Gallic Books

'Satire at its best' ELEANOR CATTON

'Outrageous, comic, disturbingly timely' THE GUARDIAN

Bold, darkly funny and brilliantly bizarre, She’s a Killer is the story of what happens when a stubborn slacker is forced to confront a very weird world.

Thirty-something Alice has an IQ of 159 (almost a genius) and lives at home with her mother, with whom she communicates only by Morse code. 

Meanwhile, the climate is in crisis. Wealthy immigrants are flocking to New Zealand for shelter, stealing land, driving up food prices and taking over. 

When Alice meets attractive wealthugee Pablo, she thinks she has found a way out of her dull existence. But then in walks his teenage daughter, Erika, an actual genius with impeccable eye makeup, and Alice finds herself drawn into action of the most radical – and dangerous – kind. Just what is a slacker to do?

'Satire at its best' ELEANOR CATTON, author of Birnam Wood

'Outrageous, comic, disturbingly timely' THE GUARDIAN

A stubborn slacker is spurred to radical climate action by a snarky teenager with big ideas in this bold, darkly funny and brilliantly bizarre debut.

Thirty-something Alice has an IQ of 159 (almost a genius) and lives at home with her mother, with whom she communicates only by Morse code. Meanwhile, the climate is in crisis. Wealthy immigrants are flocking to New Zealand for shelter, stealing land, driving up food prices and taking over. When Alice meets attractive wealthugee Pablo, she thinks she has found a way out of her dull existence. But then in walks his teenage daughter, Erika, an actual genius with impeccable eye makeup, and Alice finds herself drawn into action of the most radical – and dangerous – kind. Just what is a slacker to do? By turns sinister and hilarious, She’s a Killer is the story of a reluctant genius who is drawn into radical action as the world falls apart around her.

'An exquisitely bittersweet comedy of life's missed opportunities' Jonathan Coe, author of Bournville 

A magical imagining of the fate of a fictional boy whose life is shaped forever when he loses out on the role of Harry Potter.

It's 1999. Martin Hill is ten years old, crazy about Arsenal and has a minor crush on a girl named Betty. Then he makes it to the final two in the casting for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. 

In the end, the other boy is picked for the role of a lifetime. A devastated Martin tries to move on with his life. But how can he escape his failure, especially when it's the most famous film series in the world? 

Foenkinos’s smash-hit Second Best is a playful, poignant story about fate, loss and how the lives we wish we’d led might not be all they’re cracked up to be . . .

LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2024

SHORLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD VIKING AWARD FOR FICTION 2024

‘Perfect for the poolside or sitting outside a café with a pastis and olives’ The Times

Part swashbuckling adventure on the high seas and part modern-day love story set in the heart of Paris, An Astronomer in Love is an enchanting tale of destiny and the power of love from bestselling author Antoine Laurain.

In 1760, Guillaume le Gentil, real-life astronomer to King Louis XV, sets out for the oceans of India to document the transit of Venus. The weather is turbulent, the seas are rough and his quest may be more complicated than initially thought. 

250 years later, estate agent Xavier Lemercier chances upon Guillaume’s telescope in a property he's sold. As he looks out across the rooftops of Paris, he discovers an intriguing woman with a zebra in her apartment. 

Then the woman walks through the doors of his office, and his life changes forever . . . 

"A sheer delight." The Guardian

"Masterful" The Sun

With trademark style and charming whimsy, Antoine Laurain’s new novel of intrigue, murder and neighbourly curiosity is sure to delight fans old and new. 

Nathalia Guitry was a successful photographer. Until the day she caught a murder on camera. 

At therapy, Doctor Faber suggests a way out of her creative block: she must write stories about the people she sees in the building opposite, floor by floor. 

Starting with the actor turned YouTube life coach on the ground floor and going all the way to the fifth via a cartoonist and an ex-trader, Nathalia creates vivid accounts of her Parisian neighbours’ lives. But are her tales real or imaginary? As their sessions play out, the doctor becomes increasingly uncertain. 

And when she gets to the final floor, it’s up to Faber to do the talking . . .  

Suspense, intrigue and sly wit abound in the latest novel from bestselling author Antoine Laurain.

'An elegant and quietly lyrical charting of a life changed by books' Irish Times

A tender and witty coming-of-age story about the power of literature to inspire new beginnings, peppered with a cast of quirky characters and a unique heroine. 

Clara is a hairdresser at Cindy Coiffure, a sleepy French salon with an identity crisis. Her relationship is fizzling out. Her tanoholic boss Madame Habib worships Jacques Chirac and talks longingly of her days in Paris. And now Madame Lévy-Leroyer wants to go blonde. Clara can’t help but wonder if there’s more to life than this . . . 

Everything changes when a customer leaves behind the first volume of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. As Clara reads, she discovers a new world. And slowly but surely, she will work out who she wants to be.

A memoir and manifesto from the world’s most Michelin starred chef, Alain Ducasse, with introductions by internationally renowned writer Jay McInerney and chef Clare Smyth. 

At twelve years old, Alain Ducasse had never been to a restaurant. Less than fifteen years later, he received his first Michelin star. Today he is one of just two chefs to have been awarded twenty-one stars. 

Now, for the very first time, Ducasse shares a lifetime of culinary inspirations and passions in a book that is part memoir and part manifesto. Good Taste takes us on a journey from his childhood, where he picked mushrooms with his grandfather on a farm in Les Landes, to setting up groundbreaking schools and restaurants across the world. He is now taking off his chef’s whites and passing on what he knows to the next generation. 

Ducasse writes a poignant ode to the humble vegetables that have inspired his entire cuisine and to the masters that guided him along the way, from Paris to New York to Tokyo. As he looks to the future, he reflects on just what ‘good taste’ means.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA JOHN CREASEY DAGGER AWARD

'Splendid' Wall Street Journal

'A wry, warm and proper rib-tickling slice of dirty Victorian gothic’ Julia Crouch 

Together they navigate London, from its high-class clubs to its murky underbelly. But as the bodies pile up, they must rely on one another if they’re going to track down the killer – and make it out alive . . .

The first in a sharp, witty series of Victorian mystery novels, The Tumbling Girl is sure to delight fans of Sarah Waters, Elizabeth Macneal, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke.

A powerful collection of stories exploring love and longing from the award-winning author of This Mortal Boy.

Two mothers fight over who will wear a hat on their children's wedding day. A needle is lost somewhere inside a woman’s body. A writer waits with a suitcase for a man who never comes. 

This collection brings together Fiona Kidman’s finest and most scandalous stories, vividly depicting the joys of female desire and the pain of heartbreak, the thrill of illicit liaisons and the twists and turns of unconventional love. 

Sometimes joyful, often devastating and always beautiful, All the Way to Summer is a searing account of love and loss from a pioneering feminist icon.

'Tales of loss and betrayal and twisted love abound in this perfect collection’ Liz Nugent, author of Strange Sally Diamond

'An exquisitely bittersweet comedy of life's missed opportunities' Jonathan Coe, author of Bournville

A magical imagining of the fate of a fictional boy whose life is shaped forever when he loses out on the role of Harry Potter.

It's 1999. Martin Hill is ten years old, crazy about Arsenal and has a minor crush on a girl named Betty. Then he makes it to the final two in the casting for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. 

In the end, the other boy is picked for the role of a lifetime. A devastated Martin tries to move on with his life. But how can he escape his failure, especially when it's the most famous film series in the world? 

