Solanes, Martín: PAR LE SANG DE L’ERMITE
Christmas in Majorca is one big celebration. But for Brother Adam, a monk assassinated in his
hermitage, it is death. Without resurrection. A new crime for police commissioner Bruno Montaner and Pilar
Más, his crime-scene photographer to solve: why would anyone want to kill such a saintly man? When they
discover another crime, in the Chartreuse de Valdemossa, where Georges Sand and Frédéric Chopin had their
idyll, they become convinced that God has abandoned mankind and armed an avenger.
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FICTION
in a warehouse, but to no avail. Over-qualified. Black, too, which doesn’t make things any easier. So, tired of
interviews that lead nowhere, disgusted, at bay, he does something stupid, and builds a bomb. It’s fake, but he’s
the only one who knows that, and in the meantime, it makes him extraordinarily persuasive, particularly in the
Post Offices he starts robbing. One day, in the middle of a robbery, he meets a red-headed young woman who
was planning to do the same thing. Lu. Meeting her turns the formerly respectable family man into a bandit on
the run.
A short novel that reads like a political fable, along the lines of the “neo-detective story”.
From Westlake’s The Ax to Ledun’s Visage écrasés, certain themes are recurrent in today’s noir novels:
mental anguish in the workplace, fear of unemployment, and the loss of social identity when you’re out of work.
Christian Roux gives it an unusual new twist.
A writer, a musician and a composer of incidental music, Christian Roux is best-known as a novelist,
thanks to BRAQUAGES, winner of the SNCF’s First Detective Novel Award, which is currently being adapted
for the cinema. KADOGOS, his previous novel at Rivages, won the 2011 Michel Lebrun Lycéens Prize.
Chabrol, Elsa: EMPRISE
A love story cum breathlessly fast-paced detective story.
Babou, a wealthy 30-something woman, spends free time visiting prisoners. She starts meeting
regularly with an inmate named Lucas. They develop an intimate relationship and Babou - who, legally, is not
allowed to ask him questions about his crime - nonetheless learns that he did not actually commit the crime in
question (the double murder of a rich heiress and her young daughter). Lucas has been paid off - very, very well
- to take the blame. Babou does not believe him, but when he gives her information leading to a Swiss bank
account, indeed each month he receives an incredible sum of money. The man she loves, accused of a sordid
crime, is innocent. Babou tries to get the case revisited, but her feelings for Lucas vacillate between love and
disgust and back, at every turn.
Elsa Chabrol is a director, writer, and screenwriter. She is not the daughter of Claude Chabrol.
Galvin, Gerry: KILLER A LA CARTE
(Doire Press / 2 Seas Agency, Fall 2011, 240 pages)
Killer à la Carte is a 3 star Michelin gourmet feast written in language that soothes, seduces, and
hypnotizes. It introduces us to James Livingstone Gall, a respected restaurant critic, creative chef and serial
killer, matched in evil by Claudia Catalano, heiress to a hotel empire. We wine and dine with them and watch as
they kill with ease and impunity. This is the first book from Gerry Galvin, first class chef, restaurateur and poet.
Anthony Bourdain meets Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho!
Bronnec, Thomas: LA FILLE DU HANH HOA
(Rivages/Noir, August 2012, 320 pages)
Who is Lê? This enigmatic young woman who might as a prostitute would seem to be the last person to
have seen Benzel, a former GI living in Vietnam, alive. Did Benzel kill himself? What secrets is his death
hiding?
A former GI is found dead in his room in the Hanh Hoa, a small Vietnamese hotel. It looks like suicide.
The GI was supposed to be meeting another former soldier, who has been trying for 40 years to elucidate the
circumstances of his brother’s death. A young woman had been present then too. Is it a coincidence? Did she
have anything to do with it? The war has been over for a long time, of course, and Vietnam has changed a lot,
but the wounds from this gigantic collective traumatism are far from being completely healed…
The trauma of war. An immersion in a dark and unfamiliar world that is as fascinating as ever, one in
which Thomas Bronnec worked while he was in Vietnam.
Thomas Bronnec, journalist for L’Express, lived in and reported extensively from Vietnam, making
documentaries and investigating a range of topics, including the 1968 My Lai massacre, “Les Fantômes de My
Lai” (France 5, 2009).
51
A native of Caen where he currently resides, ÉricLe Nabour earned early acclaim for the biographies
and historical works he published with Perrin. He is also an expert on the East and the Far East.
La Fragette, Marie: LA SOCIÉTÉ DES KAMIKAZES AMATEURS
(Les Nouveaux auterus, February 2012, 352 pages
Three young French people receive a large sum from the son of the president. Their mission: to sow
chaos, for its own sake. The three rebels – an eco-citizen and a Royalist, plus a terrorist, come together on the
given day to bring Paris to its knees.
Charles de Laremondie, the scion of a rich and noble family, has founded a league for the return of the
King; the league is specialized in performing symbolic actions. Jane Goncalves is at the head of the HEIF, The
Humanist and Eco-Citizen Intervention Front. She is a committed political activist. Charles and Jane often run
into each other at political events, and one day, the President’s son, looking for revenge against his absentee
father, offers a large sum of money to the two of them plus a third person. They can do what they want with it,
on just one condition: make a revolutionary wind blow over France on a certain day, just before the presidential
elections.
On the assigned day, Charles, Jane and Salim, the third person, each have a plan. Jane wreaks damage
on symbols of the world of finance: the Stock Exchange and La Defense, the business district just west of Paris.
Charles takes back the Bastille and installs a statue of King Louis XX. Salim prepares a murderous bomb attack.
All three have tens of thousands of young rebels in the street in their favor. The Presidential Palace barely
escapes unscathed, only because the bomb failed to blow up. The next day, law and order reign once again.
Years later, Salim is an influential businessman, and Charles and Jane are still actively defending their respective
causes.
This tongue-in-cheek novel describes our three young idealists’ senseless rebellion, which leads to that
French specialty: demonstrations in the street. Droll, absurd and surprising.
Marie La Fragette is 28. In 2012, her first novel, CHASSE DE TÊTE received the Coup de coeur
Award from the jury of the Femme Actuelle Award.
Cohen, Thierry: SI TU EXISTES AILLEURS
(Flammarion, May 2012, 380 pages)
“You will die from the heart at the same time as five other people.”
These were the strange words uttered by Anna, the niece of Noam Beaumont, while they were playing
together. Strange words to come from the mouth of a three-year-old child. Terrible, incongruous and scary ones
for a thirty-five-year old single man, overwhelmed by his work, obsessed by death, prone to anxieties, which
may be linked to a premature mid-life crisis or to a drama that he experienced himself as a child. He doesn’t
know.
From that moment on, Noam is obsessed by one single question: when will he die? A psychologist with
unusual methods assures him that his niece’s statement contains a truth based on a known theory: the prophecy
of the innocent. According to this mystical approach, prophets have disappeared from the world because the
forces that govern it can no longer find beings that are sufficiently pure to convey their sayings; only children
and the mentally disabled do sometimes possess this gift. Therefore, Noam is faced with an incredible race
against time: finding the five other people programmed to die at the same time as he is. But only the discoveryrevelation of the fifth name, at the end of his quest, will point to the meaning of Anna’s prophecy.
Thierry Cohen has already signed J'aurai préféré vivre (Plon et Pocket), Je le ferai pour toi and
Longtemps j'ai rêvé d'elle (Flammarion). The Russian rights for the previous titles are sold to Azbooka-Atticus
group.
Roux, Christian: L’HOMME À LA BOMBE
(Rivages/Noir, May 2012, 160 pages)
Larry is an acoustic engineer, but after his company is restructured, he finds himself out of a job. At
forty-something, nobody wants to hire him. But he still has a wife and daughter to support. He even ties for work
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FICTION
Arnaud Delalande is forty years old and the author of eight novels, including LE PIÈGE DE DANTE,
LES FABLES DE SANG and LE JARDIN DES LARMES. He has also published a dozen comic books and is
currently working on writing several films. Often compared to Arturo Perez-Reverte, his work has been
translated in twenty countries.
Rights sold for previous titles: Brazil (Record), Bulgaria (Uniscorp), Canada (Penguin Books), China
(China Citic Press, Jiaxibooks), Croatia (AGM), Czech Republic (Albatros), Germany (Lübbe, Droemer Knaur
Verlag), Greece (Harlenic), Hungary (Gabo), Israel (Kinneret), Italy (Nord), Korea (Hwang-Mae), The
Netherlands (De Bezige Bij), Poland (Albatros), Portugal (Asa-Leya), Romania (Rao), Russia (AST), Serbia
(Laguna), Spain (Castilian: Grijalbo Ediciones), Taiwan (Crown Publishing), Turkey (Dogan Kitapcilik), UK
(Weidenfeld & Nicolson).
Agarmen, Pit: LA NUIT A DÉVORÉ LE MONDE
(Robert Laffont, August 2012, 280 pages)
The last man standing in a zombie apocalypse faces unparalleled destruction.
Humanity has abruptly and mysteriously turned into a race of zombies… barring one man. For months,
he tries to survive the terrors of this apocalypse, hidden in a third-floor apartment. But the folly of the situation
starts driving him mad. He teaches himself to survive, to fight his desperation, and to introspectively take refuge
in his memories, which he writes down. When definitive solitude and imminent death seem inevitable, he
unexpectedly meets another survivor who brings him hope.
This end-of-civilization surrealistic narrative recalls horror classics (Mary Shelley’s THE LAST MAN,
Richard Matheson’s I AM LEGEND, and works by Stephen King or Asimov), fused with more classical stories
about isolated narrators (like ROBINSON CRUSOE). The novel serves as a nightmarish parable of human
violence and fragility.
Pit Agarmen is the pseudonym of a well-known French writer.
Pochon, Jean-Pierre: SONATE POUR UN ESPION
A spy novel, written from the inside, which examines conflicting politics and ideology.
Valta enters the Prague police force in 1968 and actively participates in its repressive regime, spying on
dissidents. Everything changes the day a student named Jan Palach sets himself on fire, right in front of Valta, to
protest the Soviet invasion. Though he continues to work for the Czech Intelligence, he’s disillusioned. When
transferred to work Paris in 1983, his malaise pushes him to relay critical information about the Czech
Intelligence to the French National Police.
This information enables, at a crucial moment during the Cold War standoff, the French services to
implode the Czech Intelligence, thus contributing to the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe. This spy
novel brilliantly discusses the complexities of treachery and ideology.
Jean-Pierre Pochon has held important positions in various intelligence services. He teaches at
Sciences-Po.
Le Nabour, Éric: LA DAME DE KYOTO
(Calmann-Levy, August 2012, 380 pages)
Kyoto, 1904. The Russo-Japonese War is in full swing. Naoki Matsuka has left for the front, leaving his
sister, Myako, incharge of the family silk business they had in herited when their parents were mysteriously
murdered. Upon his return, Naoki learns that his sister has given birth to the child of an English diplomat.
Ordered to divorce his wife and to marry his dishonored sister, the Englishman dithers. Adisappointed Myako
turns to Martin Fallières, a French exile who has asked her to marry him. Naoki is against the match – the
Frenchman isn't wealthy enough - but Martin persists. Irate, Naoki challenges him to a duel and seriously in jures
him.
Martin spends his convalescence in France but is unable to forget Myako. He returns to Kyoto only to
discover that his English rival has taken over the Matsuka's silk business. What is the Englishman really up to?
And why, what is more, has Naoki Matsuka done nothing to stop him? Martin starts looking for answers, never
imagining that he is about discover his own past.
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COMMERCIAL FICTION
and kill off his enemies, who betrayed his father. From Kilimanjaro to the Sea of China, from London to Chile
and from the Bahamas to Death Valley, Franz Cimballi’s incredible adventures will take him from the secret
world of high finance to meetings with Mafia godfathers and emirs. The breathtaking story is told with stunning
realism that will have readers hooked.
Published in installments in France Soir in 1985, this is the first time that LES CORBEAUX À CRANS
D’ARRÊT has been released as a book. An unpublished gem from the author of MONEY.
The author lives in Paris.
Aderhold, Carl: FERMETURE ÉCLAIR
(JC Lattès, August 2012, 330 pages)
What if a group of jobless men won the World Soccer Cup?
Some men are literally electrified by the beauty of women, their possessive instincts immediately
aroused. Others, whose brains are perhaps lacking in imagination, barely register interest among the continual
flow of information they deal with, and still others, like Laurent, are petrified at the mere sight of a woman.
Laurent, a blue collar worker for over twenty years with Contilis, a muffler factory, is suddenly laid off
when his company relocates to the Czech Republic. Following the somewhat aggressive sequestration of his
boss, he finds himself alone, abandoned by his adored wife, who left, taking their son with her. Laurent gets
caught up in a succession of useless training sessions for the long-term unemployed until one day the Regional
Counsel suggests that he, along with his ex-colleagues, play in the World Soccer Cup for the Unemployed.
Carl Aderhold is an editor. He is the author of MORT AUX CONS (50,000 copies sold) and LES
POISSONS NE CONNAISSENT PAS L’ADULTÈRE (translated in Germany and Italy). This is his third novel.
Bourdin, Françoise: SERMENT D’AUTOMNE
(Belfond, March 2012, 308 pages,)
70 000 copies sold in France
A sensitive and touching novel about the complex relationship between twin brothers by one of
France’s foremost writers of commercial women’s fiction.
Guillaume, a brilliant architect, runs a successful company in Versailles. When his twin brother Robin,
a wine grower in Burgundy, asks for his help, Guillaume joins him for a few days. Robin is gravely ill, suffering
from a cancer, and can’t manage the grape harvest alone. Moreover, his wife is pregnant and will soon give
birth… Once there, Guillaume finally decides to stay even if he has to put aside his thriving professional career
and renounce to his former Parisian life…
A best-selling author in France, Françoise Bourdin has published more than thirty novels at Belfond and
is renown in the realm of French commercial women’s fiction. Her novels have been translated into eleven
languages. The Russian rights for several previous books are sold to Hemiro/Family Leisure Cub.
“Françoise Bourdin signe un drame à la fois contemporain et intemporel.” Le Nouvel Observateur
Delalande, Arnaud: NOTRE ESPION D’AMÉRIQUE
(Grasset, January 2013, 416 pages)
The third installment of the adventures of the Venetian secret agent Pietro Viravolta a.k.a. the Black
Orchid, Notre Espion d’Amérique is a great, colorful epic. A cocktail of humor, action, and adventure, this
historical thriller teeming with spies and theatrical twists recounts the secret history of the birth of America from
an exceptionally original angle – that of the “cold war” taking place between the French and British secret
services from 1776 to 1783, when the American people had just begun to take their fate into their own hands.
This is the story of Viravolta, a veritable “18th century James Bond” who reported to the King of
France, as he is thrown into the turmoil of the American Revolutionary War alongside La Fayette, George
Washington, and the other American revolutionaries. Here, we’re transported to a revolutionary moment that,
even before the French Revolution, would go on to change the world by establishing – for the first time ever –
the greatest principles affirmed by humanity: the universal right to life, liberty, and equality.
From the anterooms of Versailles to the Great Plains, the King of England’s entourage to the inner
circles of Washington, and the war of the spies to the epic battles on American soil, it’s as though you’re there to
witness the birth of a nation – and perhaps of a new world: our own.
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FICTION
disconcerting, sense of humour. She cannot resist one-liners or stinging banter, she has a sharp tongue and says
what she thinks.
When comedy and comedy intermingle, it produces Graciane, a love-infused, good-humoured and
gastronomic intrigue.
Valérie Gans is a novelist and journalist at Madame Figaro.
“Un cocktail revigorant, enlevé et savoureux.” Marie Claire
“Un roman aussi délicieux que gourmand, où l’on savoure à la fois l’histoire d’amour, les inventions
culinaires et l’humour omniprésent, sans oublier le carnet de recettes.” Force Ouvrière
“[…] un délicieux roman qui met le lecteur en appétit.” Figaro Madame
“[…] un petit chef d’œuvre d’humour, de légèreté et de gastronomie. Cela fait un bien fou en ces temps
perturbés.” Valeurs actuelles
“[…] un roman de bouche. Une lecture qui fait saliver, une prose qui fait gronder l’estomac.” Le Point
COMMERCIAL FICTION
Frain, Irène: BEAUVOIR IN LOVE
(Michel Lafon, October 2012, 352 pages)
One knows the legend: Simone de Beauvoir, the major intellectual of the 20th century, figure
at the forefront of feminism, and companion of Jean-Paul Sartre. But what do we know of the
tumultuous love which was hidden behind the icon?
1947. Simone de Beauvoir arrivesin the US to give a series of conferences on existentialism.
Nearing 40, Beauvoir meets an unusual American writer, the attractiveand young Nelson Algren.
Their first exchange is a shock and in less than 24 hours, in the slums of Chicago among sordid bars,
hideouts for junkies, and rough flats, Simone becomes alive again. With Algren she will discover
men’s romantic impulses , their furies and their child-like agitations.
The romantic tension constantly fuelled by separations and fleeting reunions becomes
sometimes unbearable. But it also wakes each of the lovers' creative energy. It is during the moments
they shared together that they wrote their masterpieces. Nelson, the novel which will bring him
glory,THE MAND WITH THE ARMS OF GOLD; and Simone, LE DEUXIÈME SEXE, the founding
text of female liberation.
In all, they will have been together for less thana year but the memory of their time together
will haunt them both until death. Throughout this book, Irène Frain makes all the magic and illusion
of their impossible love come back to life. A love which one never forgets.
Using the works of Nelson Algren and Simone de Beauvoir, unedited archives, photos of the
period, and stories from witnesses, Irène Frain captures magnificently the story of their intense love
(1947-1950).
Irène Frain is a writer crowned with a number of prizes and a journalist for Paris Match. She
is the author of LE NABAB, DEVI, LES NAUFRAGÉS DE L’ÎLE TROMELIN and LA RORÊT
DES 29
Sulitzer, Paul-Loup: LES CORBEAUX À CRANS D’ARRÊT
(Le Rocher, November 2012, 340 pages)
In the early 80s, Paul-Loup Sulitzer invented the financial western with Money, Cash! and Fortune, a
stunning trilogy. All three best-selling volumes sold millions of copies, were translated into more than a dozen
languages, and adapted as films. These novels became guidebooks for millions of young people in search of
positive values. They demystified the world of finance and made economics easier to understand.
Franz Cimballi, heir to enormous wealth, has been stripped of everything he owns and sent off to a far
corner of the globe with nothing to his name. With startling energy, he is going to attempt to rebuild his empire
47
WOMEN WRITING
The author was born in Paris in 1962. She has been a journalist for the last twenty years. Her first novel,
BAZAR MAGYAR, a search into family secrets, was published by Héloïse d’Ormesson in 2006.
Rights sold to : Italian/Elliot Edizioni. Rights to BAZAR MAGYAR sold: Dutch/Sirene,
German/Blanvalet, Hungarian/Palatinus
“Un roman plein de sensibilité et de sensualité qui confirme le talent de Viviane Chocas pour raconter
la vie et ses soubresauts, la famille et ses secrets, l'amour, ses délices et ses blessures.” Page
“Un livre qui sent la jeunesse, la fantaisie, la vie. Un détonant mélange de générations, plein d'ardeurs
et de désirs, dans un style gai, cru, enlevé.” Figaro Madame
de Bodinat, Caroline: MARATRE
(Fayard, Mai 2012, 250 pages)
32 years old Mathilde can fend for herself. She always has a ready reply, to the point of insolence.
Emotionally, she doesn't like to tie herself down. And motherhood is not her thing; she likes going out
and sleeping late. Then she meets Jean-Jacques. He's forty-five, divorced and lives in the suburbs with his two
teenage kids, Vincent, sixteen, and Chloe, almost twelve. When the two adolescents enter the picture, the
previously smooth-sailing romance hits choppy waters: weekends, last minute changes of schedule, vacations
together...
Vincent and Chloe are tough; they've made mincemeat of their father's previous girlfriends, but
Mathilde is a fighter. She is determined not to give in, and bends over backwards to please her “stepchildren”,
planning elaborate seduction campaigns to win them over – unsuccessfully. The fact is, all her efforts ever get
her are slammed doors, mixed feelings, jealousy and rivalry. Every so often a small victory is won, in extremis.
Will our apprentice stepmother manage to make a place for herself in her new-found mily? Or will she forfeit the
match?
Caroline de Bodinat is a freelance journalist and works for, among others, Libération and Madame
Figaro.
Girod de l’Ain, Alix: UN BON COUP DE JEUNE
(Anne Carrière, March 2012, 302 pages)
A conjugal comedy, in which she poses a real question for our society: can we – indeed must we –
struggle to lookg young forever?
It happens to all of us – or it will one day: you look at a photo and you barely recognise yourself. ‘Can
that really be me? When 45-year-old Alice Mignan-Bertin suddenly realizes that she and her husband, Nicolas,
have aged, she’s frantic: they will have to fight it Nicolas isn’t thrilled about this prospect, but then it dawns on
him that he too ought to do all he can to push back the years: in his business, advertising, letting signs of age
show is like signing your own death warrant. So the couple sets their metamorphosis in motion. Their friends
and colleagues are going through their own dramas, which all have one thing in common: none of them are
happy with the number of candles on their birthday cake.
For the last fifteen years Alix Girod de l’Ain has been an outspoken journalist for ELLE magazine, She
lives in Paris and is the author of DE L’AUTRE CÔTÉ DU LIT which was adapted for the screen.
“Un roman pétillant. On se gondole, on s’émeut, on s’attache.” Elle
“Nous, lecteurs conquis, on rit à peu près toutes les dix secondes.” Télé 7 jours
Gans, Valérie: LE CHEF EST UNE FEMME
Elle a des recettes pour tout... sauf pour l’amour !
Graciane has recipes for everything… except for love. Her profession: a Michelin-starred chef. She is
divorced, with two teenagers, a boy and a girl, who she raises alone in Paris. She comes from Sarre, a little
village in the Pyrenees above Saint-Jean-de-Luz. In her early forties, she is a good-looking redhead, a little
plump, with a personality that breathes her love for food. She enjoys life, food, flowers, wine, she has a dazzling
smile. Perfectly content with her size 12 and generous bosom, she couldn’t care less about her first wrinkles. She
carries her age with dignity, not trying to look younger, quite the opposite in fact: in her opinion, the body is like
wine, it improves with age! She is sensual, generous both in her body and mind. She has a scathing, sometimes
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FICTION
Nathalie Hug, together with her husband Jérôme Camut, has written seven thrillers among which LES
YEUX D’HARRY and LES MURS DE SANG. LA DEMOISELLE DE TIC-TAC is her second solo novel, after
the press acclaimed L’ENFANT RIEN.
“Le nouveau roman de Nathalie Hug rapelle LA PETITE FILLE AUX ALLUMETTES.” Page
“Un livre qu'on ne peut que conseiller et qu'il faut se procurer au plus vite!” Anamour.fr
“Avec beaucoup de justesse, ce livre nous parle de la guerre, de la haine, de la différence!”
