Passion, death, and the ambiguous relationship between art and reality

“Luminous.”–La République des livres

“Masterly.”–Grazia

“A resounding success.”–France Culture

“A dark and delicate portrait of a woman’s life.”–Le Monde de la Photo

Antonia grows up in rural Corsica, a place of deeply-rooted traditions and strong family ties. When she’s fourteen, her uncle, a priest, gives her a camera—suddenly changing the way she looks at the world and igniting a life-long passion. 

Over two decades later, Antonia runs into Dragan, a soldier whom she had met when she was reporting on the war in the former Yugoslavia. The two spend the night in deep conversation, reminiscing about their experience of the conflict. As she drives home, Antonia loses control of her car, plunges off a cliff and is killed instantly. Tasked with officiating at her funeral, Antonia’s uncle is forced to reflect on her life and legacy and on the profound questions they beg about ambition and doubt, passion and guilt, representation and reality.

Wide in scope but rich in detail, restrained yet deeply moving, In His Own Image weaves together the story of a life with universal themes that resonate across time and space.

Jérôme Ferrari
Jérôme Ferrari is a writer and translator born in 1968 in Paris. His 2012 novel, The Sermon on the Fall of Rome won the Prix Goncourt. He is also the author of Where I Left My Soul (MacLehose, 2012).