Foenkinos’s smash-hit Second Best is a playful, poignant story about fate, loss and how the lives we wish we’d led might not be all they’re cracked up to be . . .

'Historical crime fiction at its most beguiling' Financial Times

'Not to be missed' SJ Bennett

In the hotly anticipated follow-up to The Tumbling Girl, Minnie and Albert take on a new crime-solving quest in the world of a Victorian music hall.

The Variety Palace Music Hall is in trouble, due in no small part to a gruesome spate of murders that unfolded around it a few months previously. 

Between writing, managing the music hall and trying to dissuade her boss from installing a water tank in the building, Minnie Ward has her hands full. Her complicated relationship with detective Albert Easterbrook doesn’t even bear thinking about. 

But when a new string of murders tears through London, Minnie and Albert are thrown together once more. Strangely, the crimes seem to link back to a tragedy that took place fourteen years ago, leaving 183 children dead. 

And given that the incident touched so many people’s lives, everyone is a suspect . . .

LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2024

SHORLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD VIKING AWARD FOR FICTION 2024

‘Perfect for the poolside or sitting outside a café with a pastis and olives’ The Times

Part swashbuckling adventure on the high seas and part modern-day love story set in the heart of Paris, An Astronomer in Love is an enchanting tale of adventure and the power of love from best-selling author Antoine Laurain.

In 1760, Guillaume le Gentil, real-life astronomer to King Louis XV, sets out for the oceans of India to document the transit of Venus. The weather is turbulent, the seas are rough and his quest may be more complicated than initially thought. 

250 years later, estate agent Xavier Lemercier chances upon Guillaume’s telescope in a property he's sold. As he looks out across the rooftops of Paris, he discovers an intriguing woman with a zebra in her apartment. 

Then the woman walks through the doors of his office, and his life changes forever . . . 

‘Chaotic modernity is . . . narrated with astute clarity’ i-D Magazine

 A fearless novel that tackles a difficult subject, I laugh me broken tells the story of a woman finding the courage to face her genetic heritage.

 When Ginny makes contact with her estranged relatives and discovers that her genetic heritage may contain a devastating fault, she bolts to Berlin, leaving her loving fiancé in the dark.

Rather than face up to the life-changing implications of this news, she loses herself in the transient, hedonistic city. As she meets its inhabitants and absorbs their tangle of stories, she tries to gather the courage to take the genetic test that will either free her or define her future.

I laugh me broken is a sharply-drawn, courageous novel exploring the human condition, the inescapability of the past and the choices that are ours to make.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA JOHN CREASEY DAGGER AWARD

'Splendid' Wall Street Journal

'A wry, warm and proper rib-tickling slice of dirty Victorian gothic’ Julia Crouch 

Together they navigate London, from its high-class clubs to its murky underbelly. But as the bodies pile up, they must rely on one another if they’re going to track down the killer – and make it out alive . . .

The first in a sharp, witty series of Victorian mystery novels, The Tumbling Girl is sure to delight fans of Sarah Waters, Elizabeth Macneal, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke.

The outcast in a family of former competitive swimmers must prepare for the end of her mother’s life in this sharp, sparkling debut from a bold New Zealand talent. 

'Tackles the subject of assisted dying with wit and pathos' The Independent 

‘Darkly funny, desperately sad, brilliantly written. I absolutely loved it’ Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground 

When an affair ends badly and takes her career down with it, 26-year-old Erin leaves Auckland to spend the holiday weekend with her aunt, uncle, and terminally ill mother at their suburban family home. On arrival she learns that her mother has decided to take matters into her own hands and end her life – the following Tuesday. 

Tasked with fulfilling her mother’s final wishes, Erin can only do her imperfect best to navigate difficult feelings, an eccentric neighbourhood, and her complicated family of former competitive swimmers. She must summon the strength she would normally find in the water as she prepares for the loss of the fiery, independent woman who raised her alone, and one last swim together in the cold New Zealand Sea.

'Immensely captivating and original’ The Guardian

'A poetically written domestic drama with a wonderful magical-realist twist' Daily Mail

How do you make sense of the loss of those you love the most? 

Delia Rabbit is already struggling to juggle three wayward children, a damaged relationship with her mother and an ill-advised affair with one of her students. Then her sixteen-year-old son Charlie vanishes in the middle of a blistering Brisbane heatwave. The family reels from the loss, as twenty-year-old Olive descends into hedonism and eleven-year-old Benjamin clings ever tighter to his superhero obsession. 

However, Charlie’s disappearance is stranger than it seems. And while his family search desperately for him, he may be closer than they think . . . 

A multigenerational tale of motherhood, grief and the tribulations of adolescence, The Rabbits weaves a thread of magic into a classic family drama novel.

A permanently frozen London is the setting for Roma Tearne’s 'thoughtful exploration' [The Guardian] of survival in a dystopian near-future.

'Tearne reminds us that, woven into London's cosmopolitanism, are memories of places to which individuals can never return' Brixton Review of Books 

A permanently frozen London is the setting for this harrowing yet lyrical tale of survival in a dystopian near-future. Through endless years of glacial winter, artist Hera has known loss. Her one comfort has been her relationship with Raphael. As the thaw begins, can she track down her elusive lover?

Voted The Times' Book of the Year, Salt Creek is an Australian historical novel about a family pursuing their dreams, duty, and displacement.

‘Salt Creek is a love song to a lost world' The Guardian

A story of love, duty, hardship and intolerance through the eyes of a strong woman in 1850s colonial Australia.

The comfortable and respectable life Hester Finch now leads in Chichester, England, could not be further from the hardship her family endured on leaving Adelaide for Salt Creek in 1855. Yet she finds her thoughts drawn back to that remote, beautiful and inhospitable outcrop of South Australia and the connections she and her siblings forged there, far from the city society in which they had been raised. Encounters with the few travellers passing along the nearby stock route and the local indigenous people, in particular a boy, Tully, whom Hester's father seeks to educate almost as his own son, would change the fates of the Finches forever; nor would life ever be the same again for those who had long called the area home. 

Described as 'the Graham Greene of France' by The Independent, cult French noir writer Japrisot brings us a classic tale of lust and revenge set in the French countryside.

‘A marvellous storyteller’ Télérama 

Car mechanic Fiorimond is irresistibly drawn to beautiful, provocative Elle, a recent arrival in his sleepy Provence village. Their relationship develops quickly, but even as they make plans to marry, Fiorimond doesn't know what to make of his bride-to-be: is she an enigma or simply vacuous? In fact the troubled Elle is on a mission to exact revenge on Fiorimond's family for a crime committed decades earlier, with a plan that will ultimately destroy all their lives, including hers.

Set in the 1970s, and available in English again for the first time in many years, this is a true classic of French suspense. It has everything: stylish writing, clever construction, an unforgettable leading lady, and most importantly leaves the reader guessing until the very last page. 

The first volume of the collected works of ‘the true heir to Simenon’, the late French noir writer Pascal Garnier.

'A mixture of Albert Camus and JG Ballard' Financial Times 

Enter the world of Pascal Garnier, where life's misfits take centre stage, there is drama in the everyday and the unexpected is always just around the corner. 

Volume 1 includes The A26, in which a new Picardy motorway brings modernity close to a flat in which a brother and sister live together, haunted by terminal illness and the events of 1945; How’s the Pain?, the tale of an ageing ‘pest exterminator’ taking on one last job on the French Riviera; and The Panda Theory, in which a stranger, Gabriel, arrives in a Breton town and befriends the locals ... but is he as angelic as he seems?