Fibromaman.blogspot.fr
Nakamura, Eriko: NAAANDE!? LES TRIBULATIONS D’UNE JAPONAISE EN
FRANCE
(Robert Laffont, March 2012, 180 pages)
How can these people act this way? This is the question that Eriko Nakamura, a Japanese journalist
settled in France, tries to both understand and explain about Parisians. She has been living in Paris for 10 years
and still asks herself this question every day. With humor and awe, she paints a picture of typical Parisian
behavior to exemplify the differences with the Japanese culture.
Whether using public transportation, at the doctor’s office, out to dinner, in the countryside, by the sea,
at a wedding ceremony, confronted with a policeman or a babysitter, at the market, in public restrooms or in an
upscale store…Eriko Nakamura covers everything there is to know about French behavior in all kinds of
situations and then demonstrates how things are different in Japan.
Despite her jabs at the French, it is clear that Eriko has a love of the people and their culture and the
extraordinary advantage given to everyone, especially women, to make dreams come true.
Eriko Nakamura is a television personality in Japan, first known as a baseball announcer. She is married
to a Frenchman and has two young children, and divides her time between Paris and Tokyo. In Japan, she has
become a specialist on French customs which she describes on TV programs or at conferences. She is also the
spokeswoman of several Japanese fashion designers.
Atlas, Corinne: LES SŒURS RIBELLI
(Fayard, March 2012, 432 pages)
Through the eyes of three sisters, this novel recounts the last years of the 20th century and highlights the
feminist movement that transformed family life – and life in general – in western society.
The exhilarating 1970s. The three Ribelli sisters range in age from 15 to 21. Jeanne, the oldest, is swept
up in the women's liberation movement. She is convinced her future will be found in Paris, far from the
provincial town where she was born. Brigitte, the middle sister, refuses to conform to the emerging feminist
ideology. She is determined to marry a man who will make her a happy housewife. Elsa, the youngest sister, is
sure she'll be a famous writer someday...
But fate has a knack for getting in the way. The Ribelli sisters' lives don't live up to their youthful
dreams. Jeanne becomes a midwife, falls into the arms of a young Italian revolutionary, and winds up as a single
mom. Brigitte sees her dream of conjugal bliss dashed by her philandering husband’s repeated infidelities. She
becomes, almost in spite of herself, the businesswoman of the family. And Elsa's literary aspirations are
sacrificed to an adulterous passion, followed by a devastating depression…
Screenwriter and playwright, Corinne Atlas has also written many films, including Une Famille
Formidable, Le Triporteur de Belleville and Les Inséparables.
Rights sold to: Italy (E/O Edizioni)
Chocas, Viviane: JE VAIS BEAUCOUP MIEUX QUE MES COPAINS MORTS
(Éditions Héloïse d'Ormesson, January 2012, 176 pages)
Blanche runs a creative writing workshop in a nursing home. During the classes, her elderly pupils start
to open up, telling tales and memories from their youth. The stories seem to help the old-age pensioners recover
some of their lost spirit and energy, while Blanche herself is unable to do that. She lives in the moment and is
reluctant to reminisce. But unexpected events will force Blanche to confront her past, too.
Viviane Chocas gives us both laughter and serious ideas in this refined and witty novel about old age.
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WOMEN WRITING
Lenner, Anne: CA VA TROP VITE
(Le Dilettante, August 2012, 288 pages)
Thirty years in the life of a boy from the council flats, torn between dealing and the star system, until
the final deflagration. A fast-paced French ‘Scarface’ story.
Epsilon grew up caught by a low-income neighborhood in the suburbs of Paris. One day, he meets the
dealer Lacrymo, who makes him his right-hand man. All sorts of deals and petty theft follow, until Epsilon’s
brother makes the mistake of touching Nadia, the friend/lover. Tempers flare, and honor knows no bounds. Anne
Lenner’s description of a small-time gang leader’s fall rushes along at breakneck speed; how to deal with
business, love and betrayal all at once.
Anne Lenner is an activist, a globe-trotter and a writer. Her previous works are CAHIN-CAHA, in 2006
and L’AME-SŒUR, in 2009.
Pestre, Isabelle: LA RENCONTRE
(Belfond/Place des editeurs, August 2012, 276 pages)
One evening, Marie accidentally runs over a biker with her car. Shaken by the tragedy and incapable of
taking responsibility, she flees her own life, leaving everything and everyone behind. She finds comfort in the
arms of Alain, the son of a farmer who offers her refuge, with the hopes of forgetting what happened. But she
can’t; Marie reads an article in the newspaper and discovers that the victim, Claire, was the same age as her and
had a small baby, now orphaned. The police search for the person responsible for her death.
Not knowing where else to turn, Marie returns to the scene of the accident. Little by little, she slips into
Claire’s shoes, starts living Claire’s life. Until the day she’ll have to pay the price for what she did...
The Encounter is Isabelle Pestre’s second novel following her critically acclaimed The Eleventh Hour
(Belfond, 2011).
“Un road-movie servi par une écriture subtile.” Le Figaro
Kerymer, Françoise: SEULS LES POISSONS
(JC Lattès, October 2012, 400 pages)
From Paris to New York, from Corfu to Brittany, the story of two generations of women
Marie runs an old bookstore in Paris and is lonely since her musician husband has left for the Greek
Island of Corfu to compose. Her solitude is compounded by the departure of both her daughters. Elsa, her
youngest, is now a medical researcher in New York and her eldest, Sarah, is trying to deal with the painful
disappearance of Gabriel, leaving her alone with their son and the responsibility of the family business.
Marie feels helpless as she watches her family drift apart, each member folding in on their intimate
struggles. When Gabriel reappears, everyone is shocked. The family is forced to reunite, to face the things they
have been avoiding and learn to help each other.
Ex-bookseller, Françoise Kerymer divides her time between Brittany and Paris. She published her first
novel, IL FAUT LAISSER LES CACTUS DANS LE PLACARD in 2010 with JC Lattès.
Hug, Nathalie: LA DEMOISELLE DES TIC-TAC
(Calmann-Lévy, March 2012, 208 pages)
English sample available
A touching story set in Germany and France before and during the Second World War.
Rosy and her mother,Mutti, left the German town Ludwigshafen in 1937 for a better life in France. But
in this little village no one has forgotten the annexation of 1871. Few people reach out to them. It is true that
Mutti admires Hitler, despises priests, Jews and civil servants, and that Mein Kampf is her bedside book … But
for Rosy, aged ten, everyday life is not much fun. When war breaks out and Hitler takes over this part of
Lorraine once again, things change. But not for long. Between November 1944 and March 1945, while the Allies
pound the region, Rosy and her mother take refuge in the cellar. To survive, Rosy clings to her memories. She
has scant provisions and for sole company a little hen and funny spiders with very fine legs which her uncle Edy,
whom she loved like a father, called “the tick-tacks”.
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FICTION
Hochet, Stéphanie: LES EPHÉMÉRIDES
(Rivages, March 2012, 224 pages)
In an elegant part of Glasgow, Tara works at a brothel. She’s getting ready to see Alice, a young
Frenchwoman she fell in love with three years ago.
In addition to her “regular job,” Tara is involved with dog breeding on an isolated farm in the
Highlands. That’s where she takes Alice. While a mysterious prophesy is predicting the end for Great Britain,
the two young women get back together, and their interrupted passion is reignited. A sickly painter, his lover and
Alice’s young niece will join them on the farm. The group will spend three months waiting for March 21, the
fateful day, to arrive.
A powerful novel that combines the visionary aspect of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and the poetry
of Brokeback Mountain.
Stéphanie Hochet was born in 1975. She has written several novels, including the award-winning
COMBAT DE L’AMOUR ET DE LA FAIM (Fayard, Prix Lilas 2009) and LA DISTRIBUTION DES
LUMIÈRES (Flammarion, Prix Thyde Monnier de la Société des Gens de Lettres, 2010).
Olmi, Véronique: NOUS ÉTIONS FAITS POUR ÊTRE HEUREUX
(Albin Michel, August 2012, 230 pages)
When Suzanne visits Serge’s home in Montmartre to tune his son’s piano, Serge doesn’t even notice her
at first. She’s married, as is Serge, who has everything a 60-year-old man could wish for: a well-paid job, a
charming young wife and two lovely children. Why would he want to get involved with the unremarkable
Suzanne? Why would he entrust her with a childhood secret he’s never told anyone else?
With finesse and harmony, Véronique Olmi depicts those crucial moments when the melody of our
lives seems to veer out of tune, leaving us desperately searching for the right note.
Véronique Olmi is an actress, the author of several successful plays and novels: BORD DE MER, UN
SI BEL AVENIR (Actes Sud), LA PLUIE NE CHANGE RIEN AU DÉSIR, LE PREMIER AMOUR, CET
ÉTÉ-LÀ (Grasset), which won the Prix Maison de la presse 2011. Her books have been translated into a dozen
languages.
Rights sold to: Germany (Antje Kunstmann Verlag)
“Un formidable roman d’amour.” Livres Hebdo
“Beaucoup d’amour et de dureté pour un texte fort, qui nous livre les secrets intimes du héros, Serge.
Deux personnages emblématiques, un véritable parcours initiatique.” Page
Eliard, Astrid: SACRÉE MARIE!
(Mercure de France, April 2012, 208 pages)
SACRÉE MARIE ! (Righteous Marie!), is the exhilarating story of a woman who decides to take
revenge on her husband, her ungrateful children and on life in general.
Marie and her spouse, Cornelius, live in a little village in the French countryside. He, a self-proclaimed
herbalist doctor – and an absolute incompetent, devotes himself to writing a reference book about natural
poisons. As for her, she raises their horrible children, cooks and cleans the house – totally devoted to her family.
Cornelius, who evolves from seeing his wife as an adorable idiot to seeing her just as an idiot, not only cheats on
her with the baker’s wife, but goes so far as to invite his mistress over for dinner! That is the last straw for Marie,
who decides to make him pay for the disappointing life she has been leading… before going off to start a new
life elsewhere.
A droll, immoral and delightfully shocking novel that illustrates the clash between maternity and
unconditional love, between freedom and individuality. In this, her second novel, Astrid Eliard reveals a very
interesting writing style, worth keeping an eye on.
Astrid Eliard was born in 1981. She is a journalist and her previous books are a collection of short
stories, NUITS DE NOCES (SGDL Prize), and a novel, DÉJÀ L'AUTOMNE.
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WOMEN WRITING
Swedish acquaintance, Birgitt Bollstrom-Borjom, who is married to a powerful industrialist, who is also the
patron of the renowned painter Gustav Molnar (Birgitt’s first husband). Despite a warm welcome and the wild
beauty of Nordic landscapes, the narrator is bored and cannot help cursing this austere and straight-laced
Protestant nation. However, an unexpected encounter makes him tone down his initial harsh words. Her name is
Helena, she is blond, beautiful, a student of literature and is writing a thesis on the work of the French writer
Fromentin. It is love at first sight. The narrator returns to Paris sick at heart.
A few months later, he receives a phone call from Helena announcing that she is coming to Paris to
complete her PhD. From then on begins a stormy, passionate affair, where each lover is trying to eclipse the
other. Helena would like to convince the narrator to marry her, while he is obsessed about her leaving him for a
younger man. To make him yield, Helena endeavours to make him jealous. On the occasion of a major
exhibition dedicated to Molnar’s work, the artist is introduced to Helena, who conspicuously succumbs to the old
seducer’s charms. She then skilfully maintains an ambiguous relationship that pushes the narrator to the edge …
This is a caustic book, which delightfully indulges in the literary genre and momentum of romance.
With his superb and brisk writing, the author throws the reader into the narrator’s emotional whirl. Given the
rhythm to which his passion is unfolding, it is indeed a war, with its attacks, injuries and strategies of conquest.
Despite the violence of his feelings, the narrator never forgets his sense of humour, turning his blunders into
hilarious moments. In laying his heart bare, he moves us, and speaks openly of his wounds.
Jean-Marie Rouart was born in 1943. has received many literary awards, including the Interallié,
Renaudot and prix Prince Pierre de Monaco and was elected in the French Academy in 1997. He has recently
published at Éditions Gallimard UNE JEUNESSE À L’OMBRE DE LA LUMIÈRE (2000), UNE FAMILLE
DANS L’IMPRESSIONNISME (2001), NOUS NE SAVONS PAS AIMER (2002), LE SCANDALE (2006).
Noiville, Florence: L’ATTACHEMENT
(Stock, August 2012, 192 pages)
When Anna finds the long letter her mother wrote, her mother is already dead. Taking her secret with
her. The letter is addressed to her first great love, a teacher many years older than she was, but so much less
approachable. Did Marie ever send the letter? Did this man receive it? Anna makes enquiries with family and old
friends, and tries to understand what the connection was between her mother and this teacher. Who was this
much loved man? Is he still alive? Would finding him help Anna understand the mother who died when she
herself was fourteen?
Taking this snippet of passionate love as a starting point and scrutinising it from various different points
of view, both mother and daughter try to answer the same question: what is it that happens to us when we
develop an attachment for someone we should never have come near?
Florence Noiville is a journalist at Le Monde. Attachment is her second novel after LA DONATION
which was published in 2007. She is also the author of ISAAC B. SINGER (winner of the 2003 prix du récit
biographique) and J’AI FAIT HEC ET JE M’EN EXCUSE (2009), as well as several works for young.
Greggio, Simonetta: L’HOMME QUI AIMAIT MA FEMME
Two brothers, Alexandre and Yann, love the same woman, Maria, met in the mid 1960s when they are
all students. For more than forty years she is to be a pivotal force in their lives and an intimate spectator in this
love story that takes place mostly in Paris, the political, literary and artistic heart of an evolving France.
Alexandre, the elder of the two, becomes a professor of literature, his younger brother Yann studies at
the prestigious École Normale Supérieure and becomes a lawyer; while Maria is a biographer. The peace and
hippie movement gives way to the glitter of the first neo-liberalism, and then successive economic crises that
culminate in the recession at the beginning of the new millennium; Truffaut films Jules et Jim, Lacan
indoctrinates whole intakes of young psychoanalysts, Althusser strangles his wife, Jankelevitch and Levinas spar
with Derrida, Deleuze and even Lagarde and Michard.
It is Allis, a friend of Alexandre’s and a witness on the periphery, who tells the beautiful but appalling
story of these forty years of love and betrayal.
Simonetta Greggio is Italian but writes in French. She is the author of four novels published by Stock:
LA DOUCEUR DES HOMMES (2005), COL DE L’ANGE (2007), LES MAINS NUES (2009) and DOLCE
VITA 1959 – 1979 (2010). She has also written a novella (ÉTOILES, published by Flammarion) and a collection
of short stories (L’ODEUR DU FIGUIER, Flammarion).
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FICTION
artist and the weaknesses of Chardin the man. Nowadays acknowledged for being avant-garde, some of his
contemporaries considered him a marginal painter, minor even.
A touching journey into the artistic world of the 18th century and the discovery of a passionate artist. Its
size makes it a small jewel: this beautiful text is also perfectly adapted for electronic reading along with, why
not, the possibility of taking a detailed look at the paintings described with such affection.
Alice Dekker is a free-lance PA and lives in the Paris region. In 2008 she published her first novel, LES
GLORIEUSES RESURRECTIONS.
Démoulin, Nathalie: LA GRANDE BLEUE
(Actes Sud-Rouergue, August 2012, 208 pages)
The vivid and realistic account of daily life and morality in 1970s France; a historical novel that sheds
light on the current situation in France and Europe.
It is 1967 in the north-east of France: Marie, a student in secondary school, hopes for a different life to
that of her mother. In love, she gets married and quickly falls pregnant, by the age of 20 she already has two
kids. Her destiny and daily life seem written out, set in stone: parents, marriage, work, family… Year after year,
we follow these 12 years of Marie’s life; but also the existence of the entire generation of the women of the 70s,
these working women tackling the world of employment, discovering contraception and dreaming of a different
life.
Thanks to her vibrant and colourful style; Nathalie Démoulin engages the reader in this uncertain
reality, in the never ending battle for freedom, sometimes at a great cost in the trying aftermath of the war. The
world of work is similarly portrayed in a forthright manner. A perfectly fictionalised account of the turbulent life
of women after 1968 who, thanks to their boldness and will-power, will dream of and come to build themselves
new lives.
Born in 1968, Nathalie Démoulin is an editor of illustrated books for adults. She is the author of two
other novels: APRES LA FORET (2005) and TON NOM ARGENTIN (2007).
Dicker, Joël: LES DERNIERS JOURS DE NOS PÈRES
(Fallois, January 2012, 300 pages)
This page-turner – a tale of adventure and a love story rolled into one – will appeal to both female and
male readers. The action takes place during World War II, within the ranks one of the most secretive spy
organizations in the world : the Special Operation Executive (SOE). Readers will identify with the young recruits
and share their fears over the course of their missions
The hero, an admirable role model for his fellow spies, will nevertheless be the one whose weaknesses
almost make the mission fail. The action takes place during World War II, within the ranks of one of the most
secretive spy organizations in the world.
Paris, 1940: Young Paul-Émile leaves for London in hopes of joining the Resistance. He is soon
recruited by the SOE, a top-secret organization founded by Churchill, whose mission is to use natives of
occupied countries to perform dangerous intelligence and sabotage operations behind enemy lines. He joins a
group of French men and women who will become his comrades in arms… and much more. Meanwhile, on the
continent, German counter-espionage is in a state of red alert… This is a real page-turner – a tale of adventure
and a love story rolled into one.
Joël Dicker was born in Geneva in 1985. After studying law, one of his first short stories won the
International Young Authors’ Prize for 2005 and was subsequently published. LES DERNIERS JOURS DE
NOS PÈRES is his first novel. The manuscript won the Prix des écrivains genevois for 2010.
WOMEN WRITING
Rouart, Jean-Marie: LA GUERRE AMOUREUSE
(Gallimard, January 2011, 256 pages)
This is a splendid contemporary romance novel. The narrator is a writer with no literary pedigree. A
fiftysomething, he runs a small-circulation art journal supported by a wealthy patron, Mrs Delachenal. Invited by
a Finnish university, he goes to Helsinki to take part in a symposium on literary criticism. There, he sees an old
41
HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL
inextricable from the fate of Louis XIV and his brother Philippe d’Orléans. A unique exploration of Versailles
from another angle altogether.
Eve de Castro has written numerous books and is also a screenwriter.
D’Aillon, Jean: DE TAILLE ET D’ESTOC
(Place des editeurs, October 2012, 492 pages)
A gripping adventure into the heart of the 12th century through the youth of a knight known as Guilhem
d’Ussel... Marseille, 1187. Antoine, an orphan at 14, must flee from town after killing the man who was
responsible for his mother’s death. Antoine finds himself all alone on a path to nowhere. To burn all traces of his
past, Antoine becomes Guilhem. Guilhem, with no real direction or goal, roams for years teaming up with both
honorable and dubious people, sometimes forced to do things he is not proud of.
Just as tragedy strikes the women he loves during childbirth, Guilhem meets Joceran, a monk from the
Cluny Monastery and Jeanne, a nun from a neighboring abbey. Because their love is forbidden, they fled in
order to be together. But they disappeared at the same time as the Holy Lance which the Cluny Monastery had
just paid a fortune to buy. A man was sent to hunt Joceran and Jeanne down. The unjust accusations against
Joceran and Jeanne can only lead to tragedy and so Guilhem is left to defend the honor of his friends and puts his
own life at risk at every turn.
Jean d’Aillon resigned from working in public finance in 2007 to consecrate his time for writing. He
published historical crime thrillers with various publishing companies and has been translated into Spanish,
Russian and Czech. In 2011, he was the recipient of the Grand Prix littéraire de Provence for his body of work.
Benzoni, Juliette: LA FILLE DU CONDAMNÉ
(Plon-Perrin, October 2012, 360 pages)
The rivalry between two young sisters, the future duchesses of Chatillon and of Longueville, both
smitten with the future Grand Condé, turns into war when the troubles of the Fronde break out. This is the first
volume of LA GUERRE DES DUCHESSES, a new series by Juliette Benzoni (2nd volume to be published in
spring of 2013).
On June 21st, 1627, François de Montmorency-Bouteville was decapitated at the Place de Grève for
having violated the royal edicts forbidding duelling twenty-eight times. He left a young wife of twenty-eight,
two daughters aged two, and a little boy, not yet born.
All of them would have faced poverty had their cousin, the Princess Charlotte de Condé, not undertaken
to raise the children in circumstances fitting their rank. At her home, Isabelle, the younger of the girls, is rapidly
smitten with the Duc d’Enghien, six years her senior, eldest of the sons of the house and future Grand Condé.
As is so often the case, she remains invisible to him until, one day, she blossoms into a ravishing beauty. To the
immense displeasure of her sister, Anne-Geneviève, future duchess of Longueville, also beautiful and much
adored but tied to Enghien by dark and passionate feelings. She cannot bear his dallying elsewhere, and she
behaves accordingly.
With the outbreak of the troubles of the Fronde, the long revolt during which nearly everyone betrays or
is betrayed, turbulent events cast a shadow over the war simmering just beneath the surface between Isabelle,
who has become the Duchesse de Chatillon, and Madame de Longueville.
The works of Juliette Benzoni enjoy a vast and faithful fan base. Today, she is known as the queen of
the French historical novel, having produced several titles including LE BOITEUX DE VARSOVIE, LA
FLORENTINE, MARIE DES INTRIGUES, MARIE DES PASSIONS, LES LARMES DE MARIEANTOINETTE, LE JEU DE L’AMOUR ET DE LA MORT, L’ANNEAU D’ATLANTIDE, LA CHIMÈRE
D’OR DES BORGIA, LA COLLECTION KLEDERMANN, the series SECRET D’ETAT and the series LE
BAL DES POIGNARDS. Russian rights are under option with Eksmo
Dekker, Alice: CHARDIN, LA PETITE TABLE DE LAQUE ROUGE
(Arlea, August 2012, 120 pages)
Towards the end of his life, while preparing one of his final exhibitions, Jean Siméon Chardin, painter
of the little people and of objects, tells his story.
In a confession to his son, Chardin, unequalled in the art of revealing the beauty present in the humblest
of things, looks back on the works that earned him his fame. From painting to painting, the master of still life, for
whom reality was in itself a sufficient truth, retraces his career, revealing, furthermore, the doubts of Chardin the
40
FICTION
The year is 1520. The intrepid kings of France and England are about to sign a peace treaty at Drap d’or
camp. For Quentin du Mesnil , this means that his wish to be in charge of the interior of the future château
Chambord may soon come true. Yet the atmosphere surrounding the peace talks is explosive and the tiniest spark
could reignite a full-blown conflict.
Who is responsible for the repeated disappearance of food reserves in the French camp? Why is Henry
VIIIth meeting François Ist immediately before his meeting with Charles Quint? And who is behind the strange
murders that are threatening the tenuous peace agreement?
Beneath his pacifist exterior, the King of England is the object of ever deepening suspicion, specifically
his counsel, Thomas More. With each new macabre discovery, there can no longer be any doubt: More’s
UTOPIA is guiding the assassin’s hand.
