The book
The most destructive mechanisms of the soul, laid bare
Marie is the prettiest girl in her provincial hometown and is dating the most popular boy in town. She is the envy of all her schoolmates and she loves it. When she falls pregnant and gives birth to Diana, things change. Diana steals the hearts of all who meet her, inciting nothing but jealousy in her mother. This is Diana’s story. The story of a young, brilliant woman who grows up without maternal affection. It is the story of Diana’s relationships with other women: her best friend, the sweet Elisabeth; her mentor, the selfish Olivia; her sister, the beloved Célia; and, of course, her mother. It is a story about the baser sentiments that often animate human relations: rivalry, jealousy, distrust.
With her trademark wit, brevity, and tightly wound plots, Nothomb has devised a telling adult fable about human relationships and the mother-daughter bond.
Praise for Amelie Nothomb
“Amélie Nothomb’s twenty-fifth novel is among her very best.”—Télérama “A Madame Bovary of the 1970s.”—FranceInfo
“A story of frustration and familial jealousy.” —Marie Claire (France)
“Amélie Nothomb has written one of her best novels. Poignant, cruel, and formidably, masterfully written.”—Lire
“A marvelous novel in which the genius of childhood is tested.”—Libération
“Amélie Nothomb is such an utter astonishment, the shock of reading her for the first time is like realizing you have inadvertently missed a whole movement, or century, in the scheme of things.” —Scotland on Sunday
The author
Amélie Nothomb
Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan to Belgian parents in 1967. She lives in Paris. Her edgy fiction, unconventional thinking, and public persona have combined to transform her into a worldwide literary sensation. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages and counting, and been awarded numerous prizes including the French Academy’s Grand Prix for the Novel, the René-Fallet, Alain-Fournier, and Jean-Giono prizes.