Dark, funny and shot through with menace, these perfectly crafted novellas of Gallic noir are also affecting studies in human alienation. 

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Readers' Room is a thrilling murder mystery set in the world of publishing.

‘The plot blends mystery with comedy to great effect’– Daily Mail

When the manuscript of a debut crime novel arrives at a Parisian publishing house, everyone in the readers’ room is convinced it’s something special. And the committee for France’s highest literary honour, the Prix Goncourt, agrees. 

But when the shortlist is announced, there’s a problem for editor Violaine Lepage: she has no idea of the author’s identity. As the police begin to investigate a series of murders strangely reminiscent of those recounted in the book, Violaine is not the only one looking for answers. And, suffering memory blanks following an aeroplane accident, she’s beginning to wonder what role she might play in the story ... 

Antoine Laurain, bestselling author of The Red Notebook, combines intrigue and charm in this dazzling novel of mystery, love and the power of books.

A disillusioned Parisian writer finds inspiration in the ordinary lives of his neighbours, the Martins.

'A charming, clever book' The Independent

Is it true that every life is the stuff of novels? Or are some people just too ordinary?

This is the question a struggling Parisian writer asks when he challenges himself to write about the first person he sees when he steps outside his apartment. Secretly hoping to meet the beautiful woman who occasionally smokes on his street, he instead sets eyes on octogenarian Madeleine. She’s happy to become the subject of his project, but first she needs to put her shopping away…

Wondering if his project is doomed to be hopelessly banal, he soon finds himself tangled in the lives of Madeleine’s family. Though calm on the surface, the Martins have secrets, troubles and woes, and the writer discovers that the most compelling story is that of an ordinary life.

Described as 'utterly captivating' by The Guardian, Japrisot's murder mystery is a tale of identity and memory set against the stunning backdrop of the French Riviera.

'A brilliant story.’ Evening Standard 

A young woman wakes in a hospital room. What happened to her and why is a mystery. Is she victim or murderer?

The young woman has been badly injured in a fire and has amnesia. But what happened to her? Is she Mi, Micky or Michèle, or Do, Dominique? As she struggles to rebuild her identity, she starts to recall the crime that was committed and the house on the French Riviera. She remembers the rich heiress and the faithful friend – but which is she?

A deliciously Gothic and atmospheric novel, one for fans of Susan Hill and Andrew Michael Hurley

'A writer who never ceases to surprise' Jenny Offill, author of Weather
‘Vivid, atmospheric and utterly compelling' Bridget Collins, author of The Binding

 Two years later Edward is married and anticipating the birth of his first child, in a beautiful house lined with orange blossom trees. But the wrongs of the past are not so easily forgotten, and the boundary between the living and the dead begins to thin… A deliciously chilling Gothic novel, The Bone Flower is a deeply human story about guilt, betrayal and the cruelty of social expectations.

A dark, uncanny love story from the author of Polari prize-shortlisted Prodigal and The Children's Home, The Bone Flower will delight fans of Edward Carey and Essie Fox.

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Readers' Room is a thrilling murder mystery set in the world of publishing.

‘The plot blends mystery with comedy to great effect’– Daily Mail

When the manuscript of a debut crime novel arrives at a Parisian publishing house, everyone in the readers’ room is convinced it’s something special. And the committee for France’s highest literary honour, the Prix Goncourt, agrees. 

But when the shortlist is announced, there’s a problem for editor Violaine Lepage: she has no idea of the author’s identity. As the police begin to investigate a series of murders strangely reminiscent of those recounted in the book, Violaine is not the only one looking for answers. And, suffering memory blanks following an aeroplane accident, she’s beginning to wonder what role she might play in the story ... 

Antoine Laurain, bestselling author of The Red Notebook, combines intrigue and charm in this dazzling novel of mystery, love and the power of books.

FROM THE WINNER OF THE PRIX GONCOURT 2023

Described as 'unforgettable' by the Mail on Sunday, A Hundred Million Years and a Day is a pocket-sized epic adventure story of a professor's journey to an Alpine glacier.

‘Powerful’ Sunday Times  

When he hears a story about a huge dinosaur fossil locked deep inside an Alpine glacier, university professor Stan finds a childhood dream reignited. Whatever it takes, he is determined to find the buried treasure.

But Stan is no mountaineer and must rely on the help of old friend Umberto, who brings his eccentric young assistant, Peter, and cautious mountain guide Gio. Time is short: they must complete their expedition before winter sets in. As bonds are forged and tested on the mountainside, and the lines between determination and folly are blurred, the hazardous quest for the Earth’s lost creatures becomes a journey into Stan’s own past. 

This breathless, heartbreaking epic-in-miniature speaks to the adventurer within us all.

A sublime psychological thriller from Polari Prize-shortlisted Charles Lambert.

Sixteen-year-old Fiona inhabits a privileged world of English affluence, though her relationship with her widowed mother is strained. When she discovers an old newspaper clipping of a woman and her daughter – the little girl a mirror image of her own younger self – she becomes convinced she has a true family elsewhere. Four years later, with the help of charming fraudster Patrick, Fiona drops everything to seek out her doppelgänger in Italy.

Fiona arrives in Rome to find Maddy living hand to mouth with her alcoholic mother. Spooked by the appearance of this strange girl wearing her face and stalking her every move, Maddy wants nothing to do with her. Caught in a surreal push-and-pull, the two are both fascinated and repulsed by the oddly familiar other, each coveting a different life. But they aren’t the only ones trying to control their fate, and the two women will soon learn that people aren’t always what they seem – though blood may still prove thicker than water.

Longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2021

The outcast in a family of former competitive swimmers must prepare for the end of her mother’s life in this sharp, sparkling debut from a bold New Zealand talent.

'Tackles the subject of assisted dying with wit and pathos' The Independent
‘Darkly funny, desperately sad, brilliantly written. I absolutely loved it’ Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground

When an affair ends badly and takes her career down with it, 26-year-old Erin leaves Auckland to spend the holiday weekend with her aunt, uncle, and terminally ill mother at their suburban family home. On arrival she learns that her mother has decided to take matters into her own hands and end her life – the following Tuesday.

Tasked with fulfilling her mother’s final wishes, Erin can only do her imperfect best to navigate difficult feelings, an eccentric neighbourhood, and her complicated family of former competitive swimmers. She must summon the strength she would normally find in the water as she prepares for the loss of the fiery, independent woman who raised her alone, and one last swim together in the cold New Zealand Sea.

[A] deservedly award-studded delight  Strong Words Magazine

‘A smart, scathing and bleakly funny cross of folk horror, satire and historical fiction’  Toronto Star 

‘Reads like a modern fairy tale’ New York Journal of Books

'Eerie and sensual' The Guardian

'So original, so beautifully done, and sinister and savage. I didn’t want it to end' Chris Whitaker

Franck and Lise, a French couple in the film industry, rent a cottage in the quiet hills of the French Lot to get away from the stresses of modern life.

In this remote corner of the world, there is no phone signal. A mysterious dog emerges, looking for a new master. Ghosts of a dark past run wild in these hills, where a German lion tamer took refuge in the First World War … Franck and Lise are confronted with nature at its most brutal. And they are about to discover that man and beast have more in common than they think. 

A literary sensation in France, Wild Dog is a dark, menacing tale of isolation, human nature and the infinite savagery of the wild.  