Michèle Barrière is the author of seven historical and gastronomical novels. The adventures of Quentin
du Mesnil lean slightly more into the noire genre and gain her an ever widening readership.
Brasey, Édouard: LES LAVANDIÈRES DE BROCÉLIANDE
(Calmann-Levy, May 2012, 464 pages)
Concoret, as mall Breton village on the edge of Brocélian de Forest, 1943. On the morning of the
Toussaint, a young woman's body is found the village wash house. The victim's mother, Dahud, as lightly crazed
laundress, conjures up the was her women of the night: supernatural creatures who according to Breton legend
wash the blood-stained linen of their still born children. But suspicionsoonfalls ontwovery real suspects: Philippe
de Montfort, a young noble man thought to have been having an affair with the deceased, and Loïc, a poor hunch
back collier, despised by all. Gwenn, an orphan who had been brought up by a reclusive, old sage, is over
whelmed with conflicting emotions. What exactly does she feel for each of the suspects: friendship, admiration,
pity, or even love?
In the meantime, the villagers faces tarvation under the occupying German army's tight restrictions, and
young Resistance fighters have taken refuge in the Val-sans-Retour, like modern day Knights of the Round
Table. But the curse is upon the was her women of Brocéliande.
Essayist, novelist and historian Édouard Braseyis a renowned specialist of the strange and the occult,
especially the fantasy genre and the world of Celtic legend to which he has devoted some fifty books. One was
her woman's fate, in a Brittany steeped in superstition and legend.
Convard, Didier: MICHELANGELO
(Fayard, October 2012, 350 pages)
Milan, 1508. Milan, 1508. 57-year-old provost, Vittore, has finally decided to look around for someone
able to put up with the finicky habits of a confirmed bachelor. Then one of his beadles discovers a human head
in the baptistery of Saint Ambroise! The cleanly-seve-red head had been placed on a silver platter engraved with
the words VENIT IUSTITIAE SOL–“The Sun of Righteousness Has Shone”.
Vittore puts off his hypothetical wedding plans to investigate. The head in question had belonged to
architect Liviano Maggiore. And as fate would have it, his widow, Fosca Maggiore, happens to be an attractive
woman of about forty. Vittore finds himself captivated by the charming widow.
But Fosca isn't telling him the whole truth; clearly she is hiding a terrible secret. Before he knows it,
Vittore finds himself caught up in an age-old battle opposing the Church and a secret sect. Could it be that the
prophet's head is still worshiped, even today? And why has the renowned Michelangelo–busy preparing his
colossal fresco at the Sistine Chapel–unexpectedly left Rome for Milan, where he has met with the widow
Maggiore?
de Castro, Eve: LE ROI DES OMBRES
It took thousands of behind-the-scenes-people to keep the monarchy running. This is their untold story.
The underbelly of Versailles is exposed in this powerful story of love and betrayal. Louis XIV’s
Versailles was built around spectacle: 20,000 people at all levels of the food chain were required to keep the
monarchy functioning. This is the adventure of those whose story has not been told: those in the shadows who
tended to the sprawling grounds, to every room, to the minutiae. Though they barely existed to those whom they
served, this narrative shows they did not go unnoticed: like Nine la Vienne, the wigmaker who was too
ambitious for her time, or Baptiste le Jongleur, the apprentice hanged for treason. The fates of these servants are
39
Born in Paris, Aurélie Lévy left France at 18 to study abroad, first in Japan, then in Los Angeles were
she was the personal assistant of a Hollywood star. Her first documentary, LOST AND FOUND, shows the dark
side of fame and fortune in America by tracing the tragic destiny of Casey Johnson, heiress to the Johnson &
Johnson pharmaceutical empire.
Cobert, Harold: DIEU SURFE AU PAYS BASQUE
(Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson, March 2012, 158 pages)
A moving and accurate insight into a father’s pain following a miscarriage.
Two thirty-year olds meet on the beach on a summer day. What might have been nothing more than a
summer fling develops into a much deeper relationship. Yet their idyllic love story will be put to the test of harsh
reality when the woman suffers a miscarriage. Will the love between them be strong enough to overcome this
wound? With tenderness and a delicate touch, Harold Cobert describes a father’s pain and mourning for his
unborn child.
Harold Cobert was born in Bordeaux. He is the author of three novels, including UN HIVER AVEC
BAUDELAIRE rights sold to Germany (Piper), Italy (Elliot) and Taiwan (Rye Field) and L’ENTREVUE DE
SAINT-CLOUD (Prix du Style 2010 and Jeunes talents Cultura).
Rights already sold to : Germany (Piper)
“Un très beau texte. Un hymne à l’amour et à la vie.” Page
“Tendre est aimant. Un récit inoubliable .” Marie-Claire
“Un récit sincère, beau comme un roman.” Livres Hebdo
“D’une plume sensible et futée qui joue avec son sujet, Harold Cobert montre que, contrairement aux
idées reçues, on peut se sentir pleinement père avant la naissance d’un enfant. (…) Un beau roman d’amour.”
Marianne
de Turckheim, Émilie: HÉLOÏSE EST CHAUVE
(Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson, February 2012, 220 pages)
HÉLOÏSE EST CHAUVE is an extravagant and surreal story of eternal love.
Heloise has loved Lawrence since she was a little girl. She doesn’t mind the fact that three generations
of women in her family have already slept with him. She is crazy about him. As an energetic child, a provocative
teenager, a young mother and a successful photographer, Heloise remains blinded by this girlish love into her
50s.
This senseless and entertaining story is a stunning portrait of a woman who is both fragile and
indomitable. Behind the fine writing and incredible humour lurk situations of eroticism and transgression.
Born in 1980, Emilie de Turckheim is the author of LES AMANTS TERRESTRES, LES PENDUS, LE
JOLI MOIS DE MAI and more. She was awarded the Vocation Prize for her 2007 novel CHUTE LIBRE.
“Une véritable pépite littéraire.” L’Express
“L’auteur transforme un postulat surprenant en une formidable histoire d’amour qui se déguste comme
une douceur inédite, fourrée d’heureux grains de folie qui craquent délicieusement sous la dent [...] un texte
souvent cru mais toujours transfiguré par une écriture allègre et gourmande [...] singulière et impertinente.” Le
Point
“Derrière l’écriture raffinée et l’incroyable drôlerie des situations se cachent érotisme et
transgression.” Blog cultura
Barrière, Michèle: DE SANG ET D’OR
(JC Lattès, November 2012, 360 pages)
The new adventures of Quentin du Mesnil, in the culinary crime saga set at the court of François Ist
38
FICTION
Salatko, Alexis: LE PARIEUR
(Fayard, September 2012, 272 pages)
On the trail of the man who murdered his father, Axel has to look back over his own failed life in order
to try to find out the truth. A novel steeped in the world of movies and of seamy bets.
On the verge of killing himself, Axel is saved by Marie-Angélique, a woman who is also pretty
depressed. He is a failed novelist, she a trust-fund baby. An unlikely friendship springs up between them, and
Axel tells her the sad story of his life.
After initial success as a novelist and an assistant to the celebrated film-maker Kozlowski, Axel’s life
begins to crumble: he stops writing, wasting his money on endless partying until the day his father – a
compulsive gambler who was always running after the most improbable schemes – is murdered. Axel is then
introduced into the closed circle of professional golfers – and dangerous bettors – in an attempt to pay back the
debt he has inherited from his father.
Marie-Angélique helps him track down the killer and to uncover the truth about his family. Axel’s idol,
his favorite film-maker, Kozlowski, learns about the story and turns it into a hit film. Axel neither writes another
successful novel nor enjoys a happier life, but at least he can now console himself with the knowledge that he
was useful to the great and powerful Kozlowski.
Funny and surprisingly charming, this is Salatko at the top of his form!
Born in the early 60s, Alexis Salatko has written over a dozen novels and biographies that have been
admired by both the critics and the public, and have won numerous awards. He has also written for both film and
television with Roman Polanski and Didier Decoin.
“Avec LE PARIEUR, symphonie sans fausse note pour deux outsiders magnifiques, Alexis Salatko
poursuit son entreprise littéraire discrètement autobiographique. (…) Jamais, toutefois, il n’avait exposé à ce
point son goût pour les dérivés ; celles, terribles, de ses personnages comme celle du style qui lui permet
“d’excéder ”le réel, d’en livrer une représentation que seul le grotesque rend supportable. En fait, le noir est à
ce roman une couleur de fête.” Livres Hebdo
“LE PARIEUR, c’est avant tout un road-movie mené tambour battant entr le Contentin, la Bretagne et
les USA. Et c’est surtout une rencontre avec un personnage particulièrement atypique, capable de rebondir dans
n’importe quelle situation” La Presse de la Manche
Schmitt, Eric-Emmanuel: LES DEUX MESSIEURS DE BRUXELLES
(Albin Michel, November 2012, 220 pages)
A collection of short stories whose theme is the mystery of inexpressible feelings. Often, a life is
constructed around invisible passions, imperceptible even to the person who feels them. Yet in spite of their
obscurity, such feelings are real; they even determine the reality of ones destiny.
With great delicacy, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt unveils the secrets of several souls: a woman, ‘kept’ and
spoiled by two men she doesn’t know; a hero who kills himself because his dog dies; a generous mother who
starts to hate a child; a couple whose happiness hangs on a murder; a husband who is constantly reminding his
new wife to show respect for his ex…
Playwright, novelist, essayist, film maker, translated into 40 languages and performed in as many
countries, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is one of the most widely read and played authors in the world.
Lévy, Aurélie: MA VIE POUR UN OSCAR
(Plon, June 2012, 150 pages)
A young Parisian, caustic-witted and self-absorbed, becomes the personal assistant of a Hollywood star.
Little by little, her thoughts about the true meaning of success evolve.
Camille, a young, middle class French girl who dreams of fame and far away places, lands in Los
Angeles at 22, hoping to work in Hollywood. She manages to get an interview with John C., an American film
star who hires her as his personal assistant. She soon discovers his caprices, the insane luxury that surrounds
him, the world of the studios and what goes on backstage at the Oscars. Little by little she loses her distance
from the larger-than-life intensity of the star’s daily existence, gently sliding into a kind of servility she
ultimately no longer even questions. And yet, Camille and John C., find they share a kind of common solitude,
omnipresent in Hollywood.
37
CONTEMPORARY TRENDS
Mégnin, Jean-Philippe: LA PATIENTE
A melancholy tale that shows how the most ordinary events can have disastrous consequences, at the
love is probably the hardest emotion of all to fight.
It should have been a day like any other; but after the apparition of the mysterious, pregnant patient, the
life of Vincent, a gynecologist, would be utterly transformed. How does she know that he’s gay, how does she
know his boyfriend, David? Vincent is overwhelmed by doubts and questions. When he finally asks David about
the woman, the plot thickens, and Vincent, undone, learns from the mouth of the woman who caused it all why
simply asking that question would cause David to kill himself.
The delicately told tale of a forbidden love story.
Jean-Philippe Mégnin teaches History of Science in northwestern France; his lyrical writing reflects his
passion for the piano. His first novel, LA VOIE MARION, was published in 2010.
Leconte, Patrice & d’Equainville, David: RECULER POUR MIEUX SAUTER (Strategic
Retreat)
(Flammarion, September 2012, 180 pages)
Two guys meet in the emergency ward for the same embarrassing reason: failed suicide
attempts.Norbert Plateau, a 40-year-old married shopkeeper with two kids, swallowed a tube of something, and
washed it down with vodka. Ambulance, stomach pumping… he’s a bit of a wreck. Paul Vouille is 30, single
and unemployed. He threw himself out of a 7th-floor window… and landed on a 4th-floor balcony, where he was
found with a concussion, multiple fractures and more. Not in very good shape either.
As luck would have it, they wind up sharing a room, one in a full-body cast, the other with green-tinged
skin, but both able to talk, get to know each other, get along. Suicide is a great ice-breaker, as long as you don’t
succeed. They promise to stay in touch.
With a good dose of humor, could this novel – with its description of dashed hopes and disillusions –
illuminate the lives of some chronically depressed people, and keep them from shooting themselves in the head?
Patrice Leconte is a film director: Les Bronzés, Le Mari de la coiffeuse, Ridicule, La Fille sur le pont.
His latest film, Le Magasin des suicides, adapted from Jean Teule’s best-seller, was released in France in
September 2012. David d'Equainville is a writer and a publisher. Patrice Leconte’s renown, which will rise again
with the release of his latest film, Magasin des suicides.
Patier, Xavier: CHAUX VIVE
(La Table Ronde, August 2012, 189 pages)
Pascal feels very much alone since he has moved to Bordeaux. Alone at university where he studies
archeology; alone at church where he goes to mass each evening; alone in the tiny room he rents on the right
bank of the Garonne river, an impoverished suburb of Bordeaux.
Aubin, on the other hand, has quite a following. He’s been studying for years, leads a very bourgeois
life on the left bank of the Garonne, with his wife and children; he has a whole circle of admirers and an open
invitation to all the châteaux of the Medoc wine region.
One day on the campus, Aubin accidently knocks Pascal over, buys him coffee to make up and very
soon takes him under his wing. Pascal is an easy prey. Aubin leads him into all sorts of shady business he has
going. Pascal is so fascinated, he gradually forgets his family who has gone to many sacrifices in order to pay for
his studies. When Marie, Aubin’s wife, comes to see him, Pascal forgets his Christian principles and falls in love
with her. Henceforth, the trap he has begun to climb into closes in on him.
Xavier Patier takes his inspiration from a very recent criminal case and delves into the pyschological
windings of possession, infatuation and guilt.
Xavier Patier is the author of more than fifteen novels published by Gallimard and La Table Ronde. He
was awarded the Prix Roger Nimier for his novel LE SILENCE DES TERMITES published in 2009 at La Table
Ronde.
36
FICTION
Alexanderplatz, from his love for his female leads Hannah Schygulla and Ingrid Caven to his desire to live a
frenetic experience to the utmost, in his life as in his art.
Writing about Fassbinder means having something to say about post-1945 Germany, about the BaaderMeinhof gang’s terrorism in the 70s, and about today’s political disarray. It means revealing a world of radical,
scorching images. And for that, one skill is key: the ability to listen. Alban Lefranc has that ability.
Alban LEFRANC is the author of VOUS N’ÉTIEZ PAS LÀ (Verticales, 2009), a portrait of Nico, who
was lead singer with the Velvet Underground. He translates from German (Peter Weiss, Peter Stephan Jungk)
and edits the literary journal “La mer gelée”.
Cordelier, Jeanne: ESCALIER F
(Phébus, August 2012, 144 pages)
Long-listed for the Prix Femina
In the apartment on the sixth floor of Stairwell F, Ed, Lucette, Dany, Bernard, Christian and Patrick
suffered the assaults of their violent parents. Time passed, the father stopped harming them, the apartment
emptied out, but the siblings love has stayed alive. Dany has turned into the best-selling novelist Jeanne
Cordelier; she married a brilliant foreigner with whom she had a son. The other siblings have gone astray,
attempting in vain to make ends meet. Unemployment, divorce, alcoholism, disease: they have suffered them all.
Nothing has been spared them. With her characteristic energy and sensibility, the resilient sibling portrays these
fragile beings in all their dignity.
The solidarity forged between herself and her siblings during her childhood in the sour atmosphere of
the apartment in Stairwell F extends into their adulthood. As death begins to strike her siblings down, Jeanne
Cordelier describes these broken lives, giving them back their dignity with her lively style and makes a touching
and heartfelt account.
Jeanne Cordelier was born in Paris in 1944. Entirely self-taught, she plunged into literature with her
first novel, LA DÉROBADE, based on her experience in the world of prostitution. In 1976, the novelist moved
to Sweden, where she lived for 17 years. The next stage of her life was characterized both by long stays overseas
and by writing. In 2010, her novel RECONSTRUCTION was published by Editions Phébus.
Hardy, Françoise: L’AMOUR FOU
(Albin Michel, November 2012, 200 pages)
The tale of a passion between two beings as unalike as they possibly could be, yet quite inseparable.
One by one, Françoise Hardy weighs up and analyses each stage of a woman’s descent from hope-filled
love to unbearable jealousy and yearning. With its powerfully suggestive eroticism, intense analysis and
introspection, this story succeeds in creating authentic passionate suspense.
Françoise Hardy is a singer, author, composer and writer. Since 1962, the year when her hit Tous les
garçons et les filles came out, she has been a constant reference for every generation both in France and abroad.
Chazal, Pierre: MARCUS
(Alma/Nouvelle Agence, August 2012, 330 pages)
The touching story of a group of simple yet loveable people struggling with life, which illustrates that
even in the worst situation, there is hope.
Hélène is a junkie. Before killing herself, she leaves her son Marcus in her best friend Pierrot’s care.
Pierrot is doubtful he can properly deal with the child at first, as he gets up at dawn every day to do the rounds of
the markets. How could he take care of a nine-year-old boy ? But Pierrot’s childhood friends are determined to
help him and help the two tame each other. Pierrot and Marcus even get to believe in happiness again, until
Pierrot is accused of having murdered his own father and is sent to prison. He does his best to survive within the
walls of his cell as Marcus is waiting for him and the trial is getting nearer.
This is the moving tale of two persons, a boy and a grown-up, who have been wounded by life and who
learn how to heal together. The story is full of hope, written in a popular and humorous but never vulgar style.
Until the open ending – but you can’t help wanting that everything ends well !
Born in 1977, Pierre Chazal lives in Paris where he teaches French to foreigners. He devotes his free
time to writing and music.
35
CONTEMPORARY TRENDS
CONTEMPORARY TRENDS
Capron, Julien: TROIS FOIS LE LOYER
(Flammarion, August 2012, 384 pages)
“Money can’t buy love. But once you’re in love, what do you do about money?”
TROIS FOIS LE LOYER describes a quest. A not-quite Arthurian one perhaps, but an epic one
nevertheless. In any case, a modern-day quest: to find an apartment, and the means to pay for it.
It’s the story of a couple that made a mistake: they were convinced that they should do what they love
in life. So they have each been getting by on meager wages from short-term jobs, parental assistance, a bit of
resourcefulness and a lot of dreams. Then they meet, fall in love and decide to live together. Even they think of a
9-to5 job as a fate worse than death, they have nothing against the idea of a fabulous apartment in a picturesque
part of Paris.
And so begins their struggle with real-estate agents. As the weeks and the visits go by, rejections from
landlords pour down like rain. Then Cyril has an idea. On-line poker is big. People his age are making fortunes.
He knows how to play, maybe he could win a year’s rent. And he’s off… and soon runs into better players. Then
he finds out about an unusual poker tournament: the pot is a loft in a good neighborhood. But the tournament is
open to couples only, and they have to play together. He’s going to have to teach Pauline to play poker. Now
they really have to be a team.
Novelist, scriptwriter for production companies and large businesses, Julien Capron has been teaching
creative writing at Sciences-Po for five years. His first novels (AMENDE HONORABLE, MATCH ALLER
SPORT SCRIPTUM PRIZE, MATCH RETOUR) were very warmly received. His has lively, quick writing with
unexpected twists in the style of the king of American series, John Truby.
Bouzid, Nadia: L'ALPHA
(Plon, August 2012, 180 pages)
A Hitchcock-like atmosphere pervades this fact-paced novel. Nadia Bouzid builds suspense with as
much skill as the master himself.
Leo has lost all her worldly belongings in the fire that destroyed her apartment. She is taken in by the
owner of the Alpha, an old movie house that is full of secrets. She soon finds out that this favor comes at a price.
Leo is a college student, alone in the world, with no friends or relatives. After the fire, Andrea, who
runs the movie house, offers her a strange deal: she wants Leo to pretend to be her daughter Stella, who no one
knows has died, and who was half-owner of the cinema. The deal seems straightforward enough: Leo, pretending
to be Stella in front of the lawyer, will sign her share of the movie theatre over to Andrea; in exchange, she will
get a new identity and a full bank account.
But Leo soon realizes that Andrea is not going to let her get away that easily. Searching the basement,
she finds the corpse of Stella, who was murdered by her own mother. In a scene of almost unbearable suspense,
Leo manages to kill Andrea and to cover the murders by setting fire to both the house and the movie theatre. She
steals Stella’s passport and leaves the country, rich and free.
Nadia Bouzid was born in 1970. Her first novel, QUAND BERETTA EST MORTE, was published in
2008.
Rights sold to: Taiwan (Aquarius)
“Happé par le suspense, tenu ne haleine jusqu’au dernier chapitre, on lit ce roman d’une seule traite.”
Encres vagabondes
“Mon coup de cœur de la rentrée littéraire” France Muisique
Lefranc, Alban: FASSBINDER, LA MORT EN FANFARE
(Rivages, September 2012, 144 pages)
“I don’t build bombs, I make films.” Fassbinder
The author imagines a birthday ceremony at the end of filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s life, in
1982. Fassbinder is 37; the action takes place in Munich, the city where he was born. In this scene, where
Fassbinder is a spectator at his own party, we look back in time. From his first films through to the epic Berlin
34
FICTION
Bigio, Maurice: L’IRANIENNE
(Calmann-Lévy, May 2012, 220 pages)
The story of a sacrifice, of one woman's determination to forge a new destiny for both her son and her
country. Shirine is an Iranian, a mother and a lawyer. A fighter. A staunch defender of freedom of thought, of
women's rights, of hope... She finds strength in the unwavering support of Anouch, a French journalist who has
repeatedly denounced human rights violations in Iran. Shirine too begins actively opposing the regime. Despite
the anonymous threats and her husband's increasingly dire warnings, she continues braving the arbitrary decrees
of Iranian society: she refuses to obey her husband. Her indomitable spirit soon lands her in jail, however. After
months of solitary confinement, she is released, only to find her son has been placed with a “new mother” and
her husband has repudiated her. She has nothing left to lose and is determined to save her son, Shantia. Together
they attempt fleeing to Turkey, but Shantia is too weak to make the journey. Shirine is forced to turn back, to
throw herself into the lion's mouth, at the cost of her life...
Maurice Bigio was born in Cairo and lives in France. He is a radiologist. Over the course of his medical
career, he has never lost sight of mankind's greatest disease, responsible for millions of deaths the world over:
oppression. L’IRANIENNE is his first novel.
de Bayser, Patrick: NU FÉMININ
(Le Passage, January 2012, 272 pages)
Arnaud Ducamp is an international art dealer, constantly searching for one lost masterpiece or another,
and on a downhill slide since his divorce. One morning, after another night of heavy drinking, he sets off on yet
another improbable hunt. This time he’s looking for a mysterious Modigliani nude, completed in 1916 and
mentioned in the memoirs of the art dealer Maurice Rheims. The case is complicated; the trail is chaotic and
dotted with unanswered questions. Yet everything seems to point to a family secret that has something to do with
Modigliani’s own complicated life. Along with Ilona, a teasingly sensual young Polish researcher, Arnaud
devotes all his time to the investigation. Diving into the artist’s past allows Ducamp to rediscover his own
capacity for love.