Described as 'the Graham Greene of France' by The Independent, cult French noir writer Japrisot brings us a murder mystery set in a Parisian landscape of lust, deception and death.

'Sensational' Sunday Times 

When the night train pulled into Paris, she was dead. And the riddle began . . .

A beautiful young woman lies sprawled on her berth in the sleeping car of the night train from Marseille to Paris. She is not in the embrace of sleep, or even in the arms of one of her many lovers. She is dead. And the unpleasant task of finding her killer is handed to overworked, crime-weary police detective Pierre ‘Grazzi’ Grazziano, who would rather play hide-and-seek with his little son than cat and mouse with a diabolically cunning, savage murderer.

With corpses turning up everywhere, the question becomes not only who is the killer, but who will be the next victim . . .

For the first time, he found himself alone at the farm, with no sound whatever from the livestock, nor from anyone else, not the least sign of life. And yet, within these walls, life had always won through.

‘An outstanding, big, compassionate novel' Le Figaro

1999. As France prepares to see in a new millennium, the country is battered by apocalyptic storms. But holed up on the farm where he and his three sisters grew up, Alexandre seems less afraid of the weather than of the police turning up. Alone in the darkness, he reflects on the end of a rural way of life he once thought could never change. And his thoughts return to the baking hot summer of 1976, when he met Constanze, an environmental activist who fell for the beauty of the countryside, and was prepared to use any means to save it.

Serge Joncour’s impassioned, ambitious novel charts three decades of political, social, and environmental upheaval through the lives of a French farming family, as the delicate bond between the human and natural worlds threatens to snap.

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Red is My Heart is a stunning collection of words and images in collaboration with Parisian street artist, Le Sonneur, about how to mend a broken heart.

'Enchanting' Washington Post

How can you mend a broken heart? Do you write a letter to the woman who left you – and post it to an imaginary address? Buy a new watch, to reset your life? Or get rid of the jacket you wore every time you argued, because it was in some way … responsible?

Combining the wry musings of a rejected lover with playful drawings in just three colours – red, black and white – bestselling author of The Red Notebook, Antoine Laurain, and renowned street artist Le Sonneur have created a striking addition to the literature of unrequited love.

Sharp, yet warm, whimsical and deeply Parisian, this is a must for all Antoine Laurain fans.

Described as 'the Graham Greene of France' by The Independent, cult French noir writer Japrisot brings us a stylish thriller about revenge.

‘A magician who lays out the truth on the page’ Le Monde 

The bus never stops in Le Cap-des-Pins. Not in autumn, when the small Riviera resort is deserted. Except today, when a man with a red bag and a disconcerting stare steps out into the rain.

His arrival will throw the life of young housewife Mellie Mau into disarray. After surviving a horrific attack, she has a dark secret to hide. But a stranger at a wedding, the enigmatic American Harry Dobbs, is determined to get the truth out of her, leading her into a game of cat and mouse with dangerous consequences …

A cool, twisty thriller from cult French noir writer Sébastien Japrisot.

A riveting collection of short stories by the French feminist Marie-Louise Gagneur.

Much acclaimed amongst her contemporaries and yet all but forgotten today, Marie-Louise Gagneur was a defining voice in French feminism. These stories, translated into English for the first time, critique the restrictions of late nineteenth-century society and explore the ways in which both men and women are hurt by rigid attitudes towards marriage.

In An Atonement, the Count de Montbarrey awakes one morning to find his wife dead, leaving him free to marry the woman he really loves. Could the Count have accidentally killed his wife? And how can he atone for his crime? Three Rival Sisters tells the story of the rivalry between Henriette, Renée and Gabrielle as they compete for the affections of one man. But marriage does not necessarily guarantee happiness, as the sisters are about to find out.

Steeped in wit, empathy and biting social criticism, and with echoes of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin, the stories show Gagneur to be worthy of renewed attention.

WINNER OF THE PRIX LANDERNEAU DES LECTEURS 2018 

Described as 'eerie and sensual' by The Guardian, Wild Dog tells the story of a young couple who discover dark secrets in the remote French countryside.

'Reads like a modern fairy tale' New York Journal of Books  

Franck and Lise, a French couple in the film industry, rent a cottage in the quiet hills of the French Lot to get away from the stresses of modern life.

In this remote corner of the world, there is no phone signal. A mysterious dog emerges, looking for a new master. Ghosts of a dark past run wild in these hills, where a German lion tamer took refuge in the First World War … Franck and Lise are confronted with nature at its most brutal. And they are about to discover that man and beast have more in common than they think. 

A literary sensation in France, Wild Dog is a dark, menacing tale of isolation, human nature and the infinite savagery of the wild.  

Winner of The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2019

Winner of the Ngaio Marsh Crime Writing Awards 2019

Winner of the New Zealand Booklovers Prize for Fiction 2019

Winner of the NZ Heritage Book Awards 2018

Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Awards 2020

This multi-award winning novel explores the controversial topic of the death penalty with empathy and a probing eye for injustice.

'Magnetic' New York Times 

The offender is not one of ours. It is unfortunate that we got this undesirable from his homeland.

Auckland, October 1955. If young Paddy Black sings to himself he can almost see himself back home in Belfast. Yet, less than two years after sailing across the globe in search of a better life, here he stands in a prison cell awaiting trial for murder. He pulled a knife at the jukebox that night, but should his actions lead him to the gallows? As his desperate mother waits on, Paddy must face a judge and jury unlikely to favour an outsider, as a wave of moral panic sweeps the island nation.

Fiona Kidman’s powerful novel explores the controversial topic of the death penalty with characteristic empathy and a probing eye for injustice.

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Readers' Room is a thrilling murder mystery set in the world of publishing.

‘The plot blends mystery with comedy to great effect’– Daily Mail

When the manuscript of a debut crime novel arrives at a Parisian publishing house, everyone in the readers’ room is convinced it’s something special. And the committee for France’s highest literary honour, the Prix Goncourt, agrees. 

But when the shortlist is announced, there’s a problem for editor Violaine Lepage: she has no idea of the author’s identity. As the police begin to investigate a series of murders strangely reminiscent of those recounted in the book, Violaine is not the only one looking for answers. And, suffering memory blanks following an aeroplane accident, she’s beginning to wonder what role she might play in the story ... 

Antoine Laurain, bestselling author of The Red Notebook, combines intrigue and charm in this dazzling novel of mystery, love and the power of books.

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Vintage 1954 is a nostalgic tale of time travel.

'A glorious time-slip caper... Just wonderful’ Daily Mail 

When Hubert Larnaudie invites some fellow residents of his Parisian apartment building to drink an exceptional bottle of 1954 Beaujolais, he has no idea of its special properties.

The following morning, Hubert finds himself waking up in 1950s Paris, as do antique restorer Magalie, mixologist Julien, and Airbnb tenant Bob from Milwaukee, who's on his first trip to Europe. After their initial shock, the city of Edith Piaf and An American in Paris begins to work its charm on them. The four delight in getting to know the French capital during this iconic period, whilst also playing with the possibilities that time travel allows.

But, ultimately, they need to work out how to get back to 2017, and time is of the essence... 

How's the Pain? is an off-kilter, blackly comic novel about an unlikely duo of a soon-to-be-retired assassin and a deadbeat young man, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier.

'Deliciously dark ... painfully funny' New York Times 

Death is Simon's business. And now the ageing vermin exterminator is preparing to die. But he still has one last job down on the coast, and he needs a driver.