Patrick de Bayser is an art dealer in Paris. NU FÉMININ is his first novel.
“Quête amoureuse, enquête passionnée : NU FÉMININ, premier roman de Patrick de Bayser, mêle
habilement deux intrigues au point de les faire fusionner. (...) Peu à peu, ce tableau à l'histoire mystérieuse
devient le ‘talisman” d'une histoire d'amour.” Le Monde
“Sa plume érudite cultive un vrai suspense.” L’Express
“Patrick de Bayser signe ici un premier roman très réussi.” Tribune de Genève
Gestern, Hélène: EUX SUR LA PHOTO
(Arléa, Août 2011, 288 pages)
Short-listed for the Prix du Roman Fnac
A magnificent reflection about family secrets and the specific memories that photography preserves.
A small ad in a newspaper – like a message in a bottle. Hélène is trying to find out the truth about her
mother, who died when she was three. Her only clues: two names and a photograph found among some family
documents that shows a happy, carefree young woman, with two men that Hélène doesn’t know. An answer
arrives: Stéphane, a French scientist who lives in England, has recognized his own father.
So begins a long correspondence studded with clues. Hélène and Stéphane patiently work backwards
through time, digging into family archives, gazing at photographs, searching through their own memories. Their
stories gradually begin to call out and respond to each other and to overlap at times, generating a tale that is not
like the one they had always been told. Their unexpected discoveries lead them to reexamine their own points of
view about their families, their childhoods and their own lives.
This is a captivating novel and the plot is revealed with great craft.
Hélène Gestern is 40 years old. She lives and works in the city of Nancy. EUX SUR LA PHOTO is her
first novel.
“C’est à découvrir absolument et j’envie votre chance de ne pas l’avoir encore lu”. Page
“Une histoire d’amour peu banale et véritablement captivante, un délicieux moment de lecture”.
L’Express
33
DEBUT NOVEL
Vié, Caroline: BRIOCHE
The sentimental delusions of a movie critic who falls passionately in love with a Hollywood actor.
“As it would appear, you are not very handsome. Everyone tells me so and I assume that it must be true.
I can see. I have eyes. When you walk, you waddle. And rarely have I seen anyone so badly dressed. Your legs
are arced like a cowboy and you stand hunched over as if your head was too heavy for your body. You are about
twenty pounds overweight. Yes, I have noticed. But each and every one of your imperfections is precious to me
and, since I am the only one who loves them, they belong to me alone. Then, one day I learned you were
married. That’s when I should have given up the fight. But I didn’t because you can’t change a leopard’s spots.”
She sees movies stars all day long, travels to exotic places and is married to a wonderful man who gave
her a perfect son. Of course she is bored. Until the day she meets him, the one, during a routine interview. And
she realizes that before him, she knew nothing about love.
We can never know the folly that lies dormant inside ourselves.
Caroline Vié is a journalist for the cinema. BRIOCHE is her first novel.
“Written straight from the heart, this first person narrative is impressive both in its remarkable style
and the painful truth of its subject” Rolling Stone
Mondrian, Shake: JUDE R
(Editions XO, August 2012, 320 pages)
Short-listed for Debut Novel Price 2012
In 1970, Jude R. crosses the United States of America from East to West. On the run from vengeful
individuals, he meets Lipi, a fifteen-year-old girl who seems as lost as he is. Moody and tormented, she is also
known as “The Golden Hand”, a nickname earned through her skill in Poker. A mad chase across the country
ensues. Wherever this odd couple goes, they leave a trail of bodies in their wake... Lipi finds herself becoming
unwittingly attached to quirky Jude R, even as the violence that stirs within him grows more powerful every
day...
A dark and violent saga written with style by a young author, Shaké Mouradian. This work of fiction is
her first novel. She is currently a student in Art History… Born in 1987, Shaké started very early to juggle with
words, fuelling her writing with her discoveries. Screenplays and songs very soon follow suit, and her
fascination with America in the twenties, will lead her to use it as background for her debut novel.
This novel has been published with the support of visitors of the following internet site :
www.mymajorcompagnybooks.com First ever interactive publishing website, which has, as its main goal, to
help bring to the light new authors every year.
Bied-Charreton, Solange: ENJOY
(Stock, January 2012, 214 pages)
Charles Valérien is a young man of today. For him and the people he knows it‟s on ShowYou – the
social network with the most hits in the world – that you actually live and show yourself in your best light. Better
yet, it‟s there that you earn the respect of those above you in the hierarchy.
It is at this point that he meets Anne-Laure, also known as Al, a student at the Sorbonne, along with the
hare-brained members of her rock band. Not one of them has a ShowYou account. So there can be a world
outside the internet. It is with that world, as well as Anne-Laure herself, that the narrator falls in love. An
androgynous dancer, an angry blogger, an antisocial old woman and an obese writer – distorted reflections of the
young man and his loneliness – also populate this contemporary fable in which entertainment at any price
doesn‟t get the better of boredom, where someone who witnesses other people‟s lives isn‟t necessarily in control
of their own, where the enemy is not who we think.
Enjoy is a portrait of the “Y Generation”, the internet generation, never far from their screens but losing
control of their lives, sincere if not downright cynical, and consumed by feelings of pointlessness in the hell of
their voyeurism.
Solange Bied-Charreton is 29, she lives and works in Paris. ENJOY is her first novel.
32
FICTION
relationship with her brother Laurent and the hothouse atmosphere they were brought up in, always pushed to be
the best, at sport and at school.
Was it this family pressure that drove Laurent to end up a vagrant who went missing for months on end
before being found by the police? Laurent’s struggles with mental health issues and his eventual death brought
tragedy to the very heart of Félicité’s apparently gilded life.
A sober, sincere novel with overtones of Jean Cocteau’s Les enfants terribles that paints a portrait of the
author’s father, warts and all, while offering a glimpse of a privileged aristocratic upbringing of a sort that now
seems impossibly old-fashioned. A clear-eyed, thoughtful exploration of family relationships, for better or for
worse.
Félicité Herzog was born in Paris in 1968. Un héros is her debut novel.
“This vast family epic masterfully encapsulates the tragic history of a great aristocratic family – both its
splendor and its misery – from the early 20th century to the dawn of the third millennium.” Le Figaro
“A subtle and very lively novel.” L’Express
“Un héros is a great book of hope and love.” Paris Match
“We love it.” Madame Figaro
Michel-Amadry, Marc: TWO ZEBRAS ON 30TH STREET
(Editions Heloise d’Ormesson, April 2012, 128 pages)
Keen to keep Gaza’s zoo open to the public, head keeper Mahmoud Barghouti sought a creative
solution to replace two zebras that died from starvation during the military offensive – he painted donkeys in a
zebra-like pattern. And they became the small zoo’s main attraction.
His local story, reaching overseas, affects several strangers’ lives, such as James, a New York Times
reporter in the Middle East, who writes about Mahmoud and eventually helps him restore his zoo; the Parisian
Mathieu, who becomes a novelist after reading the article about Mahmoud; and the Berlin DJ Jana, whose path
will encounter love unexpectedly. A feel-good tale, optimistic and uplifting, about hope, destiny and human
relationships.
Marc Michel-Amadry lives in Neuchâtel. He runs Sotheby’s Switzerland. “TWO ZEBRAS ON 30TH
STREET” is his first novel.
Rights sold to: German/C. Bertelsmann, Italian/Elliot Edizioni, Spanish/Salamandra, Taiwanese/Doing
Publishing
Cohen-Grillet, Philippe: HAUT ET COURT
Based on a true story, Cohen-Grillet’s darkly humorous debut novel tells the tale of the suicide of a
family of four and their lives leading up to this moment in a masterfully constructed macabre comedy. This is a
far cry from the usual whinings about consumer society’s injustices, narrating the descent into hell of these
victims of the economic crisis.
One day in September 2007 in Coulogne, northern France, the bodies of four people: father, mother, son
and daughter, were found hanging in the living room of the family home. The motives and the chain of events
have never been explained. The time came to do so, and it was Philippe Cohen-Grillet who tells the story,
although it meant inventing all the details we still ignore on this real-life incident.
The book starts with a family suicide: impeccably organised for guaranteed success yet bewildering and
shocking for everyone who knew them. As we leave the scene and journey back in order to comprehend what led
them to this point, the son tells the day-to-day occurrences of this normal-appearing family. At first they come
across as a crazy bunch, gradually becoming endearing, until we discover that they are in actual fact just like any
other family, but living each day with that ‘vague malaise’ that slowly devours them from within: a growing
proximity to death that leaves almost no trace. Lively and well written, this novel is a mirror in which we more
often than not recognize ourselves.
Philippe Cohen-Grillet was born in 1973 in Paris where he still lives. His profession as a journalist can
take him around the world, or round the corner, from where he returns with beautiful stories, and, often ,
incredible horror stories, that he relates to the press.
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DEBUT NOVEL
be satisfying a belated desire for revenge on the Establishment by refusing to hand over documents of
immeasurable scientific value.
The very first time they meet, Adele soon discovers Anna’s hidden agenda. Strangely enough, she
doesn’t reject her, but the old woman lays down the rule: she knows she is to die soon, and she has got one last
story to tell, a story no one was ever willing to listen to. It begins almost like a tale: Once upon a time, there was
a simple and happy young girl, a dancer in a cabaret. She fell in love with a young prodigy from a wealthy
family who was anything but destined for her...
From the flamboyant Vienna of the 1930s to post-War Princeton, from the Anschluss to McCarthyism,
from the end of the positivist ideal to the advent of the nuclear bomb, Anna discovers the epic life of a genius
who never learned how to live, and of a woman who only knew how to love. A moving journey into the life of
the loving wife of a great man, and a fascinating panorama of the political and scientific revolutions of the 20th
century.
Yannick Grannec trained as an industrial designer. She currently works as a graphic designer and is a
maths enthusiast. LA DÉESSE DES PETITES VICTOIRES is her first novel, and she devoted four years of her
life on research and writing.
Rights sold to: USA (Other Press), Germany (Ecowin)
“Portrait d’un génie, histoire d’amour, fresque du XXe siècle, ce roman de 500 pages est prometteur.”
Figaro
“Yannick Grannec signe un époustouflant premier roman sur le couple Gödel.” Livres Hebdo
“Yannick Grannec signe un premier roman à l’ambition réjouissante, qui devrait marquer cette rentrée
littéraire.” Page
Doux, Samuel: DIEU N’EST MÊME PAS MORT
(Robert Laffont, August 2012, 290 pages)
How does one break free of the burdens passed on through generations?
When Elias, a 30-something Parisian, learns of his grandmother’s death, he discovers that it was a
suicide. It was carried out, symbolically enough, on Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day of forgiveness. This act
corroborates the sad, haunting history of Elias’s family.
Elias’s voice alternates with three others—his great-grandfather, who recounts the horrors inflicted
upon the Jews in his native Poland; his grandfather, who describes his youth under the Occupation; and his
mother, whose spirit is shattered by cancer. How to live normally when your family has, for four generations,
unceasingly been devastated by sorrows and injustices? With a critical look at the encumbrance of one’s origins,
the narrator asserts his right to happiness and tries to free himself from the onus of his family’s past. A fresh look
at memory, family obligation, and the weight of lineage.
Samuel Doux is 38 years old; he loves theatre and film. This is his first book.
Herzog, Félicité: UN HÉROS
(Grasset, August 2012, 304 pages)
Félicité Herzog, daughter of the great mountaineer Maurice Herzog, sets out to understand and blast her
father’s myth – a much-admired public figure whose reputation proved too much for his descendants to bear,
eventually driving her brother to his untimely death.
Félicité Herzog and her brother Laurent were born to two strong-willed parents: Maurice Herzog, the
first man to conquer Annapurna and a minister in de Gaulle’s government, and his wife Marie-Pierre, a feminist
intellectual and wealthy heiress. Beyond appearances, this family was far from being perfect, it even proved to
be the opposite: a burden.
Félicité and Laurent had an unusual childhood. They spent their holidays in the two family chateaux,
where Elizabeth II was an occasional visitor. When their parents separated, the children went to live with their
mother’s wealthy family. Now, decades later, Félicité looks back at the disparity between her father’s public
image and private flaws – how his affairs and preoccupation with building up his public profile left little time for
his young family. She describes her maternal grandparents, aunts, and uncles, straight out of a novel by Proust –
a family from another century, on the brink of the precipice of history. She recounts her intense, fractured
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FICTION
François Cusset was born in 1969. He is a professor of American civilization at the University of Paris,
and contributes to several French and American papers. He has written several essays in the fields of intellectual
history and contemporary politics. A L'ABRI DU DECLIN DU MONDE is his first novel.
“Premier roman animé d’une énergie narrative débridée” Livres Hebdo
“François Cusset peint la violence insurrectionnelle avec le lyrisme d'un Delacroix. Son récit est une
épopée urbaine de notre temps. (...) Un premier roman étourdissant sur l'engagement, la lutte et la résignation,
et cette foutue époque qui gâche tout.” Causette
“Hymne à la violence et à l’indignation.” Le Magazine Littéraire
Deck, Julia: VIVIANE ELISABETH FAUVILLE
(Éditions de Minuit, August 2012, 160 pages)
A 40-something woman, whose husband has just left her, finds her psychiatrist’s body with its throat
slit, and has a nervous breakdown, believing that she is the murderer. She attempts to throw off the police’s
suspicions before slipping definitively into madness.
Viviane Elisabeth Fauville is a 40-something woman with a baby daughter and a position of
responsibility in a large corporation. When her husband leaves her for another woman, Viviane falls into a daze,
going through life in a fog.
In a state of agitation, she goes to see her analyst, stabs him, and manages to get rid of the weapon and
get home unnoticed. It isn’t until she wakes up the next morning with the image of her doctor’s bloody body in
her mind that she realizes what she has done. Like all of his patients, she is questioned by the police, and
manages to convince the inspector of her innocence. But she can’t help getting involved in the investigation,
following all the suspects: the wife, the mistress, the patients known to be dangerous... To such an extent that the
police wind up believing she is the killer; so Vivian gets arrested and her baby daughter is handed over to the
father.
That’s when Viviane learns that the doctor was in fact killed by another one of his patients, Pascal
Planche. Viviane was the one who found the body, and in her unbalanced mental state, became convinced she
had done it. So Viviane gets her daughter back, and together they move to Normandy where she has found a new
job. Everything seems to be getting back to normal, but Viviane, now alone with her daughter, is actually still
dazed and disconnected from reality.
An intense novel in which the protagonist’s madness and fear of getting arrested grow steadily right up
to the final, unexpected plot twist, which reveals just how cut off from reality she really is and how much of a
danger she represents.
Julia Deck was born in Paris in 1974. This is her first novel.
“Ce premier roman envoûtant est une des excellentes surprises de la rentrée littéraire.” Page
“Un roman littéraire, cinématographique et entêtant.” Lire
“Julia Deck nous offre un personnage exceptionnel avec son VIVIANE ELISABETH FAUVILLE, une
bourgeoise sombrant dans la folie après la mort de son psy. Le meilleur premier roman de la rentrée. (…) Par
une narration au vous, l’auteur nous capture de la première page à la dernière page du roman. (…) Julia Deck
offre sa propre voie becktienne : celle d’une femme tentée de basculer dans le vide, mais ramenée au monde par
la présence d’un enfant.” Transfuge
“Un roman admirable par l’écriture et l’invention d’un personage.” Le Figaro
Grannec, Yannick: LA DÉESSE DES PETITES VICTOIRES
(Anne Carrière, August 2012, 472 pages)
Short-listed for the Prix Roman Fnac
The life and work of the great mathematician of Czech origin Kurt Gödel, as told by his wife Adele
years after his death to a young academic, Anna, whose life will be changed in the process.
Princeton University, 1980. A young and relatively ambitious librarian named Anna Roth is set the task
to get back Kurt Gödel’s records – the most fascinating and impenetrable mathematician of the 20th century. Her
mission consists in cajoling and finally taming the great man’s widow, Adele, a notorious shrew who seems to
29
DEBUT NOVEL
Dawesar, Abha: SENSORIUM
(Editions Eloise d’Ormesson, August 2012, 320 pages)
European rights (UK excluded)
Accused by a soothsayer of a horrific crime in a past life, Durga is shaken up. As an artist who takes
inspiration from science, she is unable to give into superstition and perform the required expiations that are
commanded. As an Indian, who grew up surrounded by myth, herself named after a goddess riding a tiger, she is
unable to shrug the charge against her. At a residence for artists in Flanders and then her Madison Avenue
apartment, Durga seeks ways to move forward and keep working.
A work about the many facets of Time and belief, discursive and associative, rich with ideas and
anecdotes, “Sensorium” sets the reader adrift into a sensory and cerebral journey. An audacious exploration of
the contemporary world, its two parallel narratives and a series of playful sketches leave the reader room to
meditate and meander before turning the page.
Stefanakis, Dimitris: FILM NOIR
(Viviane Hamy, February 2013, 350 pages)
Built like the great historical frescos, FILM NOIR takes us into the heart of Europe in the first global
conflict, through the life story of a vividly colourful character who really did exist, Basil Zaharoff.
In 1887, in a tiny compartment of the mythical Orient Express, Maria del Pilar, a Spanish Duchess,
meets Basil Zaharoff, a mysterious Greek about whom she knows nothing, and falls for him at once, although
she is due to marry the next day. Their love, as carnal as it is forbidden, will dramatically change the course of
their lives, and also the course of history, forever.
Basil Zaharoff was a Greek arms dealer who grew wealthy through his trade, and was also in turn a
business man, a spy and a manipulating politician. He played a part in many historical events from the Dreyfus
Affair to the outbreak of the First World War, not forgetting the scandal of the Panama Canal. With the money
he accumulated through his trade, he funded the Greek campaign in Asia Minor, which would end in his first
setback. At the end of his life, when he lost his beloved Maria prematurely, after years of meeting each other but
after only two years’ of marriage, he was only a shadow of himself.
Dimitris Stefanakis was born in 1961 in Kéa, Greece. He studied Law at the Athens University. He
translated several great authors: Saul Bellow, John Updike, Margaret Atwood, E.M. Foster, Joseph Brontski and
Prosper Mérimée. His previous novel JOURS D’ALEXANDRIE was awarded the Prix Méditerranée étranger
2011.
DEBUT NOVEL
Cusset, François: A L'ABRI DU DÉCLIN DU MONDE
(P.O.L, August 2012, 352 pages)
Short-listed for the Prix Wepler
In Paris, a demonstration spins out of control and degenerates into rioting. The country is on the verge
of revolution. Years later, four friends look back over that extraordinary day. All four have been deeply affected
by the rioting. Over the course of a single afternoon, they each describe what they have done with their lives
since that day. But make no mistake, they are really talking to themselves, telling the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth.
Then, by coincidence, they all attend the same conference. They spend a night outside of time, outside
of the real world, contemplating what has become of their friendship, their dreams, their convictions and their
sense of humor. Together they face up to the memories and the ghosts which time had erased, and which they
had done their best to forget.
A L'ABRI DU DECLIN DU MONDE is the novel of a generation. The one of lost illusions, the one for
which rejecting the establishment was the only way to exist. Cusset’s writing is firm, lyrical, precise and
inspired. Both profound and poetic, this novel bears witness to an era that forged our society, the last vestige of a
more ideological time.
28
FICTION
2010. It was translated into over twenty languages and is climbing the best-seller lists in Britain and the United
States.
“Laurent Binet, one of France’s most praised new young novelists, was given special access to the new
socialist president to produce a literary political portrait.” The Guardian
“The most anticipated book of the season.” M le Magazine du Monde
“Funny and clever.” Le Journal du Dimanche
“The hilarious story of being immersed in François Hollande’s electoral campaign.” Télérama
Foreign rights sold to: The Netherlands (Meulenhoff)
Foreign rights sold for HhHH: Brazil (Editoria Schwarch – Companhia das letras), Bulgaria (Paradox),
Czech Republic (Argo), Denmark (Tiderne Skifter), Germany (Rowohlt), Hungary (Europa Konvykiado),
Iceland (Forlagid), Israel (Kinnerzet-Zmora), Italy (Enaudi), Japan (Tokyo Sogensa), Lithuania (Metodika), The
Netherlands (Meulenhoff), Norway (Gyldendal Norsk), Poland (Wydawnictwo Literackie), Portugal (Porto
Editora), Serbia (Stylos), Slovakia (Marencin), Spain (Edicions 1984 - Seix Barral), Taiwan (Ye-Ren), Turkey
(Pegasus), UK (Harvill Secker), USA (Farrar Straus, and Giroux).
NON-FRANCOPHONE AUTHORS
Sirees, Nirad: SILENCE ET TUMULTE
(Robert Laffont, September 2012, 240 pages)
This scathing farce under the thumb of a dictatorship blurs the line between waking dream and feverish
nightmare.
This story presents a day in the life of writer Fathi Chin. His native country is an “unspecified” Arab
nation that could be, say… Syria. A dictatorial regime presides, and this leader’s rule tinges everything with a
Kafkaesque sense of the absurd.
The entire country has mobilized to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of this despot. An eardrumbursting parade overtakes the oppressively hot landscape. When Fathi leaves his house, he instinctively steps in
to help a young man being beaten senseless by the police. As a result of Fathi’s intervention, his ID papers are
confiscated and he must go to the police station by the end of the day. Fathi visits his widowed mother, sees his
girlfriend, and eventually turns himself in. His only weapon against the irrationality of the state: a sense of irony.
Nihad Sirees was born in 1950 in Aleppo, Syria. Trained as an engineer, he is now a screenwriter for
TV shows.
Khiyavi, Hafez: UNE CERISE POUR COUPER LE JEÛNE
(Serge Safran Editeur, May 2012, 230 pages)
Translated from Persian (Iran) into French by Stéphane A. Dudoignon
A young boy observes the fast of Ramadan in order to attract his beautiful cousin and to gain
admittance into the world of adults; an incestuous uncle stealsa corpse and abuses it; a Shiite holiday affords a
glimpse into a neighborhood’s secret life; a kidnapping and an apparently random execution; and a sniper’s
cynical meditations: each in its own way exposes some of the taboos of contemporary Iranian society.
UNE CERISE POUR COUPER LE JEÛNE features – often seen through the eyes of a child – truculent
or frightening figures from a provincial town in the Islamic Republic, located somewhere between Jouhandeau’s
Chaminadour and Garcia Marquez’s Macondo.
Facetious irony and joyful writing – ranging from tender to fierce – dominates these tales of daily life
steeped in domestic violence, religious sagas and all sorts of scheming.
Hafez Khiyavi was born in 1973 in the eastern Azerbaijan region, in north-western Iran. UNE CERISE
POUR COUPER LE JEÛNE, which won the Ruzi Ruzegari Prize for best short-story collection, was a
tremendous success in Iran. It is his first book that has been translated into French.
27
LITERARY FICTION
Dancourt, Thierry: LES OMBRES DE MARGE FINALY
(La Table Ronde, August 2012, 218 pages)
Paris, on a winter morning. Pierre, the narrator, happens to bump into Marge, a young woman he was in
love with 15 years earlier. What has become of her in the meantime? What has become of the group of friends
she used to invite to her house by the banks of the Seine River? There they spent hours dreaming, dancing,
flirting, driving a heavy Renault Prairie or the tiny Austin that had belonged to her father; discussing for hours
on end around the swimming pool and smoking “Week-end” cigarettes, because life back then, had the
carefreeness the lightness of an endless week-end. Thinking back on this period and looking up some of these
past acquaintances, finally understands what brought them apart at the time.
In his third novel, Thierry Dancourt’s very particular talent reaches its peak. He confirms his attraction
to enigmatic women, to men reluctant to think of their future and to hidden flaws. Putting the setting and the
characters on the same level, he creates an extremely subtle score, where each note has its significance.
Thierry Dancourt lives and works in Paris. His first novel, HÔTEL DE LAUSANNE published by La
Table Ronde in 2008, was awarded the Prix du Premier Roman and JARDIN D’HIVER published in 2010
received the Prix Bertrand de Jouvenel de l’Académie française.
Mordillat, Gérard: CE QUE SAVAIT JENNIE
After his three-volume social epic, including Les Vivants et les morts, Notre part des ténèbres and
Rouge dans la brume, Gérard Mordillat give us a powerful short novel recounting the quest of a tragic yet
sublime heroine inspired by hope and justice. A brilliant account of hope and madness, inextricably intertwined.
Thirteen-year-old Jennie hates Sundays, the worst day of the week, and this one is going to be really
bad. Her mother's boyfriend, Mike, is celebrating his birthday. It's going to be the worst Sunday ever. The party
is marked by tragedy: Mike is killed on his motorcycle before their very eyes. Olga finds herself on her own,
raising two daughters, Jennie and Jennie's half-sister, Malorie.
Three years later, Slimane and two babies enter the picture, bringing a semblance of peace to the
blended family. But just when fate seems to be giving them a break, a second accident brings the happy interlude
to an abrupt end. Jennie and her sisters and brother are separated and placed in different foster homes. Jennie, the
eldest, is transformed over night into a Mother Courage. She is determined to reunite her siblings and to take
them to see the ocean, as Olga had promised. While traveling to the four corners of France, Jennie meets Quincy,
an actor who wants to stop acting. For better or worse, their fates are joined together, all the way to the cliffs of
Etretat...
Gérard Mordillat is a writer and a filmmaker. He has published numerous novels, including
L’ATTRACTION UNIVERSELLE, LES VIVANTS ET LES MORTS and NOTRE PART DES TÉNÈBRES.
“Un texte fort et poignant.” Page
“Un roman social contre l’injustice.” Lire
“A fleur d’émotions et de colères rentrées, Gérard Mordillat poursuit, à travers le parcours de ce
couple assoiffé de justice, le tableau corrosif d’une époque sans foi ni loi.” Le Monde
Binet, Laurent: RIEN NE SE PASSE COMME PRÉVU
Following the outstanding international acclaim for HHhH, Laurent Binet is back with a new novel that
explores similar themes, albeit in a different setting: how to narrate a man’s rise to the highest level of power,
explain the complex mechanisms of political parties and their rhetoric, and understand the men who hold the
reins of power and the journalists and analysts who follow them, while remaining a mere spectator, detached
from the events being played out on stage.
As in HHhH, Laurent Binet has chosen a subjective viewpoint for his latest project. RIEN NE SE
PASSE COMME PRÉVU is a first-person account reminiscent of gonzo journalism in the style of Hunter S.
Thompson. The big question is whether Binet managed to keep at an objective distance from his subject, as he
always maintained he would. But, as the title suggests, things do not always go according to plan…
Laurent Binet is 40. He has taught French at high school in the suburbs of Paris for ten years, and also
lectures part-time at university. His debut novel HHhH was awarded the Prix Goncourt du Premier roman in
26
FICTION
When one of the most acclaimed French food critics delivers a detailed menu of his culinary emotions,
his travels around the world and his romantic conquests, it’s like getting a table at a 3-star restaurant. This is a
sensual, exotic and gourmet rendezvous, well served by a singular literary style.
An intimate novel, ranging from Paris to Hong Kong, via Brittany and Japan, in which ribaldry goes
very well with gastronomy.
François Simon is the food critic for Le Figaro, Direct 8 and France Inter. He has written many books
about French cooking.
Boidé, Caroline: LES IMPURS
(Serge Safran éditeur, January 2012, 160 pages)
Algiers, in the late 50s. Malek is a young Muslim woman; her only religion is books. David is a Jewish
cabinetmaker from Batna. They fall madly in love as civil war is brewing. While Malek won’t let anything get in
the way of her passion, David is more conscious of the new world order. Unlike the sepia images of Algeria
from the 50s, LES IMPURS raises the veil on this millennium-old bastion of peace between Jews and Arabs.
Composed of both ordinary days and colorfully festive ones, it sheds light on our present in a unique way, as
well as on what is now wrongly described as an impossible harmony.
In this extremely sensual novel, Caroline Boidé shows us to what extent writing can above and beyond
disappearances and the suffocating war raise an almost inconceivable hope of finally hearing the voices that have
been silenced, and of seeing infinite distances.
Caroline Boidé, 30, was born to an Algerian Jewish mother and a father whose origins were French.
LES IMPURS is her second novel.
“Caroline Boidé, as she approaches 30, offers her characters a vibrantly lyrical voice, filled with
utopian, almost mystical love. The joining of souls, beyond bodies, that nothing can break apart.” Livres Hebdo
“Un roman plein de senteurs, de lumière et de sang, sensuel et lyrique, parfois jusqu’à l’excès.”
Libération
“Très beau livre sur les rapports difficiles entre juifs et arabes. Mademoiselle Boidé a un ton, un style,
une âme. Et, mieux encore : un tempérament.” Service Littéraire
Condé, Maryse: LA VIE SANS FARDS
In this very moving narrative, Maryse Condé recounts her youth, that of a passionate, very young
mother, a youth influenced by Africa, and the birth of a woman and a writer.
“LA VIE SANS FARDS was born of a double ambition. Firstly, I’ve always asked myself why every
attempt to speak of one’s self resulted in a batch of half-truths. It would appear that human beings are so desirous
of portraying an existence different than reality that they embellish it despite themselves. My life unvarnished
should be considered an attempt to speak the truth, to discard the temptations of myth and flattering
idealizations. It is also an attempt to describe the birth of the vocation of a writer. Is writing in fact a job? Why
invent lives, why invent characters who have no direct relationship to reality?
This is perhaps the most universal of all my books. I use the word universal purposely although I know
it highly displeases some. Above all, it is the story of a woman’s search for happiness and the ideal companion
while she deals with the difficulties of life. She is confronted with that crucial choice, still valid today, of either
becoming a mother or choosing to exist only for herself.” Maryse Condé
Born in Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe, Maryse Condé is the highly praised author of a considerable
number of books for which she has received many awards: SÉGOU, TRAVERSÉE DE LA MANGROVE, EN
ATTENDANT LA MONTÉE DES EAUX. After teaching for years at Columbia University she now divides her
time between Paris and New York.
“Is it possible to be honest when describing one’s life? Maryse Condé takes on the challenge in this
passionate book.” Marie Claire
25
LITERARY FICTION
The author recounts both a game of pretenses and the making of the world that has become our own.
Novelist Benoît Duteurtre is a music critic for the magazine Marianne. He makes regular contributions
to the periodicals Figaro, Paris Match and l’Atelier du roman. His novels include LA PETITE FILLE ET LA
CIGARETTE (2005), LA CITÉ HEUREUSE (2007), LES PIEDS DANS L’EAU (2008), LE RETOUR DU
GÉNÉRAL (2010) et L’ÉTÉ 76 (2011).
Le Golvan, Nicolas: RESTE L’ÉTÉ
“You’re sure you don’t want to go swimming?”
The narrator won’t go swimming that summer. His wife will have to wait a long time for him to even
talk or relax a bit; his two young children will keep their distance from a father who won’t play with them; his
friends, who have come to celebrate his 40th birthday, find him in a strangely surly mood. It’s the mid-life crisis
summer. He still loves his wife, but she seems as distant as the tide. His family’s summer house is haunted with
memories that weigh on him more and more. What’s the point of his life, anyway?
The narrator will extend his beach holiday, all by himself. Take the time he needs to do an inventory of
his memories, his acts of cowardice and his hopes. But you can’t decide about your couple alone, and nothing
goes as planned.
Nicolas Le Golvan lives in Gien, where he teaches English. His first novel is OUTREMER (TP).
Beinstingel, Thierry: ILS DÉSERTENT
(Fayard, August 2012, 256 pages)
Long-listed for the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Femina
His colleagues call him “the ancestor,” or the “bear.” But he doesn't care. As long as they let him go
own his solitary way - on the road. He's been a wallpaper sales rep for forty years now. But all of a sudden, his
superiors want him to sell couches, too. Well, it's already taken man millions of years to learn to stand on his
own two legs; there's no way our veteran wallpaper man is going to stoop to selling couches. The fact is, he has a
very particular take on things, most likely shaped by the world's most celebrated travelling salesman, Rimbaud.
The dog-eared volume of the poet's correspondence is with him wherever he goes…
She's young, but she knows how to fend for herself; her business degree was earned on merit alone. And
she's just been appointed head of sales! The unexpected salary hike has enabled her to finance a much too big
apartment, one room of which remains stubbornly empty.
Her very first mission is perfectly clear: to lay off the ancestor without further delay. A confrontation is
inevitable. But faced with the implacable logic of corporate strategy, human beings are sometimes able to find
surprising inner resources - and even alter fate.
Thierry Beinstingel is the author of several novels, including the critically-acclaimed RETOUR AUX
MOTS SAUVAGES (Fayard, 2010), long-listed for the Prix Goncourt.
“Rien de plus poétique que ce roman du travail, rien de plus profondément original que ces deux
individus pris comme tout un chacun dans la marche du travail” Libération
“Un roman attachant et subtil” Le Monde
“Un roman très réussi et humaniste, mais qui se révèle être aussi une critique assez radicale de nos
modes de vie contemporains” Dordogne Libre
Simon, François: DANS MA BOUCHE
(Flammarion, September 2012, 240 pages)
“Like old times in Flore’s apartment. She cooks squid in white wine. Lively. Nothing’s more seductive
than home-cooked food. Take, eat; this is my body. Flore’s parades, offering itself. I slam into it, we rub up
against each other. She wants to have the last word. I don’t mind. There’s so much to do. Her orgasms are
Gothic, soaring towards high arches. I like finding myself in her blurred vision, press my face up against here,
surround her eyes. Sharp focus disappears. Outlines, splashes of color appear. It – really this time – feels like I’m
entering into her, approaching her soul. Whic is looking at me.”
24
FICTION
Daeninckx, Didier: THE BANQUET OF THE STARVED
(Gallimard, May 2012, 320 pages)
Didier Daeninckx brings a voice to Maxime Lisbonne (1839-1905), a colourful rebellious character,
hero of the Commune’s barricades, director of Bouffes du Nord, a die-hard full of revolutionary ideals, precursor
of the Restos du Cœur with his “Banquet of the Starved” and advocate of the Kanak cause while most of his
convict friends were supporters of colonial brutality. Maxime Lisbonne turned his life into a succession of heroic
frenzies and splendid failures: this is a genuine novel of adventures.
Born in 1949, Didier Daeninckx has published about forty novels and collections of short stories, as
well as works in collaboration with illustrators such as Jacques Tardi and photographers such as Willy Ronis.
His last novel published with Gallimard was GALADIO (2010).
Kaplan, Leslie: MILLEFEUILLE
Long-listed for the Prix Medicis, the Prix Femina and the Prix Wepler
A few days in the life of an old man, sometimes urbane and sociable, other times bitter, whose character
and angry outbursts are revealed gradually, leaving each reader time to find their own explanation for them.
MILLEFEUILLE (“1,000-layers”), the name resonates like as many readings of a psychological novel.
Jean-Pierre Millefeuille is an urbane old man. He writes books, is always the life of the party, loves to
have friends over, and takes an interest in young people. He hates to be alone, and is most animated when there
are people around. He gets along well enough with his son, but they’re not really close; the younger Millefeuille
has an unfortunate flaw: he’s shy.
Behind this urbane appearance, we soon divine that Jean-Pierre Millefeuille has to force himself to keep
the façade up sometimes, that he offers to give young people a hand without ever really putting himself out.
Until the day two young people he knows meet a tragic end, when he could have saved them. His feelings of
guilt exacerbate his contradictions, and Millefeuille’s discourse becomes more and more disjointed, allowing
glimpses of hatred and anger that is both intense and moving, to show through the cracks.
Leslie Kaplan has pulled off the signal feat of getting inside the skin and brain of an old man, following
his contradictions wherever they lead, and acquiring a vantage point from which to perceive old age as an
unbearable loss of control and tranquility. Leslie Kaplan was born in New York in 1943; she was raised in Paris
in an American family and she writes in French. She has written over a dozen novels published by P.O.L.
“Le charme opère, grâce à la succession de saynètes tantôt absurdes, tantôt burlesques et au talent de
Leslie Kaplan qui capte à la source un flot de réflexions ordinaires ou l’incongru se marie au trivial, ou la
logique se dérègle. […] Jean Pierre Millefeuille, cet individu qui aime épater la galerie et soliloque dans les
squares, rappelle les personnages de Sempé et le style du récit Tropismes de Nathalie Sarraute.” Le Monde
“Ce grand lecteur de Shakespeare [Millefeuille], qui trouve en Lear un alter ego, se retire à sa façon
du bruit et de la fureur d’un monde qu’il ne comprend plus. Leslie Kaplan, à son meilleur, dresse de lui un
portrait d’une désespérante sécheresse. Sans illusion aucune sur la déréliction de l’âge.” L’Humanité
“Voilà un roman qui, sans ressorts spectaculaires, en dit long sur les gouffres obscures, l’insaisissable
dépression de la vieillesse. […] Dernier roman de la très perspicace Leslie Kaplan.” Livres Hedbo
“Le cheminement intime d'un intellectuel vieillissant à l'approche de la mort. Un beau livre délicat. (...)
Leslie Kaplan brosse le portrait sensible et délicat de cet homme tourmenté par son déclin prochain.“ La Croix
Duteurtre, Benoît: PARIS IS OURS!
(Fayard, September 2012, 260 pages)
Autumn,1980. Twenty-year-old Jerome Demortelle has just arrived in the French capital. New to the
music business and passionate about new wave, his ideas and his attire are befittingly attuned to those of his
contemporaries. Indeed, theirs is a generation bent on doing away with the overshadowing presence of their
elders, and the hippie movement of the sixties. But the young man is also influenced by an old-fashioned dream:
that of “conquering Paris” and earning the artistic renown of his illustrious predecessors.
Things in the capital are not quite what he expected, however. The myth doesn't somehow add up to
reality, and Jerome, in a big hurry as always, isn't able to avoid the pitfalls: Getting in to trendy clubs—or being
turned away, humiliated - takes on existential proportions for him; his penchant for cocaine, what is more, has
him convinced he's a big deal in the club scene when, in reality, he is merely a bystander.
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LITERARY FICTION
Aubry, Gwenaëlle: PARTAGES
(Mercure de France, August 2012, 192 pages)
Long-listed for the Prix Goncourt
It is 2002, year of the second Intifada. Sarah, a Jewish girl of Polish origins born and brought up in New
York, has gone to live in Israel following the 9/11 attacks. Leila is Palestinian, born and brought up in a refugee
camp. They are both seventeen.
Leila and Sarah's voices at first echo each other, describing ordinary everyday situations –
daydreaming at a window, a change of season, a song – in a symmetrical reflection of their common experience.
Then the voices separate, each tells her own story and memories. Finally, they mirror each other, page by
page, as Sarah and Leila walk towards each other through the streets of Jerusalem.
PARTAGES is a novel about community and separation, about both the incommensurability of
different histories and two haunted memories. Sarah and Leila are at once twins and enemies, two Antigones
struggling against tragedy.
Gwenaëlle Aubry's most recent novels include PERSONNE, winner of the Prix Femina 2009, rights
sold to USA (Tin House Books), Germany (Literaturverlag Droschl), Italy (Barbes), Hungary (Joszoveg Muhely
Kiado), Romania (Editura Univers), Croatia (Disput) and Korea (Open Books), NOTRE VIE S’USE EN
TRANSFIRUGATIONS (2007), L’ISOLEMENT (2003) and L’ISOLÉE (2002).
“PARTAGES met en scène deux adolescentes ennemies que tout sépare et tout rapproche dans les rues
de Jérusalem. D’une puissance délicate ”Elle
“Après le magnifique PERSONNE, pris Femina 2009, Gwenaëlle Aubry donne la parole à deux
adolescentes, l’une arabe, l’autre juive dans le Jérusalem d’aujourd’hui ”La Croix
“La langue incantatoire de Gwenaëlle Aubry épouse les consciences, flirte avec la poésie en prose,
diffracte la beauté dans les éclats de mortier. En 200 pages denses et sublimes, elle rend leur dignité à ces sœurs
en humanité, de part et d’autre vaincues ”Le Figaro Magazine
“Un livre poétique et exigeant, porté par une écriture en suspension, au bord du gouffre de la page
blanche, de la parole coupée ”Télérama
“Il serait vain de chercher qui a tort, qui a raison. (...) La réussite de PARTAGES est incontestablement
la création de ces deux personnages symboles Sarah et Leila, deux portraits formidables. (...) Résultat : son
écriture, qui nous avait déjà séduits dans PERSONNE, ajoute à la beauté vénéneuse de ces pages. “Le Figaro
littéraire
Janvier, Gaspard-Marie: QUEL TRÉSOR!
Long-listed for the Prix Goncourt
While getting his estate in order, David Blair, the last scion of a long line of Scottish publishers,
discovers a treasure that just may enable him to save his family home: a map, circa 1881, allegedly drawn by
Robert Louis Stevenson while working on his famous Treasure Island.
There is more to the enigmatic document than meets the eye, however. David hands it over to the
experts and sets sail for the Hebrides to get some air. He docks at the tiny island of Fara, home to a scattering of
locals he immediately takes a shine to: an innkeeper “of insidious charms,” a French aviator who had landed on
the island for emergency repairs—and had never left—and a fly-fishing vicar, to name a few. Each is a more
gifted story-teller than the last. Much to his surprise, the news of his discovery touches a particular chord with
the islanders, fed on stories of shipwreck and revenge, raising, namely, the specter of the fabulous wealth of the
Spanish Armada. Almost unwittingly, David finds himself caught up in an unlikely adventure, and this in spite
of the satellites, the economic restrictions and the safety norms of the world today!
Gaspard-Marie Janvier is the author of the 2006 essay RAPIDE ESSAI DE THÉOLOGIE
AUTOMOBILE. His debut novel, DERNIER DIMANCHE was published in 2009, and his colorful MINUTES
PONTIFICALES SUR LE PRÉSERVATIF, DOSSIER CUNDUM in 2010.
“Magnifique hommage à l’œuvre de Stevenson, ce TRÉSOR est un joyau, un de ces bonheurs littéraires
entre fiction et réalité, qui met en scène une joyeuse bande de doux rêveurs, adultes à l’âme d’enfants, roublards
et menteurs partant à la recherche d’un trésor” Page
“Gaspard-Marie Janvier signe un roman d’aventures tout en allégresse ” L’Express
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FICTION
criticized in the press, the musicians stop following him at rehearsals, and, at an opening-night performance, he
loses the symphony’s rhythm.
Thus begins the great conductor’s long slide: no one will hire him, and someone else is chosen for the
B16. He spends a few months in a psychiatric clinic in Switzerland, and when he starts to feel better, he tries
composing. But the critics have turned their backs on him definitively: his disgrace was too overwhelming to
overcome. In a fit of despair, he kills his last two women friends then throws himself out of a window.
This tragic story’s pathos plays out at high speed, leading readers to believe in the possibility of the
conductor’s redemption, which never comes.
Born in Ankara in 1945, Metin Arditi lives in Geneva. He is the president of the Orchestre de la Suisse
romande and the Les Instruments de la Paix-Genève Foundation. He has written seven novels, including LE
TURQUETTO, in 2011, which won the Jean-Giono Prize, the Page des libraires Prize, the Alberto-Benveniste
Prize and the Libraires de Nancy Prize, and the rights to which have been purchased for Serbia (Laguna), Turkey
(Can Yayinlari), Greece (Kalendis), Italy (Neri Pozza) and Poland (Noir sur Blanc).
Schneck, Colombe: LA RÉPARATION
Longlisted for Prix Femina
The title of this book could equally have been A Secret. Colombe Schneck thought long and hard before
writing it. But some stories cry out to be dug up from the past where they have long lain buried. LA
RÉPARATION is one such story.
When Colombe Schneck gave birth to her daughter Salomé soon after the turn of the millennium, she
had no idea that the name suggested by her late mother a few years previously masked a terrible secret – the
story of another little girl who died during the war, a family tragedy set in the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania – a
tragedy shared by countless other Jewish families across Eastern Europe.
What really happened in the Kovno ghetto in 1943? Colombe Schneck set out to find the answer,
travelling to the States and Israel to talk to the older women in her family, who had kept the secret for over
seventy years. Further details were gleaned from her uncle, the author Pierre Pachet, and from old photographs
and archives. She eventually travelled to Kovno, where her grandmother was born, where her great-aunts lived,
loved, and raised their families before the war. She explored the very streets of the ghetto where her mother’s
family was forced to gather together before being deported.
With echoes of Daniel Mendelsohn’s THE LOST, William Styron’s SOPHIE’S CHOICE, and Jonathan
Safran Foer’s EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, LA RÉPARATION is a deeply affecting book that forges an
unbreakable bond between the Salomé whose life was cruelly cut short and the Salomé now growing up
surrounded by love and laughter.
Colombe Schneck, born in Paris in 1966, is a journalist and author. Her works include
L’INCREVABLE MONSIEUR SCHNECK (2006), SA PETITE CHÉRIE (2007), VAL DE GRÂCE (2008,
grand prix de l'héroïne Madame Figaro), and UNE FEMME CÉLÈBRE (2010, prix Anna de Noailles de
l'Académie Française).
“Powerful, swift, and ruthless (…) LA RÉPARATION is her ‘true novel.” Le Figaro
“This moving book full of elegance and restraint echoes David Grossman’s assertion that we are no
longer victims, even of the worst things, of what destroys life, of the arbitrary, when we describe it in our own
words.” Le Nouvel Observateur
“A poignant tale. If you had to pick from Colombe Schneck’s five books, this would be the one to keep.”
Paris Match
Rights sold to: Germany (Random House for Luchterhand / BTB), Italy (Einaudi). Under offer in
Poland.
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LITERARY FICTION
in the catacombs. Jean Valjean is kind enough to carry the narrator on his back. As you may have guessed, the
central character of this novel is literature.