Bernard is twenty-one. He can drive and he’s never seen the sea. He can’t pass up the chance to chauffeur for Simon, whatever his mother may say. As the unlikely pair set off on their journey, Bernard soon finds that Simon’s definition of vermin is broader than he’d expected ... 

Veering from the hilarious to the horrific, this offbeat story from master stylist Pascal Garnier is at heart an affecting study of human frailty.

When a flock of crows invades their shared apartment block, farmer-turned-debt collector Ludovic and fashion designer Aurore speak for the first time. With nothing but the birds in common, the two are destined for separate lives, yet are drawn inexplicably together.

Though their story is set in Paris, the tale of Ludovic and Aurore is far from an idyllic romance. With one trapped in an unhappy marriage and the other lost in grief, the city of love has brought each of them only isolation and pain. As Aurore faces losing her business and Ludovic questions the ethics of his job, they begin a passionate affair. Love between such different people seems doomed to failure, but for these two unhappy souls trapped in ruthless worlds, perhaps loving one another is the greatest form of resistance.

From the award winning author of Wild Dog, Lean on Me is explores the realities of unlikely love, and how connection and intimacy offer us an escape from all that is harsh and cold in our modern day lives.

FROM THE WINNER OF THE PRIX GONCOURT 2023

Described as 'unforgettable' by the Mail on Sunday, A Hundred Million Years and a Day is a pocket-sized epic adventure story of a professor's journey to an Alpine glacier.

‘Powerful’ Sunday Times  

When he hears a story about a huge dinosaur fossil locked deep inside an Alpine glacier, university professor Stan finds a childhood dream reignited. Whatever it takes, he is determined to find the buried treasure.

But Stan is no mountaineer and must rely on the help of old friend Umberto, who brings his eccentric young assistant, Peter, and cautious mountain guide Gio. Time is short: they must complete their expedition before winter sets in. As bonds are forged and tested on the mountainside, and the lines between determination and folly are blurred, the hazardous quest for the Earth’s lost creatures becomes a journey into Stan’s own past. 

This breathless, heartbreaking epic-in-miniature speaks to the adventurer within us all.

In this 'finely crafted novel' [The Independent], Roma Tearne tells the story of a Tamil exile awaiting trial for art thievery.

'Accomplished ... painterly' New York Times 

A story of obsession, love and art set in Tuscany, Sri Lanka and London.

Ras, a Sri Lankan who fled his country as a child following the violent death of his mother and his father's disappearance, has committed a crime. Dogged by his past and unable to come to terms with the killing of his mother, he struggles to make a new life for himself in the UK. 

A writer finds fame and misfortune after winning a big literary prize and embarking on a roadtrip with his son in this novel by the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier.

'A jeu d'esprit of hard-boiled symbolism' Wall Street Journal 

Writer Jeff Colombier is not accustomed to success. Twice divorced with a grown-up son he barely sees, he drinks too much and his books don’t sell.

Then he wins a big literary prize and his life changes for ever. Overwhelmed by his newfound wealth and happiness, he feels the need to escape and recapture his lost youth, taking his son, Damien, with him. And if shady lawyers and mysterious girls lead them down dangerous paths . . . well, c'est la vie.

Described as 'rich and satisfying' by The Times, Brixton Beach is the story of an artistic young girl forced to leave war-torn Sri Lanka, only to find that the shadow of violence has followed her to London.

'An ambitious, lyrical novel' TLS

Opening dramatically with the horrors of the 2005 London bombings, this is the profoundly moving story of a country on the brink of civil war and a child's struggle to come to terms with loss.

London. On a bright July morning a series of bombs bring the capital to a halt. Simon Swann, a medic from one of the large teaching hospitals, is searching frantically amongst the chaos and the rubble. All around police sirens and ambulances are screaming but Simon does not hear. He is out of breath because he has been running, and he is distraught. But who is he looking for?

To find out we have first to go back thirty years to a small island in the Indian Ocean where a little girl named Alice Fonseka is learning to ride a bicycle on the beach. The island is Sri Lanka, with its community on the brink of civil war. Alice's life is about to change forever. Soon she will have to leave for England, abandoning her beloved grandfather, and accompanied by her mother Sita, a woman broken by a series of terrible events.

In London, Alice grows into womanhood. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she has a son. Slowly she fulfils her grandfather's prophecy and becomes an artist. Eventually she finds true love. But London in the twenty first century is a mass of migration and suspicion. The war on terror has begun and everyone, even Simon Swann, middle class, rational, medic that he is, will be caught up in this war in the most unexpected and terrible way.

Voted one of the Sunday Times 100 Best Crime Novels 

Described as 'the Graham Greene of France' by The Independent, cult French noir writer Japrisot brings us a psychological thriller of mistaken identity.

'Classic suspenseful noir' The Times

Dany Longo is blonde, beautiful — and thoroughly unpredictable. After doing a favour for her boss, she finds herself behind the wheel of his exquisite Thunderbird on a sun-kissed Parisian morning. On impulse she decides to head south.

What started as an impromptu joy-ride rapidly takes a turn for the chilling when strangers all along the unfamiliar route swear they recognise Dany from the previous day. But that’s impossible: she was at work, she was in Paris, she was miles away... wasn’t she?

From the author of A Very Long Engagement comes a tangled, terrifying psychological thriller worthy of Georges Simenon, Paula Hawkins or Patricia Highsmith.

A Long Way Off is a shocking noir about an impromptu road trip where a father discovers he doesn't know his daughter at all, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier.

'Plays out like an existential fever dream' Wall Street Journal 

Marc dreams of going somewhere far, far away – but he’ll start by taking his cat and his grown-up daughter, Anne, to an out-of-season resort on the Channel.

Reluctant to go home, the curious threesome head south for Agen, whose main claim to fame is its prunes. As their impromptu road trip takes ever stranger turns, the trail of destruction – and mysterious disappearances – mounts up in their wake. 

Shocking, hilarious and poignant, the final dose of French noir from Pascal Garnier, published shortly before his death, is the author on top form.

With 'tension [that] grips like a vice' [The Independent], The Last Pier is a gripping drama of dark family secrets in rural England from the author of Brixton Beach, Bone China and Mosquito.

'Tearne charts the patterns of love and loss with beautiful prose' Sunday Times

Despite the dark clouds of war looming on the horizon, thirteen-year-old Cecily's head is full of first love, ice cream and sibling rivalry. She looks constantly to her impossibly beautiful elder sister, Rose, with a mixture of envy and admiration. Desperately curious about Rose's secrets, and those of all the adults around her, Cecily eavesdrops at every opportunity that summer: with dire consequences. For Cecily's actions one fateful night at the outbreak of the Second World War will ultimately tear her family apart and echo across the generations. It is not until many years later that a grown-up Cecily can return to her childhood home and unravel the remaining family secrets. And finally lay some ghosts to rest.  

Voted The Times' Book of the Year, Salt Creek is an Australian historical novel about a family pursuing their dreams, duty, and displacement.

‘Salt Creek is a love song to a lost world' The Guardian

A story of love, duty, hardship and intolerance through the eyes of a strong woman in 1850s colonial Australia.