Vassilis Alexakis has published, amongst others, PARIS-ATHÈNES, LA LANGUE MATERNELLE
(winner of the 1995 Prix Médicis), LES MOTS ÉTRANGERS, AP. J. – C. (Winner of the 2007 Grand Prix for a
novel from the Académie française) and LE PREMIER MOT. L’ENFANT GREC is his fourteenth novel.
Pétel, Gilles: SOUS LA MANCHE
On either side of the channel, in London and Paris, live two men who appear to differ in every way
except for a passing physical resemblance. One is a flirtatious Scottish estate agent who is still looking very good
at the age of forty-five. The other a lieutenant in the French police force, married with two children and tired
with life even though he is only forty. The first is murdered in mysterious circumstances on a train taking him
from London to Paris. The second is in charge of investigating his murder.
In trying to establish the victim’s identity and a motive for the crime, the lieutenant gradually comes to
question his own existence in a play of mirrors where fascination is tempered with repulsion. In a London shaken
by the financial crisis, the lieutenant’s successive encounters show him that he is not who he thought he was.
Gilles Pétel was born and raised in Dunkirk. After studying philosophy at the université de Nice, he
spent several years abroad teaching. In 1996 his first novel, LE MÉTIER DANS LE SANG, was published by
Fayard. This was followed by other novels, LE MUR DE BROADWAY (Fayard, 1998), LE RECENSEMENT
(Stock, 2000) and LA DÉPOSITION (Stock, 2002), as well as short stories, and a play LE MONOLOGUE DE
LA FEMME IVRE DE BONHEUR staged by the artists group “Lilas en scène” in December 2009.
Amigorena, Santiago H.: LA PREMIÈRE DÉFAITE
Short-listed for the Prix Télérama and long-listed for the Prix de Flore
First love, it seems, is merely a prelude to the first defeat. We love, and then we suffer. We try to
remember in order not to live, and then we try to forget – in order not to die. But there is nothing like trying to
forget to remember, and trying to remember to really forget.
This novel tells the story of a young man who slowly understands, after having loved for the first time
and after having suffered not being loved in return, that he must savour both pain and joy at the same time, at
each step, in order to find happiness.
The path is long, with unexpected detours. How could it be otherwise, because if we know what first
love is the prelude to, we ignore the outcome of first defeat.
Santiago H. Amigorena was born in Buenos Aires in 1962. He is a scriptwriter, a journalist and a writer.
He wrote six novels, all published by P.O.L, among which LA PREMIÈRE DÉFAITE’s prequel, LE PREMIER
AMOUR, published in 2004.
“Un texte luxuriant et intense, tour à tour somptueux, drôle ou émouvant ” Le Monde
“LA PREMIÈRE DÉFAITE possède un effet hypnotique. Plus on lit, plus on veut en lire. Santiago H.
Amigorena se crée un double narcissique et prétentieux et touche à l’universalité de la douleur amoureuse.”
Journal du Dimanche
“Une vraie audace.” Transfuge
Arditi, Metin: PRINCE D'ORCHESTRE
(Actes Sud, August 2012, 384 pages)
Metin Arditi has created a magnificent character: a fragile and narcissistic orchestra conductor who
reaches the summits… then like in a classic tragedy, falls inexorably until the novel’s last pages.
Alexis Kandilis is an internationally renowned conductor, the darling of the critics and the public alike.
He seems likely to be chosen to record the B16, Beethoven’s 16 symphonies, the ultimate achievement for a
conductor. But his capricious character, switching between narcissism and fragility, leads him to be very hard on
his musicians. One day, he goes too far, and humiliates a percussionist, reducing him to tears. The orchestra
takes the musician’s side, and the situation deteriorates rapidly. Admired until that point, Kandilis starts getting
20
FICTION
Willy and he had made many incursions into Islamic lands, for the BBC and other channels, that led
him to meet with key figures in the Afghanistan war against the Russians, like Commander Massoud and Osama
bin Laden.Did they film things they weren’t supposed to have seen?
In this strong, masterfully written novel, events take a surprising but implacable turn that is no barrier
against the sudden appearance of love or the fear of death. The author of MES VIES AMÉRICAINES confronts
the complexity of the world with the ancient art of tempered naivety that can be learned from reading Nabokov,
Borges and Gombrowicz assiduously. Peter, Frederika and most of the other main characters are all
virtuososwho play their pieces tirelessly until one tragic day in September, in turn-of-the-centuryAmerica.
Max Genève, born in Mulhouse in 1945, now divides his time between Paris and Biarritz. The author of
over 20 novels, short-story collections, narratives and essays, this undefinable authoradheres to the same high
literary standards whatever the genre: fantasy (RAMON, L'INGÉNIEUR DU SILENCE…), musical (LE
CHÂTEAU DE BÉLA BARTÓK, LE VIOLONISTE, MOZART, C'EST MOI…), erotica (LA NUIT
SERACHIENNE, CHAIR…), detective fiction (AUTOPSIE D’UN BIOGRAPHE, LE TUEUR DU CINQ DU
MOIS…). VIRTUOSES is the perfect illustration of Max Genève’s entry in the Dictionnaire des écrivains
contemporains de langue française par eux-mêmes :“Yes, novels seem to him to be the best vehicles for
furthering our knowledge of the unknown. Sex, melancholy, music, metaphysics… that is the program. And
death, beginning ever anew.
Noirez, Jérôme: 120 JOURNÉES
English sample translation available
Each day, four boys and four girls aged 12 to 15, make way to junior high school, alone, ignoring each
another. One night, they don't leave school. When they awaken they find themselves at Silling, a dark,
subterranean institution, of sorts, an undefinable cross between bunker and boarding school. Four kidnappers,
and a certain number of disturbing henchmen, are holding them prisoner. Their confinement, modeled on the 120
Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade, is to last one-hundred and twenty days. The students find themselves
forced to partakein strangerites, travesties of normal school life. Subjugated and left to their own passivity, they
are – be littled and – aggrandized in turn, forced to both watch and to partake in bloody games.
With society today slowly dismantling juvenile rights, promoting an outrageously alarmist and
criminogenic vision of childhood (and our bizarre invention of adolescence) while instituting a veritable denial
of the otherness of children, 120 Days sheds provocative albe it in advertent light on a contemporary issue, while
in now ay pretending to be - topical. Indeed, it is closer intone to the grotesque voice of Witold Gombrowicz in
Ferdydurke.
Winner of the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire in 2010 for his collection of short stories LE DIAPASON
DES MOTS ET DESMISÈRES (published by Griffed‘ encre), Jérôme Noirez was born in 1969. Before devoting
him self almost exclusively to writing, he was a musician. He has also published around twelve books: novels for
adults, young adults, children, essays… Passionate about Lewis Carroll, in 2008 he dedicated to him a fantastical
and peculiar novel called LEÇONS DUMONDE FLUCTUANT (published by DLEand J‘ai Lu). Children are at
the heart of his literary universe, which blends humour, tenderness, fright and grotesque.
Alexakis, Vassilis: L’ENFANT GREC
This is the story of a constant to-and-fro between two gardens, between a childhood spent in the
Kallithea quarter of Athens, and the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris where the narrator makes painful progress,
supported by crutches. He has just had a major operation but no one shows any interest now except for the
woman who runs the park’s toilets, a homeless man called Ricardo, the lady director of the puppet theatre and a
white-haired old man who looks like Jean Valjean. His loneliness eventually makes his childhood heroes appear
around him, some who really did tread the paths of the Jardin du Luxembourg, such as Jean Valjean and the
three musketeers, but also Tarzan who can’t understand why people have built houses around the park when
there’s so much room for them in the trees. There are also orphans, pirates and Indians, as well as Richelieu who
watches over this little universe from his window in the nearby government buildings. And finally death,
represented by a giant puppet dressed in white, with hen’s feet instead of hands; and a beautiful Italian woman
cast in bronze.
Muted noise from the outside world reaches the gardens: the cries of young protesters demonstrating on
Constitution Square in Athens, and news that Zorba danced in the Bundestag in front of the German Parliament.
As novelists seem to like sending their characters underground into the sewers or down burrows, the story ends
19
LITERARY FICTION
Born in Paris in 1968, Jérôme Ferrari lives in Corsica, where he has taught since 2007. This is his fifth
novel, after: DANS LE SECRET, BALCO ATLANTICO, UN DIEU UN ANIMAL, OÙ J'AI LAISSÉ MON
ÂME.
Fottorino, Eric: LE MARCHEUR DE FÈS
(Calmann-Levy, January 2013, approx 320 pages)
After L’HOMME QUI ME PARLAIT TOUT BAS (Gallimard, 2009) and QUESTIONS À MON PÈRE
(Gallimard, 2010), Eric Fottorino closes his trilogy on fathers with LE MARCHEUR DE FÈS, retracing his
biological father's foot steps, in Fez,in search of his Judeo-Moroccan roots.
Without him, here in Fez, I am like anamnesic blind man. Without me, he is unable to get around the
neighborhoods of his childhood. He was born in Fez in February 1936. Today he lives outside of Barcelona. He
can no longer fly, because of his illness. And he can no longer use his legs. But he still has his memories. I took
him by car. We drove to Algeciras, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, l anded at Tangier and headed toward Fez - in
the direction of his youth. From the non, everything came flooding back.
This is the story of my father, Maurice Maman, who was called Moses or Mos he in those days. He
didn't raise me; he did not give me his name. We've only really got ten to know each other in the past ten years.
The time had come for him to show me the road she had traveled, especially the early path leading to the Jewish
cemetery where her older sister, Annette, is for ever 17. THE WALKER OF FEZ is our story, his and mine. For
him, it is a path back. For me, it is a beginning. Fez, the souks, Al-Qarawiyy in, Djamaï Palace, the heights of
Marinids, the icy water of the wadi – and my father's childhood dream of becoming the champion of Morocco.
His father's funduq, the balcony of their first apartment in the European city where heand his brothers and sisters
built a bamboo hut for the festival of Sukkot. Through the cracks in the roof you could see the shooting stars.
Over the course of our travels, Maurice the Frenchman would become Moshe of Fez once more. In Fez,
where he no longer has anything, here he is, right at home. Andhere I am, too, along side him. Right at home.
Kim Thúy: ROUMA
(Librex, Fall 2012, approx. 160 pages)
ROUMA is a love story between a woman and the women who, in turn, gave birth to her, fed her, and
raised her.
She was left by a teenager in the garden of a Buddhist temple perched on the banks of one of the watery
tentacles of the Mekong River. A nun took her in and nourished her with rice water and the breast milk of a
nearby mother, before leaving her in the care of yet another woman – a part-time teacher, but full-time spy if
only because the war against France and the United States was most of all a war between the Vietnamese people,
between those separated by river currents and topography.
ROUMAis also a tale of contorted love, the kind that has to keep quiet and cannot be pursued; the kind
of love that should not be etched in memories or stories. But before the ending, or in the middle of a new
beginning, in a place far from the tropical heat, close to the body, in the slow ethereal fall of snowflakes, there
was an undistorted love: an ordinary love, born of an ordinary encounter with an ordinary man which for her,
was out of the ordinary, implausible.
Born in Vietnam, Kim Thúy arrived in Quebec at the age of 10. She lives in Montreal and devotes
herself to writing. Her first novel RU was a tremendous success and was awarded several prizes in Canada and
in France. The rights of RU have been sold in 18 countries (USA, UK and Australia, Canada (English), France,
Germany, Spain and Latin America, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, Poland,
Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Japan)
Genève, Max: VIRTUOSES
(Serge Safran Editeur, August 2012, 391 pages)
Summer 2001. European filmmaker Peter Waltman is flying to the U.S.A.He’s going to present his
latest film and make a documentary for Arte about the renowned violinist Frederika Murray. He doesn’t know
yet that Willy, his collaborator on many shoots in the Middle East, has just been assassinated in Bavaria.
Waltman discovers America; he is fascinated by the beauty, vitality and violence of its cities: New
York, Philadelphia, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston. He meets with his producer, the
heads of some major Hollywood studios, artists and journalists, as well as some less-fortunate – or even
dangerous – people.
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FICTION
Donner, Christophe: À QUOI JOUENT LES HOMMES
Longlisted for Prix Renaudot
This is a gripping fictional study of the heady world of horse racing, a well documented and fascinating
history of the Parimutuel betting, where money – the ultimate corruptor – is easy come, easy go. A virtuoso
novel from the pen of Christophe Donner.
Christophe Donner loves to revisit history. After his irreverent study of the French monarchy, he now
turns his sights on the history of horse racing. The subject may sound trivial, but its social significance becomes
apparent as Donner takes the reader back over two centuries to explore the history of betting, from the invention
of the tote to the highly sophisticated systems in use at modern-day racecourses. What do men play at? Losing,
mostly!
Christophe Donner has painted a dazzling historical fresco, so alive that the characters seem to stand out
on the stage. He recounts the struggles for supremacy between the old, aristocratic regime and the modern age of
organised betting, the dynasties of bookmaking entrepreneurs with dreams of wealth beyond limit, and the
winners and losers in a world that has more than once driven its inhabitants to vengeance, despair, and suicide.
As always in Donner’s work, there is a deep-rooted connection between past and present. At the death
of his grandfather, who was an unlucky gambler, the narrator becomes a gambler himself, but an ingenious and
fortunate one. A QUOI JOUENT LES HOMMES tells the story of those men, winners, losers, bankers,
croupiers, miserable mob: a fascinating study of social mores in the tradition of Balzac and one of Donner’s
finest literary achievements to date.
Christophe Donner was born in Paris in 1956. A prolific author, his works include L’EMPIRE DE LA
MORALE (2001, Prix de Flore), AINSI VA LE JEUNE LOUP AU SANG (2003, Prix Jean Freustié), BANG !
BANG !, UN ROI SANS LENDEMAIN (2007), and VIVRE ENCORE UN PEU (2011).
“À QUOI JOUENT LES HOMMES is carried by a lively style and reads like a bolt of lightening.
Christophe Donner imbues the equestrian with the epic.” Livres Hebdo
“The racetrack is far more exciting in the company of Christophe Donner and his brilliant A quoi jouent
les hommes. Not without provocation, Donner examines the paradoxes of morality (both private and public), the
place of games in our lives, and the motivations of those who participate in them. […] stunning pages that
meditate on our civilization of leisure and entertainment.”Lire
“An exotic and touching picaresque tale in which we find the humble and the famous animated and
crushed together by that intoxicating and mysterious protean passion: the love of the game.”Le Figaro
Magazine
Rights sold for previous works: Czech Republic (Host), Russia (Ripol-Classic).
Ferrari, Jérôme: LE SERMON DE LA CHUTE DE ROME
A young Corsican goes back to the village where he was born to open a bar and assert his identity as a
local, no matter what it takes. But he soon loses control of the situation and finds himself confronted with the
Corsicans’ rough side.
Matthieu Antonetti was born in Corsica, but was raised on the French mainland. Separated from his
people, with his identity taken away from him, he spends his time daydreaming of them. So the minute he
graduates from college, he gives up on philosophy in order to go open a bar with a childhood friend. Matthieu is
happy in that setting, and has a harder and harder time leaving the bar, with its tight-knit community where he
feels welcome and accepted. He gradually cuts himself off from his family, to the disappointment of his sister,
who is starting to worry that he’s just a fool shutting himself up inside a cocoon.
Then, just when Matthieu’s father falls ill, his whole, fragile world starts to cave in – and then a client
gets killed in a street fight. Matthieu watches, stunned, as his realm melts away, then goes back to the mainland,
leaving a part of his identity behind him.
Jérôme Ferrari plunges us into the heart of the harsh Corsican character, beautifully portraying the
island’s evolution and the loss of its traditions – shown as being as inevitable as the fall of Rome.
17
LITERARY FICTION
My starting point was a letter that the artist wrote from Morocco in 1942. He was fleeing the German
occupation and had just been interned in a transit camp located on the outskirts of Casablanca. ‘Obviously’, he
wrote, ‘conditions in the camp are atrocious (no bed, just one big room with straw mattresses for both men and
women, more than a hundred), but I have succeeded in escaping the worst. I sleep in a very comfortable
bathroom, seven kilometers outside of Casa, near the ocean.’
My project started to take shape when I added a narrator, the great granddaughter of the owners of the
bathroom where Duchamp had found refuge, as well as a scholar whose research has motivated him to find the
artist. All that was left to do was to have Duchamp bring them together.” – Serge Bramly
Born in 1949 in Tunisia, Serge Bramly has written numerous books: L’ITINÉRAIRE DU FOU (Prix Del
Duca), LA DANSE DU LOUP (Prix des libraries 1983), LE PREMIER PRINCIPE, LE SECOND PRINCIPE
(Lattès, 2008) which was awarded the Prix Interallié. He has also written essays on China (LE VOYAGE DE
SHANGHAI), on art (Léonard de Vinci, prix Vasari 1995; republished in 2012), and on photography.
“Bordered with melancholy, this romanticized biographical episode is above all a promenade through
exile, human solitude and female tenderness. Lovely.” Le Figaro magazine
Quignard, Pascal: DERNIER ROYAUME - LES DÉSARÇONNÉS
DERNIER ROYAUME is a remarkable writing project that defies categorisation. Pascal Quignard has
already devoted six volumes to the project, each of which can be read as a stand-alone work. He sets out to blend
philosophy and fiction, breaking down the barriers between the two to create a space of total literary freedom.
LES DÉSARÇONNÉS, the seventh volume of this life-long project, explores the painful yet redeeming potential
depression offers for self-enlightenment.
LES DÉSARÇONNÉS looks at people who fall down and pick themselves up again. Pascal Quignard
makes the case for depression – which has often afflicted him – as a force for good. He argues that making the
big changes in life – family, partner, home, country – means going back to square one. Every rebirth means
starting over from scratch – what psychoanalysts refer to as “originary distress”. Quignard’s argument is
straightforward. Depression and originary distress are one and the same thing. They represent a stage that cannot
be leapfrogged, and to which we must return every time we encounter a difficulty. Depression saves us; it works
miracles. He goes even further, arguing that depression is not cured by doctors, psychoanalysts, priests, antidepressants, or drugs: depression is its own cure. The second hypothesis Quignard puts forward reaches back to
the dawn of humanity. Cave paintings grouped animals into those that lived in herds and those that lived alone.
This hints at the belief of the ancients that life in society was inherently wrong and that no political system was
better than any other. In fact, they held that all political systems were terrible, that all governments supposed a
hierarchy, setting the dominant over the dominated, and led to an incurable struggle to the death.
The author was influenced by his uncle, a survivor of Dachau, who taught him to read and forced him to
eat when he was not hungry: we are obliged by fate to learn, and re-learn, by ourselves, and no-one else. LES
DÉSARÇONNÉS succeeds in taking up the impossible challenge of a project that is vast in scale, unsettling in
approach, and yet an indispensable addition to modern thought.
Pascal Quignard was born in 1948. He lives in Paris. He is the author of a number of acclaimed novels,
as well as essays combining fiction and philosophy.
“Magnificent. His artful collaging has never been so impressively virtuosic.” Lire
“From the great Quignard. (…) Les Désarçonnés is not a philosophical tale, nor is it an essay, a novel,
or a journal. Pascal Quignard brings down the walls between genres.” Transfuge
“Pascal Quignard’s prose leaves us with an astonished happiness. To read it is to study at the school of
great style.” Ouest-France
Rights sold for previous works: Albania (Koci), Bosnia (TDK Sahinpasik), Bulgaria (Lege Artis), China
(Yilin), Czech Republic (Vojtech Ripka Jitro), Estonia (Kultuurileht), Japan (Seido Sha), Poland (Czytelnik),
Portugal (Gotica), South Korea (Moonhak Kwa – Jisung), Spain (La Cifra), UK (Seagull).
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FICTION
Julien, she soon realizes that he too is familiar with the wrong side of the law; without hesitating, he takes this
nineteen year old, wild-eyed stranger on the run.
From hide-out to hide-out, through months of physical pain tempered by a growing love for the strong
but tender man at her side, Anne uses all her nerve and cunning to keep hold of her increasingly precious
freedom.
Simple, poignant, tender, this story burns with a humor and irreverence that draw the reader in, and
carry us along the incredible journey that Anne makes from the prison wall, and along the roads that lead her
back. The book shouldn’t be read as just an autobiography, but as the gripping tale smuggled out of prison on
grubby pages that went on to sell millions of copies worldwide, and enchant readers with its poetic, spirited and
colorful prose.
In 1966, just one year after the book first appeared in French, the rights for L’ASTRAGAL had already
been sold to sixteen countries: Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the USA, Spain, Holland, Sweden, Finland,
Denmark, Brazil, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Israel, Turkey and South Africa. Now world rights are once
again available
Albertine Sarrazin led a tumultuous, brilliant but brutally short life. Talented student, vagabond,
prostitute, and orphan, at fifteen she stole her father’s pistol and ran away to Paris, where she staged an armed
robbery. At her trial she said: “I have no regrets: when I do, I’ll let you know”. With this typical spirit of
defiance, she began the first of eight years she was to spend in prison.
Living in a bleak cell, she continued her studies and started to keep journals. Sarrazin met the love of
her life after jumping ten meters from a prison window; he hid her, nursed her and later went on the run with her.
Both constantly in and out of jail, they married with guards by their sides. Throughout this time, Sarrazin
continued to write, filling notebooks with poetry, stories and precise observations on prison life. This was where
the heavily autobiographical L’ASTRAGAL and LA CAVALE were born.
Sarrazin’s writing is full of vigor and incisive wit, with a language rich in slang, beautifully crafted
sentences, and a passion that couldn’t be curbed by cell walls. Her books received huge critical and popular
acclaim on publication, winning their author the “prix des quatre-jurys” and recognition across the world before
her life was cut short by a botched operation at the age of 29.
“The most extraordinary of all the young writers in 1965.” Elle
“247 gripping, mind-blowing pages.” L’Information
“No concessions, no complacency…Albertine Sarrazin knows how to combine a pure and scholarly
language with the most vulgar slang, and…she moves with agility from one to the other.” Témoignage Chretien
“A supremely enjoyable book.” Nouvel Observateur
“Thanks to her graceful use of language and spirit of pride, we can hold her as one of this year’s
revelations.” Journal de l’éducation Nationale
“A rare quality.” France Soir
“Utterly exceptional.” Combat
“A unique woman and a rare writer.” Figaro
LITERARY FICTION
Bramly, Serge: ORCHIDÉE FIXE
English Sample available
The story of a double encounter, a double passion, and the intersection of different eras and social
classes through a long string of causes and effects.
“I started this book a little more than twenty years ago and had made very halting progress because,
although I was obsessed with the idea of writing something on Marcel Duchamp, I had no idea what form it
should take.
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DISCOVERED WRITER
is the story of a Music-Hall star whose glory days are over. Finally, Les fumées du vin (The Fumes of Wine) tells
Bolshevik revolutionaries break into a Finnish upper-class home in a distinctly cinematic manner.
None of them reached the screen in the end. They demonstrate an impressive visual technique and a
bold sense of editing, and as such they play an essential role in Irène Némirovsky’ s writing career.
Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903 in a Jewish family. She became famous as soon as her very
first novel, DAVID GOLDER (1929), whose success was quickly followed by that of her second novel, LE BAL
(1930). During WWII, she fled Paris to find refuge in a small village, but was eventually arrested by the French
police, and then sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed during the summer of 1942. Her last novel, SUITE
FRANÇAISE, was posthumously awarded the Renaudot Prize in 2004. Translated in 41 languages, it became an
international best-seller (more than 3 millions of copies sold worldwide).
Coulon, Cécile: LE ROI N’A PAS SOMMEIL
(Viviane Hamy, January 2012, 120 pages)
20,000 copies sold in France!
Short-listed for the Prix France Culture - Télérama
LE ROI N’A PAS SOMMEIL is the gripping story of a cursed child’s tragic destiny.
After squandering his fortune, William Hogan works relentlessly: by day at the village sawmill and by
night at the police station, where he files the most sordid cases. At the village ball he seduces the beautiful Mary
and marries her. From this union Thomas, a delightful child, is born. Unlike his, sombre, doleful and violent
father, Thomas is fragile and vulnerable. But his life is overturned the day William gets a gash on his hand at the
sawmill. The wound becomes gangrenous and kills him. From that moment on, like a bad omen, the accident
will cast a shadow over Thomas’s destiny. As he grows up, and his evil fate catches up with him, Thomas will
become known to everyone as Mary’s “cursed son.”
In a direct but imaginative style, Céline Coulon leads us into a universe of emotion, blending
tranquillity with unspeakable melancholy.
Born in 1990, Cécile Coulon studied Law and Literature, this is her third novel.
“Rare are the writers who impose themselves as such from their very first book. Cécile Coulon is
certainly one of them […]an extraordinary universe […]This is a novel with biblical strains, finely cut into the
beauty of a landscape bewitched by mystery, legends and muffled tragedies.” Le Monde des Livres
“Cécile Coulon steers the ship of her novel with great authority.” Figaro Magazine
“Ce qui frappe dans ce quatrième livre de Cécile Coulon, c’est la manière dont elle arrive à surgir des
éclats de beauté dans la brutalité.” Elle
“Cécile Coulon revient avec un livre sombre, puissant et émouvant. Une maîtrise et une écriture qui
forcent le respect.” Femina
“Entre western à la Steinbeck et tragédie sociale, l’histoire d’une déchéance masculine par une
romancière française surdouée (…) un grand roman sur la virilité” Les Inrockuptibles
“Un diamant noir, coupant et fragile, dont il émane une puissance magnétique (…) Magnifique”
L’Express
“Des fêlés magnifiques irradiants d’une lumière noire” Le Journal du Dimanche
DISCOVERED WRITER
Sarrazin, Albertine: L’ASTRAGALE
(1937 -1967)
(Pauvert-Fayard, September 2012, 320 pages)
A stunning literary achievement that mixes vigorous slang with poetic invention and biting humor,
where we share in the breathless destiny of a young woman on the run.
Anne is sprawled at the foot of a wall, gazing up at the window ten metres above her head. She’s just
jumped from it. In this daring prison escape, she has broken a bone in her ankle, the astragal from which the
book takes its name, and can only half crawl, half drag herself to the roadside. Picked up by the handsome
14
FICTION
Nicolas d’Estienne d’Orves is a music reviewer and journalist, columnist for Le Figaro among others.
He has written several books, including LES OPRHELINS DU MAL, translated into 13 languages.
“Un des livres événements de cette rentrée.” Livres Hebdo
“Un roman-fleuve que l’on dévore avec plaisir et intérêt” Page
“Ce roman permet d’appréhender, non l’exactitude d’une période, non son historicité, peut-être pas
non plus sa totale vérité, mais du moins sa complexité. La vérité de sa complexité. Et la complexité de sa vérité”
Le Figaro littéraire
“Tout à la fois peinture de mœurs, fresque historique, psychologie des profondeurs, le roman de Nicolas
d’Estienne d’Orrves, servi par une écriture efficace, fluide, et une connaissance impressionnante de son sujet,
entraîne le lecteur jusqu’à l’issue fatale.” Le Figaro magazine
“Mêlant personnages de fiction et grandes figures historiques, Nicolas d’Estienne d’Orves dresse un
portrait ultraréaliste de Paris sous l’occupation allemande. (…) Dans LES FIDÉLITÉS SUCCESSIVES, la
plaisir du roman historique rejoint l’ambition littéraire.” Marianne
Garcia, Tristan: LES CORDELETTES DE BROWSER
(Denoël, August 2012, 280 pages)
What if time came to an end? What if the world was over? In this book that stands halfway between a
philosophical fable and an adventure novel, Tristan Garcia depicts a strange world in which time has
disappeared.
In this dream-like account of the history of mankind, Tristan Garcia explores the possible consequences
of such a bewildering notion. When David Browser, a space explorer, finally reaches the edge of outer space, he
stops the expansion of the universe. Mankind is doomed to live forever in the present. Yet men can relive and
alter their own lives by means of a personal device.
In several stories that intercommunicate and echo one another, Tristan Garcia invents a galaxy of
characters who struggle to survive as time stands still. A remarkable story of adventure that unfolds in the blink
of an eye, a momentary lapse of reality.
Tristan Garcia, born in 1981, is a philosopher and a novelist. His debut novel LA MEILLEURE PART
DES HOMMES (2008), rights sold to United States (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), Germany (Frankfurter
Verlagsanstalt), Spain (Anagrama), Greece (Polis) and Italy (Guanda), was hailed by the press and received the
Prix de Flore. He subsequently published MÉMOIRES DE LA JUNGLE in 2010 and EN L’ABSENCE DE
CLASSEMENT FINAL in 2012.
“The young prodigy of French fiction continues to astonish us (…) a futuristic and invigorating tale
that could be summed up by this tricky question: are we meant to live forever? A leap into the unknown in order
to get closer to the stars.” Les Inrockuptibles
“A simple yet powerful writing style that successfully mixes elements borrowed from genres as diverse
as metaphysics, adventure novel and fairy-tale, and demonstrates the audacity of a young yet already celebrated
author” Marianne
“Tristan Garcia is a very exciting writer because he constantly reinvents himself and is not afraid to
take major chances” Le Figaro
Némirovsky, Irène: LA SYMPHONIE DE PARIS ET AUTRES HISTOIRES
(Denoel, June 7th, 2012, 180 pages)
In these five stories originally written for the big screen, Irène Némirovsky reaches her maturity as a
writer. Her highly visual writing offers a travel into the 1930s, and brushes five fine portraits of women.
In the early 1930s, as speaking movies coming from the USA are conquering French moviegers, Irène
Némirovsky turns to the world of movie making. Her novel David Golder was previously adapted into a feature
film by Julien Duvivier in 1930. In 1931, she writes three love stories, with the intention of bringing them to the
silver screen: La symphonie de Paris (The Paris Symphony), wherein the sounds of Paris are carefully described,
Noël (Christmas) and Le carnaval de Nice (The Carnival of Nice) (the most ambitious one, which explores the
onirical dimension of a carnival). La comédie bourgeoise (The Comedy of Bourgeoisie) is a screenplay written in
1932 that deals with a dramatic adultery, and draws a wonderful portrait of a woman, just like Ida (1934), which
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HIGHLIGHT FALL 2012
1980s, it explores the achievements of two men locked into a relationship of co-dependance, while questioning
the role of an editor whose scissors would edit a text to the point of virtually denaturing it.
Stéphane Michaka was born in Paris in 1974. He studied English Literature at the University of
Cambridge. His first novel LA FILLE DE CARNEGIE sold ten thousand copies and was selected for eight
literary prizes.
Rights sold to : USA (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday)
“Une réflexion sur l’art de la fiction” Page
“Stéphane Michaka réussit le prodige de tresser plusieurs biographies à travers lesquelles se déploie
une puissante réflexion sur la littérature (…). Mieux qu’une autre, cette forme de réinvention romanesque dit
l’essentiel d’une vie d’homme, celle de Raymond Craver” Le Monde
“Michaka offre un roman à la fois émouvant et éclairant” Marianne
“Stéphane Michaka nous offre un livre remarquable sur l’écrivain américain Raymond Carver. Pas une
biographie, mais un roman extrêmement vivant sur l’aventure de son écriture” Le Nouvel Observateur
“Roman polyphonique d’une extrême justesse de ton, aux phrases rabotées comme celles de son héros,
CISEAUX est la preuve qu’un grand écrivain peut en cacher un (futur) autre” Marie-Claire
Egloff, Joël: LES LIBELLULES
(Buchet-Chastel, August 2012, 192 pages)
A slightly off-beat writer turns his sensitive and droll gaze on the world around him.
Unlike his earlier works, which were all drawn from his imagination, in this collection of short texts,
Joël Egloff has chosen real situations, often ones which he observed with his own eyes or was directly involved
in.
Each time, readers find themselves delighting in the poetic, absurd or serious side of situations that
could seem insignificant at first glance. Egloff skillfully captures and renders visible these imperceptible
instants.
With their consistent style and spirit, these pages indirectly draw the portrait of their observant narrator.
But above all, they compose a collection rich in humanity, affection and good will.
Joël Egloff was born in 1970 . He studied filmmaking and wrote several screenplays. His first novel,
EDMOND GANGLION & FILS was awarded the Prix Alain-Fournier. He is also wrote LES ENSOLEILLÉS
(Prix Erckmann-Chatrian), CE QUE JE FAIS LÀ ASSIS PAR TERRE (Grand Prix de l’Humour Noir),
L’ÉTOURDISSEMENT (Prix du Livre Inter and Prix des Espaces Culturels) rights sold to Germany
(Goldmann Verlag), Spain (Lengua de Trapo), Italy (Instar Libri), Poland (Wydawnictwo Literackie), Serbia
(Fabrica Knijga), Greece (Hestia), Israel (Babel) and Korea (Hyundae Munhak).
“Chaque histoire se lit comme une chronique ordinaire du temps qui passe où l’imaginaire n’est jamais
très loin (…) L’auteur a l’art de raconter le quotidien avec un humour tendre et un regard poétique sur la vie
(…) Une lecture pour prolonger l’été avec légéreté” Panorama
“Joël Egloff tord les événements du quotidien pour saisir au vol le monde qui l’entoure. Un monde
étrange dont il faut pousser la porte” Livres Hebdo
“Le nouvel opus de Joël Egloff ressemble à un vol d’insectes. Les mots s’éparpillent dans des textes
courts mettant en scène les petits mondes de l’écrivain. En entomologiste bienveillant et parfois impliqué, il
dissèque un quotidien à la frontière de l’absurde, du fantastique et du comique” Page
d’Estienne d’Orves, Nicolas: LES FIDÉLITÉS SUCCESSIVES
‘An expert at living a double life, I no longer knew who I really was, or which of those lives was really
my own.’ Guillaume Berkeley’s confession sums up the subject of this novel set in collaborationist Paris. Both
English and French, resistant and collaborator, traitor and hero, living and dead… Guillaume Berkeley, driven by
his ‘serial fidelities’ has assumed all of these identities at one moment or another in his life.
A study of morals, a historical tale, a political-detective story, LES FIDÉLITÉS SUCCESSIVES is a
novel in which no one is who they say they are.
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FICTION
Echenoz, Jean: 14
(Les Éditions de Minuit, October 2012, 128 pages)
Short-listed for the Prix Télérama
During the First World War, two brothers are called up to fight. One gets killed, and the other loses an
arm. Two lives sacrificed to the war – as so many others were – so many that they become almost banal and
interchangeable after a while.
In 1914, two brothers, Anthime and Charles, leave their village in the Vendée region of France to go to
war. They are both in love with the same woman, Blanche, but Charles is the one she’s close to.
Throughout France, everyone believes the war will be over in a matter of weeks. The soldiers’ leavetaking is an almost joyful affair. The men are proud to be defending their country’s honor.
Anthime is assigned to the infantry, and Charles, thanks to Blanche’s connections, to the aviation squad.
But Charles is killed when his plane is shot down by German fire. As for Anthime, he is caught in the horror of
the trenches, and sees his friends and comrades blown to bits, one after the other. One day, a piece of shrapnel
slices his right arm off, just below the shoulder. Many of the soldiers around him envy his fate, since it gets him
out of the trenches and the war.
When Anthime gets back to the Vendée, Blanche takes care of him. During a trip they take to Paris,
their relationship changes, and a son named Charles is born of their union. A novel about the fragility of human
lives and the inevitability of fate, carried by Echenoz’s clear and poetical style, which reports on the war rather
than describing it.
A writer and screenwriter, Jean Echenoz has published twelve books and has been awarded numerous
literary prizes, including the Prix Médicis in 1983 for CHEROKEE and the Prix Goncourt in 1999 for JE M’EN
VAIS. His books have been translated in more than 15 countries. His novel COURIR sold over 75,000 copies in
France, and translation rights have been sold to: the US (New Press), Italy (Adelphi), Germany (Berlin Verlag),
Spain (Anagrama), Norway (Aschehoug), Greece (Polis), the Netherlands (De Geus), Portugal (Objetiva), Brazil
(Alfaguara), Finland (Tammi), Denmark (Per Kofod), Czech Republic (Mlada Fronta), Poland (Noir sur Blanc),
China (Art et Littérature du Hunan), Korea (Open Books), and Turkey (Kitap Yayinevi).
“Jean Echenoz se penche sur la Grande Guerre, embrassant la tragédie en quelque cent vingt pages
d’une bouleversante beauté. Un grand livre” Télérama
Lafon, Marie-Hélène: LES PAYS
(Buchet-Chastel, August 2012, 200 pages)
Claire, the daughter of farmers from the Cantal region, was born into a dying world. Her father has been
saying so since she was a child: they stand at the end of the line.
She understands early on that school and books will constitute her saving grace. She commits herself to
them with energy and determination. She simply has to be the best one. Thanks to a scholarship, she goes to the
capital, Paris, studies at the Sorbonne and discovers a completely unknown world.
She never forgets the land she came from, and gets to know the city where she will make her life.
Marie-Hélène Lafon lives in Paris and teaches French in middle school. Buchet Chastel has published
all her books, since her first novel, LE SOIR DU CHIEN, in 2001. Her most recent novels, LES DERNIERS
INDIENS (2008) and L’ANNONCE (2009, awarded the Prix Page des Libraires and short-listed for the Prix
Femina) were a critical success. Rights of L’ANNONCE have been sold to Sweden (Elisabeth Grate) and Russia
(Azbooka-Atticus/Inostranka).
“Marie-Hélène Lafon crée des terriers secrets entre ville et champs. Un concentré de poésie magique et
de douceur, où les arbres et les vaches apparaissent en héros littéraires ” Page
“Un roman-témoignage de déracinement et de transmission” Notre Temps
Michaka, Stéphane: CISEAUX
Long-listed for the Prix de Flore
CISEAUX is the story of Raymond Carver, his wife, Maryann Burk-Carver, Gordon Lish, his publisher
and poetess Tess Gallagher, waiting in the wings. Set against a backdrop of America from the 1960s through the
11
HIGHLIGHT FALL 2012
“His new book, Les Désorientés, marks his return to the novel with fanfare. It is a very endearing
book.” Lire
“A big, exquisite novel about friendship, betrayal, nostalgia, ideals, politics, and the world as it is…”
Page des Libraires
Vallejo, François: MÉTAMORPHOSES
(Viviane Hamy, August 2012, 336 pages)
The poignant story of a young man shifting to religious extremism, and the struggle of his family, trying
to protect the son and brother they no longer understand. A really burning story reflecting Occidental concerns.
When Alix hears that her beloved brother Alban has converted to Islam, it is a huge shock; she is
scandalized and already pictures him as an extremist. She tries to convince her brother to go back to his usual
atheism, but the conversation is uneasy, and Alban makes her face her own contradictions and hypocrisy: would
her reaction have been the same if he had converted to Christianity?
Alix starts to investigate on Alban, his environment and his new brothers. But the more she tries to
understand him and get close to him, the more he sinks into extremism. Involved in a terrorist network, he is
soon arrested and sent to jail. Alix does everything to help him with the trial, showing him an infinite trust. The
case is dismissed and Alban, deserted by his spiritual family, doesn’t know how to fit in society.
A beautiful, touching novel on those who live on the fringes of society and can't find their place,
searching refuge in violence and in the tales of an adoptive family. MÉTAMORPHOSES offers a subtle and fair
view on extremism.
François Vallejo was born in 1960. He teaches literature and has already published eight novels. He
won three literary awards: the Prix des libraires for GROOM, the Prix roman France-Télévision for MADAME
ANGELOSO and the Prix du livre Inter for OUEST.
Rights sold to: Greece (Polis)
“Un roman intense au cœur de thématiques que l'actualité sait nous rappeler, parfois, avec violence”
Page
“Un récit qui fonce à toute allure vers des cibles mouvantes, avec de l’humour à chaque ligne, servi par
un art très fin de l’ironie.” La Croix
“Dans le style lapidaire qu’il affectionne, sans affect, sans pathos, sans pitié, sans parti-pris
idéologique, François Vallejo s’attaque au plus périlleux des sujets (l’islamisme et ses sirènes) et met le doigts
sur quelques maux rongeant notre monde en voie de désintégration sociale, culturelle, civilisationnelle,
religieuse. Un roman-choc troublant mais rassurant par son évidence romanesque” Le Figaro
Winckler, Martin: EN SOUVENIR D’ANDRÉ
(P.O.L, October 2012, 288 pages)
The narrator of this novel was one of the first doctors in an unspecified European country to assist
people who wished to die – secretly, at first – and then less so, as a certain tolerance took hold and laws were
adapted to the situation.
After mastering the techniques that allow women and men to depart from life without suffering and
without anguish, he discovered, through his own personal experience, that this type of technical assistance was
not sufficient. That accompanying a person who wishes to die requires a more profound personal approach. And
this accompaniment can be provided by people who are not doctors.
When he himself approaches the end of an incurable disease, the narrator tells his story – and his secret
for the first time – to an invisible, silent interlocutor he has chosen for reasons the reader will discover at the
very end of the book.
Born in 1955 in Algeria, Marc Zaffran is a doctor. Under the pseudonym Martin Winckler he is the
author of several novels and essays, among which LA MALADIE DE SACHS, awarded the Prix du Livre Inter
1998, rights sold to USA (Seven Stories Press), Germany (Karl hanser Verlag), Spain (Ekal), Italy (Feltrinelli),
the Netherlands (Bert Bakker), Norway (Pax), Czech Republic (Baronet), Croatia (Otokar Kersova), Greece
(Metaichmio), Turkey (Güncel), Brazil (Schwarcs), Korea (Open Books) and Japan (Hayakawa), Russia (RipolClassic).
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FICTION
Guenassia, Jean-Michel : LA VIE RÊVÉE D’ERNESTO G
Short-listed for the Prix Jean Giono
Awarded the Prix du roman Chapitre 2012
Paris-Algiers-Prague. From the 30s to the 80s. From the ‘guinguettes’ – the beloved open-air cabarets in
the countryside outside of Paris – to the plague in Algiers; from the end of the war to the collapse of
Communism.
This is the itinerary of Joseph Kaplan, son and grandson of Jewish doctors living in Prague. A hero in
spite of himself, he possesses a unique combination of fatalism and optimism. The novel recounts his love
affairs, commitments and disillusions, as well as a life-changing encounter with a Cuban revolutionary who, in
1966, spent some time in a sanatorium near Prague: one Ernesto G., a once magnificent, now fallen warrior.
Jean-Michel Guenassia is the author of the literary phenomenon LE CLUB DES INCORRIGIBLES
OPTIMISTES (Goncourt des lycéens 2009): 400,000 copies sold in France and translated into 15 languages.
Rights sold to : Germany (Insel), Italy (Salani) and Greece (Polis)
“Une éclatante réussite qui traverse avec panache le XXe siècle mouvementé” Lire
“Tous les lecteurs de grands récits romanesques attendaient le deuxième roman de l’auteur du CLUB
DES INCORRIGIBLES OPTIMISTES. Patience largement récompensée ! Amitiés trahies, amours déçues,
enthousiasmes ou désespoirs politiques, abandons et retrouvailles sont au cœur de ce roman fleuve qu’on dévore
avec passion” Page
“LA VIE RÊVÉE D’ERNESTO G est une éclatante réussite qui traverse avec panache un XXe siècle
mouvementé” L’Express
“Ce nouvel opus de l’auteur du CLUB DES INCORRIGIBLES OPTIMISTES est une très agréable
surprise. Péripéties épiques et personnages attachants : un talent qui se confirme” Femme Actuelle
Maalouf, Amin: LES DÉSORIENTÉS
Amin Maalouf’s long-awaited new novel marks his return to the land of his birth and to the themes he
has long held dear – exile, identity, and the clash of cultures and beliefs. It builds a bridge between two distant
shores, two very different worlds, that come together in his writing: East and West.
Adam is a much-admired historian. He is living in exile in Paris, far from the homeland that he fled
twenty-five years ago. He has fought long and hard to forget his childhood memories, but one night, one phone
call, is all it takes to bring them rushing back. Mourad, his closest childhood friend, is dying. His final wish is to
see Adam and heal the rift that has arisen between them since an argument decades before. Adam immediately
throws a few clothes in a suitcase and takes the first flight out.
A few hours later, he is back home after decades of absence. Adam takes lodgings with Sémiramis,
drawn by her beauty, while he takes stock of the past. What has become of his childhood friends? One is a
moderate Muslim, another an engineer turned monk; a third is a successful businessman, while a fourth has
become a corrupt politician. They have all taken different paths in life, and some have blood on their hands.
But who is Adam to judge? Were his choices any wiser? Was exile a luxury that allowed him to remain
aloof from the difficulties his friends had no choice but to face? Adam learns that courage is not always to be
found where he thinks it is. Life, love, and friendship, ideals and compromises, politics, desire, and betrayal –
Adam can no longer avoid staring these issues in the face, having averted his gaze for quarter of a century.
Amin Maalouf was born in 1949. His novels include LE ROCHER DE TANIOS (Goncourt 1993), LE
PÉRIPLE DE BALDASSARE (2000), and ORIGINES (2004); he has also published works of non-fiction
including LES IDENTITÉS MEURTRIÈRES (1998) and LE DÉRÈGLEMENT DU MONDE (2009). Major
international literary voice, he was granted the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Literature in 2010.
Rights sold to: Greece (Patakis), Hungary (Europa), Italy (Bompiani), Lebanon (Dar Al Farabi), the
Netherlands (De Geus), Norway (Pax), Serbia (Laguna), Spain (Alianza), Turkey (Yapi Kredi).
“Amin Maalouf, gives us a perfect look at the thoughts and feelings that can lead to emigration. One
can only be impressed by the magnitude and the precision of his introspection.” Le Monde des Livres
9
HIGHLIGHT FALL 2012
she sees. Keeping watch over her son, she becomes an eyewitness to Alexander’s last battle, the one his faithful
generals fight in his name, since the Emperor can’t die.
A magnificent tale that immerses us in a mystical and sacred world and, thanks to the writing style,
brings the thought and lyricism of the Age of Alexander back to life.