The comfortable and respectable life Hester Finch now leads in Chichester, England, could not be further from the hardship her family endured on leaving Adelaide for Salt Creek in 1855. Yet she finds her thoughts drawn back to that remote, beautiful and inhospitable outcrop of South Australia and the connections she and her siblings forged there, far from the city society in which they had been raised. Encounters with the few travellers passing along the nearby stock route and the local indigenous people, in particular a boy, Tully, whom Hester's father seeks to educate almost as his own son, would change the fates of the Finches forever; nor would life ever be the same again for those who had long called the area home. 

Hell's Gate is an intense, powerful and thoroughly unnerving' [The Guardian] story of one man's journey to the underworld to bring back his son from the dead. 

'An intense contemporary myth' The Irish Times

What if death was not the end? A thrilling story of love, loss, revenge and redemption in Naples and beyond.

When his son is killed by gangsters’ crossfire on his way to school, Neapolitan taxi driver Matteo is consumed by despair.

But just when he feels life has lost all meaning, he encounters a man who claims the living can find ways into the afterlife. And legend says that there’s an entrance to the underworld beneath Naples.

What if Matteo had a chance of bringing Pippo back from the dead? 

Shortlisted for the Polari Prize

Charles Lambert brings us an innovative family drama exploring the nature of trust, death, and the things we do in the name of love.

'A writer who never ceases to surprise' Jenny Offill, author of Weather

Meet Jeremy, a hapless fifty-something who is scraping together a living in Paris writing soft-core pornography as 'Nathalie Cray'. 

When his all-but-estranged sister tells him their father is dying, he reluctantly travels back to his parental home in the English countryside. Confronted with a life he had always sought to escape, Jeremy begins an emotionally fraught journey into his family’s chequered past – back to the unexpected death of his mother in a provincial Greek hospital years earlier, and even further back, to the moment at which the Eldritch family fell apart.

A bold take on the queer coming-of-age story, Prodigal deftly reconsiders everything we think we know about the nature of trust, death, and what we do to each other in the name of love.

A permanently frozen London is the setting for Roma Tearne’s 'thoughtful exploration' [The Guardian] of survival in a dystopian near-future.

'Tearne reminds us that, woven into London's cosmopolitanism, are memories of places to which individuals can never return' Brixton Review of Books 

A permanently frozen London is the setting for this harrowing yet lyrical tale of survival in a dystopian near-future. Through endless years of glacial winter, artist Hera has known loss. Her one comfort has been her relationship with Raphael. As the thaw begins, can she track down her elusive lover?

In Moon in a Dead Eye, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier, the inhabitants of a new retirement village find their territory encroached upon when a group of travellers sets up camp on the outskirts.

'The final descent into violence is worthy of J G Ballard' The Independent 

Given the choice, Martial would not have moved to Les Conviviales. But Odette loved the idea of a brand-new retirement village in the south of France. So that was that. At first it feels like a terrible mistake: they're the only residents and it's raining non-stop. Then three neighbours arrive, the sun comes out, and life becomes far more interesting and agreeable. Until, that is, some gypsies set up camp just outside their gated community…

Described as 'accomplished, immersive, [and] moving' by New Zealand Listener, The Hope Fault is a crackling, complex family drama.

'Beautifully restrained' Radio New Zealand

In Cassetown, Geologue Bay, Iris and her extended family ― her ex-husband and his wife and their new baby; her son and her best friend’s daughter ― gather on a midwinter long weekend, to pack up the family holiday house now that it has been sold. They are together for one last time, one last weekend, one last party. As the house is stripped bare, their secrets ― and the complex, messy nature of family relationships ― will be revealed.

The Hope Fault is a celebration of the complexities of family ― aunties and steps and exes, and a baby in need of a name; parents and partners who are missing, and the people who replace them.

It’s about the faultlines that run under the surface, and it’s about uncertainty ― the unsettling notion that the earth might shift, literally or metaphorically, at any moment. It’s a contemporary novel that plays with time and with ways of telling stories. It finds poetry and beauty in science, and pattern and magic in landscape. 

The second volume of the collected works of ‘the true heir to Simenon’, the late French noir writer Pascal Garnier.

'Deliciously dark … painfully funny' New York Times

Enter the world of Pascal Garnier, where life's misfits take centre stage, there is drama in the everyday and the unexpected is always just around the corner. 

Volume 2 includes Boxes, which tells the story of Brice, ‘the sole survivor of the natural disaster that at one time or another strikes us all, known as ‘moving house’’; The Front Seat Passenger, in which a widower discovers his wife had a lover and decides to track down his widow; The Islanders, whose protagonist Olivier finds himself thrown back together with a childhood friend with whom he shares a dark secret; and Moon in a Dead Eye, in which the paranoia of the residents of a gated retirement village spins out of control.

Dark, funny and shot through with menace, these perfectly crafted novellas of Gallic noir are also affecting studies in human alienation.

In Low Heights, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier, a grumpy retiree has his world turned upside down when a man claiming to be his son turns up on his doorstep. 

'Another classy and clever little drama' The Bookbag

At least vultures have the decency to wait until their prey's dead before picking it apart ...

After losing his wife and suffering a stroke, cantankerous retiree Edouard Lavenant has moved from Lyon to a village in the mountains with his put-upon nurse, Therese. One day, a man comes to the door claiming to be Edouard's long-lost son.

Edouard's temper seems to be softening, but it isn't long before the local vultures are circling overhead ... 

Described as a 'beautifully crafted tale' by The Irish Times, Black Sugar is a magical realist fable about greed and corruption in Venezuela by prize-winning author Miguel Bonnefoy.

‘One of the beautiful surprises of this autumn’ L'Express

On the edge of the Latin American rainforest, the Oteros family farm sugar cane in their remote corner of the earth.
Cut off entirely from the modern world, life is peaceful, uneventful. Until, that is, a succession of ships arrive in search of Henry Morgan’s legendary lost treasure, said to be buried deep beneath the forest floor.
Soon, the isolated villagers are exposed to all the trappings of modernity, while the travellers’ search for booty unearths more than anybody could have anticipated…

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Smoking Kills is a darkly comic novel told with Laurain's characteristic Parisian charm.

'A brisk black comedy' The Guardian

How far would you go to enjoy a cigarette?

When headhunter Fabrice Valantine faces a smoking ban at work, he decides to undertake a course of hypnotherapy to rid himself of the habit. At first the treatment works, but his stress levels begin to rise when he is passed over for an important promotion and he finds himself lighting up again - but with none of his previous enjoyment. Then he discovers something terrible: he accidentally causes a mans death, and needing a cigarette to calm his nerves, he enjoys it more than any other previous smoke. What if he now needs to kill someone every time he wants to properly appreciate his next Benson and Hedges? An original and totally French black comedy from bestselling author, Antoine Laurain.  

Shortlisted for The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize, The Threat Level Remains Severe charts the collision of three unlikely characters in a classically British novel.

'A funny, observational comedy' Sunday Express

Grace Ambrose, Brett Beamish and Reuben Swift appear to have little in common, but as each of them negotiates metropolitan life, they find their fates entwined.

Arty, liberal-minded House of Commons secretary Grace has been counting the tea breaks in the same dull job for approaching a decade and feels she could do something better ...if only she knew what.

New recruit Brett, a smooth, high-flying Australian, is on a mission to shake up the dusty backrooms of power - and on a collision path with Grace. Office life begins to look up when Grace receives an email from an admirer with musical and poetic talents ...but is soulful, enigmatic Reuben Swift really who he says he is? 

The third volume of the collected works of ‘the true heir to Simenon’, the late French noir writer Pascal Garnier.

'Deliciously dark … painfully funny' New York Times  

Enter the world of Pascal Garnier, where life's misfits take centre stage, there is drama in the everyday and the unexpected is always just around the corner. 

Volume 3 includes The Eskimo Solution, in which a struggling writer's life becomes disconcertingly entangled with the crime novel he’s writing; Low Heights, in which vultures circle as a cantankerous retiree falls for his nurse and finds himself confronted with a man claiming to be his long-lost son; and Too Close to the Edge, the tale of a quiet retirement in the foothills of the Alps turned upside down.

Dark, funny and shot through with menace, these perfectly crafted novellas of Gallic noir are also affecting studies in human alienation. 

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Portrait is a charming mystery story of mistaken identity. 

'Effortlessly eloquent, quietly hilarious and consistently self-aware, Antoine Laurain’s debut novel is a delightful read.' Reader's Digest 

A collector unearths the find of a lifetime: an eighteenth-century portrait of a man uncannily like him.

While wandering through a Paris auction house, avid collector Pierre-François Chaumont is stunned to discover the eighteenth-century portrait of an unknown man who looks just like him.

Much to his delight, Chaumont’s bid for the work is successful, but back at home his jaded wife and circle of friends are unable to see the resemblance.
Chaumont remains convinced of it, and as he researches into the painting’s history, he is presented with the opportunity to abandon his tedious existence and walk into a brand new life… 

The acclaimed author of The Foundling Boy brings us a fictionalised memoir about a childhood between Paris and Monaco. 

'A delight' Independent on Sunday

A vivid recreation of the interwar period, Michel Déon's fictionalised memoir is a touching and very true depiction of boyhood and how our early experiences affect us.

Édouard (Michel Déon's real name) looks back on his 1920s childhood spent in Paris and Monte Carlo. Within a bourgeois yet unconventional upbringing, 'Teddy', an observant and sensitive boy, must deal with not just the universal trials of growing up, but also the sudden tragedy that strikes at the heart of his family. 
 

In The Islanders, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier, a dinner party spirals out of control after the revealing of dark secrets.

'Bleak, often funny and never predictable' The Observer

It's a few days before Christmas in Versailles. Olivier has come to bury his mother, but the impending holidays and icy conditions have delayed the funeral. While trapped in limbo at his mother's flat, a chance encounter brings Olivier back in touch with childhood friend Jeanne and her blind brother, Rodolphe. Rodolphe suggests they have dinner together, along with a homeless man he's taken in. As the wine flows, dark secrets are spilled, and there's more than just hangovers to deal with the next morning...

In The Front Seat Passenger, the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier tells the story of a young widower whose late wife was keeping secrets from him.

'Devastating and brilliant' Sunday Times

Fabien and Sylvie had both known their marriage was no longer working. And yet when Sylvie is involved in a fatal car accident, her husband is stunned to discover that she had a lover who died alongside her. With thoughts of revenge on his mind, Fabien decides to find out about the lover's widow, Martine, first by stalking her, then by breaking into her home. He really needs to get Martine on her own. But she never goes anywhere without her formidable best friend, Madeleine...

Described as a 'beautiful writer' by The Times, Fiona Kidman brings us a sweeping saga of family ties, heartbreaks, and learning to live with the past.

'A universal and honest book' San Francisco Book Review

When war widow Irene Sandle goes to work in New Zealand’s tobacco fields in 1952, she hopes to start a new, independent life for herself and her daughter – but the tragic repercussions of her decision will resonate long after Irene has gone.

Each of Irene’s children carries the events of their childhood throughout their lives, played out against a backdrop of great change – new opportunities emerge for women, but social problems continue to hold many back. Headstrong Belinda becomes a successful filmmaker, but struggles to deal with her own family drama as her younger siblings are haunted by the past.

A sweeping saga covering half a century, this is a powerful exploration of family ties and heartbreaks, and of learning to live with the past.

Winner of the Académie française Grand Prix Award, Nagasaki tells the story of a man who lives quietly on his own on a suburban street - or so he believes.

'Speaks directly to the heart' Le Monde

In a house on a suburban street in Nagasaki, meteorologist Shimura Kobo lives quietly on his own. Or so he believes. Food begins to go missing. Perturbed by this threat to His orderly life, Shimura sets up a webcam to monitor his home. But though eager to identify his intruder, is Shimura really prepared for what the camera will reveal? This prize-winning novel is a heart-rending tale of alienation in the modern world.

From the bestselling author of The Postcard and How To Be Parisian Wherever You Are, this unique book charts Françoise's Sagan journey to publication for her legendary novel, Bonjour Tristesse.

'Fascinating' Stylist

Before Françoise Sagan the literary icon, there was Françoise Quoirez, an eighteen-year-old Parisian girl, who wrote a novel and needed a publisher for it. This intimate narrative details the months in 1954 leading up to the publication of the legendary Bonjour Tristesse. 

We encounter Françoise, her family and friends close up, in a post-war world that is changing radically; and Mlle Quoirez, in her new guise of Françoise Sagan, will be at the heart of that social change. 

Sagan was always focused on her writing, though at times the fame of her books was to be eclipsed by her wild-child reputation. Yet, as Anne Berest herself testifies, Sagan's fearless approach to life lived on her own terms remains an inspiration even now. 

Described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Red Notebook is a charming, quirky love story from one of the UK's favourite French authors.

'The very quintessence of French romance' The Times

'Soaked in Parisian atmosphere, this lovely, clever, funny novel will have you rushing to the Eurostar post-haste. . . . the perfect French holiday read' Daily Mail  

Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner. The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?

This genre-bending book is part short stories, part recipe book, and utterly delicious.

'Your heart will sing and your mouth will dance with joy at this book of yummy pleasure' Waterstones Bookseller

This delectable story collection brings together a cast of characters from both sides of the Atlantic. All of them share a genuine delight in good food, and each of their stories captures a moment when love is found, lost - or rejected. Perceptive, touching, and witty, Jocelyne Rapinac's tales prove beyond doubt that eating well and love can both bring great joy to life. And for those readers whose mouths start to water as they read, the author has included the recipes for every dish mentioned. Bon appétit!

Jean Teulé reconstructs each step of one of the most shameful stories in the history of nineteenth-century France in this 'engrossing book' [Kirkus Reviews].

'Terrifyingly convincing’ Financial Times

A true story.

Tuesday 16 August 1870, Alain de Monéys, makes his way to the village fair. He plans to buy a heifer for a needy neighbour and find a roofer to repair the roof of the barn of a poor acquaintance.

He arrives at two o’clock. Two hours later, the crowd has gone crazy; they have lynched, tortured, burned and eaten him. How could such a horror be possible?

With frightening precision, Jean Teulé reconstructs each step of one of the most shameful stories in the history of nineteenth-century France.

A story of parentage and provincial life, The Foundling Boy is a coming of age tale set in France at a time where Europe teeters on the precipice of war.

‘Quiet, wryly funny prose … a delight’ Independent on Sunday 

It is 1919. On a summer's night in Normandy, a new-born baby is left in a basket outside the home of Albert and Jeanne Arnaud. The childless couple take the foundling in, name him Jean, and decide to raise him as their own, though his parentage remains a mystery. Though Jean's life is never dull, he grows up knowing little of what lies beyond his local area. Until the day he sets off on his bicycle to discover the world, and encounters a Europe on the threshold of interesting times...

A giant of francophone writing, Algerian author Yasmina Khadra uses current events as a lens to examine narratives of Africa and the West.