Laurent Gaudé, novelist, short-story writer and playwright, was born in 1972. His most notable books
include LA MORT DU ROI TSONGOR (2002 Goncourt des lycéens Prize; 2003 Libraires Prize) and LE
SOLEIL DES SCORTA (2004 Goncourt Prize and Jean-Giono Prize).
Joncour, Serge: L’AMOUR SANS LE FAIRE
One evening, Franck decides to call his parents for the first time in 10 years. Oddly enough, a little boy
answers the phone, and his name is Alexandre, like Franck’s brother who died in an accident years ago. Franck
suddenly wants to leave Paris and go back to the family farm in Bertranges.
At the same time, the factory Louise has been working is putting people on temporary layoff, so she
decides to spend a few days with her ex-in-laws in Bertranges.
Time has gone by, but this unexpected reunion will disrupt their lives. Franck and Louise have
both been battered by life. They don’t talk a lot, but seem to understand each other. Each of them will
help the other learn to accept and love themself. “You can’t change your life around, you just keep
hammering away at the old one,” Franck thinks when he gets to the farm. But in the silent summer
centered on the five-year-old boy, “hammering away” starts to look a lot like reinventing one’s life.
His previous books UV is sold 17,000 copies, L’IDOLE is more than 10,000, and his latest
collection of short stories, COMBIEN DE FOIS JE T’AIME, 7,000 copies.
Durin-Valois, Marc: LA DERNIÈRE NUIT DE CLAUDE EATHERLY
(Plon, August 2012, 352 pages)
This intense, psychological novel features a pilot who participated in the bombing of Hiroshima and
was profoundly traumatized by the experience, and a reporter who is both obsessed with the pilot and muzzled
by the media. It plunges us straight into the Cold War era, and the first ravages of nuclear power.
Texas, 1949. Rose Martha Calter is a young photo-journalist whose job is to take pictures of local new
stories for a few papers based in Texas. On one of her assignments, she learns about the existence of a certain
Claude Eatherly, who, four years earlier, had been one of the pilots for the air convoy that dropped the nuclear
bomb on Hiroshima.
Eatherly, who is initially reticent to discuss the subject, eventually declines into petty crime and short
stays in a psychiatric ward. He is constantly proclaiming his overwhelming sense of guilt about having
participated in killing all those civilians. He leaves Rose a written document of several pages of confession and
repentance.
But in the middle of the Cold War, no one wants to hear this dissident interpretation of the American
victory. Because of her obsession with Eatherly, Rose will spend her life trying to prove the pilot’s sincerity,
without ever managing to definitively establish to what extent the charismatic man had truly been affected by the
experience and to what extent he was simply trying to take advantage of his 15 minutes of fame.
Subtle, sincere and profound, this novel dissects the traumatisms, obsessions and strengths of master
manipulators. A unique point of view on the problems of the last century.
A journalist, Marc Durin-Valois is the author of several novels that were loved by both the public and
the critics, including: NOIR PROPHÈTE (2006), L’EMPIRE DES SOLITUDES (2003) and CHAMELLE
(2002; adapted for the cinema). Rights sold to Spain (Tropismos) and Italy (Voland). The author has received
nearly a dozen literary awards, including the Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie and the Prix National
Culture et Bibliothèques.
“Un roman passionnant et instructif” Le Figaro magazine
“Un récit documenté, explorant brillamment la part d’ombre des Etats-Unis des Trente Glorieuses”
Valeurs actuelles
8
FICTION
“Le constat fait par Florian Zeller se révèle plus terrible que encore que celui de Frederique Beigbeder.
L’amour de dure pas trios ans mais deux. Dans son portrait de generationnael réussi, l’auteur convoque Milan
Kundera et Adam Thirwell, Jean-Paul-Satre et Michel Leiris. La vie est courte et le désir est sans fin semble dire
Zeller, don’t les héros se heurtent aux vitres du quotidien” Livres-Hebdo
Bordes, Lucile: JE SUIS LA MARQUISE DE CARABAS
(Liana Levi, August 2012, 144 pages)
The touching journey of a family of marionettists across Europe across three generations, between the
19th and 20th centuries. A story that speaks for all those who struggle with the passing times and the changes in
the world.
JE SUIS LA MARQUISE DE CARABAS retraces the history of the Grand Pitou Theatre over three
generations: its establishment by Auguste, who in 1850 abandons his job as a grocer’s boy to follow a traveling
marionettist; the prosperity realised at the turn of the century by Emile, a brilliant draughtsman who masters the
technical progress of the age and excels at stage direction; and, finally, the decline in the first half of the 20th
century when the family comes up against the competition of the cinema, a field they struggle to adapt to.
Now in her turn steward of this dynasty of brilliant fairground entertainers, Lucile Bordes embraces her
family’s legacy to compose a story filled with poetic whimsy, bringing to life the fascinating world of
marionettes. Preferring the art of allusion to historical detail, she manages a tour de force: a century in the life of
an exceptional family portrayed in broad strokes on a small canvas.
A beautiful tale performed by a new voice, offering an overview of the changes in art, family life and
politics throughout the last two centuries.
Lucile Bordes lives in Seyne-sur-Mer, France, and teaches literature and stylistics. JE SUIS LA
MARQUISE DE CARABAS is her first novel.
“A sparkling book that recounts a whimsical story, brilliant and poetic.” Lire
“A really successful first novel.” Psychologies
“These marionnettes come so much to life over the course of the story you find yourself hating the
cinema that is to kill them off.” Le Figaro Madame
“Not all family secrets are shameful, some are magical. Follow Lucile Bordes without hesitation. And
let the show begin…” Coiffard Nantes
“A magnificent interweaving of the enchantment of theatre with the quest for a family’s past. Riveting!”
Le Livre écarlate, Paris
“Very beautiful and sensitive, a lively evocation of a family history over the course of three generations.
It reads like an adventure story.” Le Grain des mots, Montpellier
Gaudé, Laurent: POUR SEUL CORTÈGE
A funeral procession that can’t stop, a stolen body, and a final battle, fought with honor by the
Emperor’s most faithful generals: Laurent Gaudé has woven an imaginative tale of the last days of Alexander the
Great.
After his victory at Persepolis, Alexander the Great returns victoriously to Babylon, where he celebrates
for days on end. But, weakened by the hardships of battle, he is overcome with a terrible pain in his stomach, and
falls down in a faint. He hovers between life and death for several days.
Thus begins a parade of generals, and, as soon as Alexander is pronounced dead, a bitter struggle for
power. Only a few generals stay true, and head off to fight a final battle against the deceased emperor’s greatest
enemy. Although they know it’s a lost cause, they do it to honor his memory.
Meanwhile, Drypteis, Alexander’s sister-in-law, follows the funeral procession, joining the wailing
women mourners for months on end. In this way, Drypteis – who gave up her son, the heir to the throne, in order
to protect him from the jealousy of those who covet power – hopes to obtain the protection of the Emperor. And
Alexander does in fact speak to her. She is the only one who can hear his voice, which orders her to free his body
and take it far away from the tomb planned for him, where he believes he will feel trapped. Drypteis manages to
discreetly spirit the body away, thus liberating Alexander. But, having lost her own will to live, she swallows a
poison that renders her semi-conscious. She is not dead, but is able only to bear witness by describing everything
7
HIGHLIGHT FALL 2012
HIGHLIGHT FALL 2012
Dicker, Joël: LA VÉRITE SUR L’AFFAIRE HARRY QUEBERT
(Éditions de Fallois, September 2012, 670 pages)
Long-listed for the Prix Goncourt and for the Prix Femina – Short-listed for the Prix Jean Giono
Awarded the Prix littéraire de la vocation Bleustein-Blanchet
New York, spring 2008, as America is getting excited about the upcoming presidential elections,
Marcus Goldman, a hot young writer, is being tormented by writer’s block: he is absolutely incapacitated at the
idea of writing the new novel he’s supposed to hand in to his publisher in just a few months.
The deadline is looming when suddenly, everything changes: the past catches up with his friend and
former college profession, Harry Quebert, one of the country’s most highly respected authors. Quebert is
accused of having murdered Nola Kellergan, a 15-year-old girl he had an affair with in 1975.
Convinced that Harry is innocent, Marcus drops everything and heads to New Hampshire to investigate.
He soon finds himself in over his head: not only is his investigation stagnating, but he himself is receiving
threats. To prove Harry’s innocence and to salvage his own career, Marcus absolutely has to find the answers to
these three questions: Who killed Nola Kellergan? What happened in New Hampshire in the summer of 75? And
how do you write a best-selling novel?
Disguised as American-style crime fiction, LA VÉRITE SUR L’AFFAIRE HARRY QUEBERT is in
fact a book about America, about fault lines in modern society and about literature, justice and the media.
Joël Dicker was born in Geneva in 1985. After reading law, one of his first short stories received the
International Young Authors’ Prize for 2005 and was subsequently published. LES DERNIERS JOURS DE
NOS PÈRES (Jan 2012) was his first novel. The manuscript won the Prix des Ecrivains Genevois 2010
(Genevan writers’ prize).
Rights sold to : Italy (Bompiani)
“Un thriller sur fond de réflexion sur l’écriture, doublé d’un portrait saisissant de l’Amérique.
Ambitieux, haletant… grand roman ” Le Point
“L'Amérique d'hier et d'aujourd'hui vue par un jeune écrivain genevois surdoué. (...) On lira sans
discontinuer jusqu'au bout le roman français de Joël Dicker LA VERITE SUR L’AFFAIRE HARRY QUEBERT.
On n'en sortira qu'épuisé et ravi par le jet continu d'adrénaline littéraire que le narrateur n'a cessé d'injecter
dans nos veines. Roman noir, oui, roman policier sans doute, mais tout aussi bien roman psychologique à
retournements haletants ou hilares, et roman de moeurs d'une actualité et d'une justesse saisissantes sur cette
Amérique profonde qui se cache si bien et qui évolue de façon si déconcertante derrière les dentures parfaites
que lui garantissent ses stomatologiques d'avant-garde. (...) Roman policier à rebondissements construits par
Joël Dicker de main de maître simenonienne.” Le Figaro littéraire
“Ce captivant roman aux allures de polar plonge au coeur des secrets d'une petite ville du New
Hampshire. (...) Son livre a tout du grand roman américain, du ton à l'atmosphère, de la peinture sociale à
l'ambition. (…) On ne peut que céder, dès les premières pages, à son attraction. Extrêmement bien ficelée,
l'intrigue de ce faux polar ne cessera de rebondir au fil des pages. (...) Joël Dicker multiplie les allers-retours
temporels, rivant son lecteur à ses pages sans aucune fausse note ni confusion. (...) Un suspense étonnant.” La
Croix
Zeller, Florian: LA JOUISSANCE
(Gallimard, September 2012, 224 pages)
30 000 copies sold in France !
This is the story of Nicolas and Pauline who meet, fall in love, travel, consider living together, look for
a flat, and of course cannot find one…
And then comes a child who reflects their frustrations, their fatigue, their unfulfilled dreams, the
difficulty of giving oneself to the other and the promise of freedom that solitude seems to offer… Through them,
the author delivers a remarkably thorough portrait of a generation; its restlessness, its enthusiasm.
Florian Zeller was born in 1979. His debut novel, Neiges artificielles (2002), brought him immediate
fame. He won the Prix Interallié for La Fascination du pire (2004). In 2006, he decided to dedicate himself to
writing for the stage, an activity he had initiated in 2003. La jouissance marks his return to the novel.
6
FICTION
Laurain, Antoine: LE CHAPEAU DE MITTERRAND
(Flammarion, January 2012, 224 pages)
One evening in Paris, Daniel Mercier, an accountant, goes out for dinner alone in a brasserie to cheer
himself up in the absence of his wife and son. His life, trivial in every way, restricted even, is turned upside
down when an illustrious guest sits the next table: François Mitterrand has come to eat oysters in the company of
two friends. After his meal, the President forgets his hat, which our average Frenchman decides to keep as a
souvenir. But the famous black felt hat is not a mere trophy: like a talisman, it changes our little employee into a
genuine strategist within his company…
Did Daniel unravel the mystery of ultimate power without knowing it?
Alas, the precious hat is interested in more than a single head and, once again, finds itself a new owner,
thus pursuing an original journey through the heart of French society in the 1980s. For two years, the fetish-like
object moves around and seems to play with the life of those who wear it, men and women alike, revealing them
to themselves and to others. Throughout this carefully orchestrated roundelay, Antoine Laurain wittily depicts a
wide-ranging cast of characters. Halfway between fairy tale and novel, and imbued with a delightful sense of
mischief, LE CHAPEAU DE MITTERRAND recreates the daily life of a particular era.
Born in Paris in the mid-70s, Antoine Laurain is the author of four novels, including AILLEURS SI
J’Y SUIS (éd. Le Passage, 2007), FUME ET TUE (éd. Le Passage, 2008) and CARREFOUR DES
NOSTALGIES (éd. Le Passage, 2009).
Rights sold to: UK (Gallic Books), Italy (Atmosphere Libri)
“Un conte aussi drôle qu’original à savourer comme un chocolat avec une surprise à l’intérieur.”
Marie France
Becker, Emma: MR.
(Denoël, January 2010, 300 pages)
In her first novel, Emma Becker puts under scrutiny the erotic vertigo experienced by a modern day
Lolita. Ellie is eighteen and leads a carefree and superficial life until the day she comes across “Mr.”, a married
surgeon nearing fifty. At first strictly epistolary, their affair finally takes off in a Parisian hotel room. Ellie will
go through several months of feverish waiting, punctuated by clandestine get-togethers and brief phone
conversations. An emotional vicious circle she will try to break, unsuccessfully.
A confession taking the form of a novel. The cruel deconstruction of a fantasy. The disenchantment of a
contemporary Lolita. Emma Becker is 22. MR. is her first novel.
Rights sold to: UK (Constable & Robinson, World English), Germany (Piper), Italy (Baldini Castoldi),
Spain (Planeta), the Netherlands (De Bezige Bij), Czech Republic (Mlada Fronta), Hungary (Athenaeum),
Ukraine (Folio), Turkey (Ceres Yayinlari) and Taiwan (Ecus)
“Elle se raconte avec une impudeur morne et rafraîchissante (…) et dans le détails, parce que cette
cérébrale ne mégote pas sur l’organique.” Libération
“On tient là un autoportrait inédit de la fille de 20 ans – celle qui découvre le monde avec insolence.”
Standard
“Avec une belle écriture attentive, précieuse et incandescente, elle explore les dangers de la passion,
entre brûlures de l’âme et addiction au sexe.” Grazia
“Un roman-confession s’achevant brutalement sur la perte des illusions d’une Lolita contemporaine.”
La gazette Nord-Pas de Calais
“Ce qui fait le sel du roman d’Emma Becker, c’est l’absence de complaisance envers son double
littéraire, le refus de cacher les moments de vertige, de grâces et de chutes.” Discordance.fr
“Une crudité enchanteresse.” Tatiana de Rosnay, Journal du dimanche
“Un roman cru et délicat qu’on pourrait situer à mi-chemin entre Colette et Catherine Millet.”
Frédéric Beigbeder, Le Figaro Magazine
5
BEST-SELLERS 2012
Michel Bussi has written several crime novels including LES NYMPHEAS NOIRS, which was the
most lavinshly awarded French crime-fiction novel of 2011 (Prix Polar méditerranéen, Prix Polar Michel
Lebrun de la 25e Heure du Livre du Mans, Prix des lecteurs du Festival Polar de Cognac, Grand Prix Gustave
Flaubert, Prix Gouette de Sang d’encre de Vienne).
Rights sold to: Italy (Mondadori), S. Korea (Sweet Books), Spain (Planeta), Poland (Weltbild)
“Un roman d’atmosphère. Mais l’action et les rebondissements ne manquent pas dans ce roman.” Le
Progrès
“Un thriller plein de rebondissements.” France Dimanche
Marchal, Eric: LE SOLEIL SOUS LA SOIE
(Anne Carrière, November 2011, 600 pages)
70,000 copies sold in France
Here is the epic tale of a land, an era and a profession, based on actual documented cases from those
times. In the closing years of the 17th century, one of the smallest states in Europe, the Duchy of Lorraine, is
recovering from French occupation and various wars, hoping to enjoy a generation of peace. Nicolas Déruet is a
travelling surgeon. His life takes a turn the day he meets Marianne Pajot, a midwife in the city of Nancy.
Imprisoned after an operation that the patient did not survive, Nicolas is forced into the coalition forces,
which are fighting a war against the Turks. From the Lorraine countryside to the Hungarian steppes, from
abandoned hovels to gilded palaces, Nicolas’s extraordinary destiny is driven by both love and a fierce ambition
to revolutionise medicine.
Eric Marchal is 45 years old. He is the author of INFLUENZA (PRIX CARREFOUR SAVOIRS 2009),
a historical series paced like a spy / adventure story, in which a young doctor is called up during the Second
World War to investigate the secret causes of the 1918 Spanish flu.
Rights sold to: Spain (Grijalbo/Random House). Paperback rights and Club rights sold (France Loisirs
et Grand Livre du Mois)
“Eric Marchal signe avec ce livre un grand roman d’aventure parcourant toute l’Europe de l’époque.
L’un des meilleurs livres historiques depuis LES PILIERS DE LA TERRE de Ken Follet.” Le Mutaliste
“Ce roman d’aventure est également placé sous le signe de l’amour.” Le Figaro Littéraire
“Une fantastique fresque sur les balbutiements de la médecine moderne.” Pleine Vie
“Le considérable travail de recherches mené ici par Eric Marchal débouche sur un copieux roman, au
souffle généreux .” Le Républicain Lorrain
“Un roman divertissant, aux allures de feuilleton chirurgical et sentimental.” L’Estrade
Fontanel, Sophie: L’ENVIE
(Robert Laffont, September 2011, 162 pages)
75,000 copies sold in France !!
Like a Bridget Jones for the middle-aged set, Fontanel shares real-life situations that are absolutely
relatable, and at times bittersweet and hilarious. From the very first sentence, she embarks on a taboo subject -her decision not to have sex for a certain period of time – and takes the reader along for a great ride. This
decision puts Fontanel in unique situations that she daringly expresses in a series of heartening vignettes. Both
men and women are sure to see a bit of themselves in Sophie Fontanel’s reality.
Sophie Fontanel is a novelist and journalist for Elle. Following the critical and commercial success of
2010’s GRANDIR (50,000 copies sold), Sophie Fontanel confirms her voice and style with L’ENVIE.
Rights sold to: Germany (Goldmann), Spain (Lumen), Italy (Rizolli), Netherland (Artemis/Ambo
Anthos), Turkey (Once Kitap), USA (Scribner)
4
FICTION
FICTION
BEST-SELLERS 2012
Barbara Constantine: ET PUIS, PAULETTE…
Calmann-Lévy, January 2012, 313 pages
More than 170,000 copies sold in France!
After the best-selling TOM, PETIT TOM, TOUT PETIT HOMME, TOM, Barbara Constantine
succeeds once again in creating a real gem that carries the reader away with its moving tale, full of life, humour
and hope.
Since his son, daughter and grandchildren moved away, Ferdinand has been living by himself on a big
old farm. But the situation doesn’t last long: Ferdinand is quickly joined by a host of lost souls. First his
neighbour, Marceline, shows up after a terrible storm. Since the roof of her house seems to be on the verge of
collapse, Ferdinand invites her to stay. Then his best friend, the recently widowed Guy, moves in as well. Last
but not, least, the Lumière sisters show up. Thus a strange quintet is formed. When health issues become
overwhelming, the clan decides to recruit Muriel, a nursing-school student who is offered room and board in
exchange for a few hours of work a week. Then, Kim, from the local agricultural school, is enlisted to help out
with the garden. To everyone’s surprise, Muriel gives birth to a little girl one night. The child is an unwelcome
addition in her mother’s eyes… but our newly formed community doesn’t see things that way at all. Baby
Paulette will be well looked after indeed!
Ceramic artist, screenplay writer and novelist, Barbara Constantine’s previous books are ALLUMER
LE CHAT; A MÉLIE, SANS MÉLO and TOM, PETIT TOM, TOUT PETIT HOMME, TOM, which has been
translated into 8 languages (Germany (Blanvalet), Italy (Fazi Editore), Spain (Seix Barral / Grup 62), Korea
(Munhakdongne), Russia (Pokolenie) and Hungary (Könyvmolyképzo Kiado); Offer from Vietnam.
Rights sold to: UK (Maclehose, World English), Germany (Rowohlt), the Netherlands
(Meulenhoff/Boekerij), Italy (Einaudi Stile Libero), Spain (Seix Barral, World Spanish / Grup 62), Israel
(Kinneret), Turkey (Can Yayinlari), Brazil (Intrinseca), China (Shanghai 99), Korea (Munhakdongne), Taiwan
(Yuan-Liou) and Portugal (Bertrand)
“Rires, émotions et tendresse sont les maître-mots des romans de cet auteur.” Le journal du Centre
“Servie par une plume rayonnante et épurée, cette histoire irrésistible est un bonheur de lecture.”
Femme Actuelle
“Un magnifique exemple de solidarité rempli d’espoir.” Le Nouvelliste
“Tous les ingrédients ne sont-ils pas réunis pour l’adaptation cinématographique de ce conte
antidéprime, aux allurs d’ENSEMBLE C’EST TOUT d’Anna Gavalda ?” L’Express
Bussi, Michel: UN AVION SANS ELLE
(Presses de la Cité, January 2012, 540 pages)
UN AVION SANS ELLE is a contemporary thriller about the quest for a child’s identity before the era
of DNA analysis. A gripping novel about the sole survivor of an airplane crash and how the search for her
identity risks destroying the lives of everyone who will come to know her...
After a tragic plane crash in the mountains, rescue crews find only one survivor, a three-month-old girl.
But there were two babies on the plane, two little girls, both the same age, both with blond hair and blue eyes.
Which one is she? Emilie or Lyse-Rose? The two families fight for custody of the baby. It is up to the authorities
to choose which family to place the child with.
Eighteen years later, a private detective claims to have gotten to the bottom of this tragic affair. A short
time late, he is murdered. But he has left behind is a notebook in which his entire investigation is recorded…
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FICTION............................................................................................ 3
BEST-SELLERS 2012...................................................................................3
HIGHLIGHT FALL 2012.............................................................................6
DISCOVERED WRITER ...........................................................................14
LITERARY FICTION ................................................................................15
NON-FRANCOPHONE AUTHORS .........................................................27
DEBUT NOVEL..........................................................................................28
CONTEMPORARY TRENDS ...................................................................34
HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL ..........................................38
WOMEN WRITING ...................................................................................41
COMMERCIAL FICTION ........................................................................47
LITERARY CRIME & SUSPENSE NOVELS .........................................50
THRILLERS ...............................................................................................58
SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY ...........................................................65
ALL TITLES .................................................................................... 73
Contact: Mrs Anastasia Lester ; Email: [email protected]
1

fiction - Anastasia Lester Literary Agency

Transcription

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