'A skilled storyteller working at the height of his powers' Times Literary Supplement 

Frankfurt MD Kurt Krausmann is devastated by his wife's suicide. Unable to make sense of what happened, Kurt agrees to join his friend Hans on a humanitarian mission to the Comoros. But, sailing down the Red Sea, their boat is boarded by Somali pirates and the men are taken hostage.

The arduous journey to the pirates' desert hideout is only the beginning of Kurt's odyssey. He endures imprisonment and brutality at the hands of captors whose failings are all too human.

As the situation deteriorates, it is fellow prisoner, Bruno, a long-time resident in Africa, who shows Kurt another side to the wounded yet defiant continent he loves. 

A story of parentage and provincial life, The Foundling Boy is a coming of age tale set in France at a time where Europe teeters on the precipice of war.

‘Quiet, wryly funny prose … a delight’ Independent on Sunday 

It is 1919. On a summer's night in Normandy, a new-born baby is left in a basket outside the home of Albert and Jeanne Arnaud. The childless couple take the foundling in, name him Jean, and decide to raise him as their own, though his parentage remains a mystery. Though Jean's life is never dull, he grows up knowing little of what lies beyond his local area. Until the day he sets off on his bicycle to discover the world, and encounters a Europe on the threshold of interesting times...

Another real-life character tour de force from Teulé featuring Helene Jegado, a notorious serial killer from the 19th century.

'Hilariously funny' Words and Peace

Little Hélène Jégado had always been different. Schooled in the ancient beliefs of the Breton people by her mother, the beautiful child grows up feeling detached from the nineteenth-century world around her and yet destined for a terrible vocation. Beginning with the demise of her mother . . .

Andrea Japp offers the reader a fast-paced, multi-layered mystery within a richly imagined portrait of medieval France.

'Enthralling, page after page' Encre Noir 

Agnes de Souarcy has survived the medieval Inquisition, but remains the focus of an ancient quest. Her protectors must battle with the powerful enemies of the quest who will stop at nothing to see it fail. 'Five women, in the centre the sixth' are the enigmatic words foretelling Agnes's destiny. But will she fulfil the role that has been prophesied?

This fascinating biography tells the rags to riches tale of cosmetics legend Helena Rubenstein.

'Required reading' Vogue

Helena Rubinstein was born into a poor Polish family at the end of the nineteenth century; by the time of her death in 1965 she had built a cosmetics empire that spanned the world. When Rubinstein opened her first salon in Melbourne, her scientific approach to beauty was an instant sensation. Women just couldn't get enough of her innovative advice on skincare, and her beauty products were constantly sold out. Having conquered Australia, Rubinstein went on to open salons in Europe and America, at a time when women were barely seen in business, let alone running their own multinational companies. Dressed by Chanel and Yves St Laurent, painted by Salvador Dali and Picasso, and mingling with Colette and Proust, Helena Rubinstein not only enjoyed unbelievable success, but was also instrumental in empowering and liberating women. Helena Rubinstein was a total original, and her legacy can still be seen today in the methods used to market and manufacture cosmetics. This is her amazing life story. 

Adapted for television in France, the first of the Nicolas Le Floch mysteries tells the story of murder against the backdrop of the glittering court of Louis XV.

'Has all the twists, turns and surprises the genre demands' Independent on Sunday

It's France, 1761. Beyond the glittering court of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour at Versailles, lies Paris, a capital in the grip of crime and immorality ... A police officer disappears and Nicolas Le Floch, a young recruit to the force, is instructed to find him. When unidentified human remains suddenly come to light, he seems to have a murder investigation on his hands. As the city descends into Carnival debauchery, Le Floch will need all his skill, courage and integrity to unravel a mystery which threatens to implicate the highest in the land. 

This is the first in a series of six historical crime novels which has sold in excess of 400,000 copies in French. The author brings eighteenth-century Paris vividly to life and the story features real-life characters Madame de Pompadour and Louis XV as well as engaging hero Nicolas le Floch. 

The hilarious, bawdy and touching story of Madame de Montespan's husband who could not give her up.

'The writing is beautiful, witty, grisly and moving, and reeks of authenticity' Sunday Telegraph 

The Marquis de Montespan and his new wife, Athenais, are a true love-match - a rarity amongst the nobility of seventeenth-century France. But love is not enough to maintain their hedonistic lifestyle. When Madame de Montespan is offered the chance to become lady-in-waiting to the Queen at Versailles, she seizes this opportunity to turn their fortunes round. Too late, Montespan discovers that his ravishing wife has caught the eye of King Louis XIV. As everyone congratulates him on his new status of cuckold by royal appointment, the Marquis is broken-hearted. He vows to wreak revenge on the monarch and win back his adored Marquise...

A heartwarming story that remind us we're never too old to have an adventure.

At the age of 83, retired butcher George Nicoleau is about to set off on the greatest adventure of his life. George and his neighbour Charles have long dreamt of a road trip, driving the 3500 kilometres that make up the stages of the Tour de France. And now that George's over-protective daughter has gone to South America, it's time to seize the moment. But just when he feels free of family ties, George's granddaughter Adèle starts calling him from London, and he finds himself promising to text her as he travels around France, although he doesn't even know how to use a mobile. George is plagued by doubts, health worries and an indifference to modern technology. And yet - might the journey still prove to be everything he had hoped for?

From the writer who 'couldn't produce a poor paragraph if she tried' [New Zealand Herald], The Infinite Air tells the story of the rise and fall of 'the Garbo of the skies'.

'A gripping historical read' Woman's Own

Jean Batten became an international icon in 1930s. A brave, beautiful woman, she made a number of heroic solo flights across the world. The newspapers couldn't get enough of her. In 1934, she broke Amy Johnson's flight time between England and Australia by six days. The following year, she was the first woman to make the return flight. In 1936, she made the first ever direct flight between England and New Zealand and then the fastest ever trans-Tasman flight. Jean Batten stood for adventure, daring, exploration and glamour. The Second World War ended Jean's flying adventures. She suddenly slipped out of view, disappearing to the Caribbean with her mother and eventually dying in Majorca, buried in a pauper's grave. Fiona Kidman's enthralling novel delves into the life of this enigmatic woman. It is a fascinating exploration of early aviation, of fame, and of secrecy.  

Boxes is a dark tale of a young couple and their enigmatic new neighbours, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier. 

'This is quality writing' Crime Review 

Brice and Emma had bought their new home in the countryside together. And then Emma disappeared. Now, as he awaits her return, Brice busies himself with DIY and walks around the village. He gradually comes to know his new neighbours including Blanche, an enigmatic woman in white, who has lived on her own in the big house by the graveyard since the death of her father, to whom Brice bears a curious resemblance...

Described as 'deeply affecting' by The Guardian, Yasmina Khadra provides us with a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the most complex and controversial figures of recent history in this gripping imagining of the last hours of President Gaddafi.

'Khadra’s prose is gentle and precise' The New Yorker

People say I am a megalomaniac. It is not true. I am an exceptional being, providence incarnate, envied by the gods, able to make a faith of his cause.

October 2011. In the dying days of the Libyan civil war, Muammar Gaddafi is hiding out in his home town of Sirte along with his closest advisors. They await a convoy that will take them south, away from encroaching rebel forces and NATO aerial attacks.

The mood is sombre. In what will be his final night, Gaddafi reflects on an extraordinary life, whilst still raging against the West, his fellow Arab nations and the ingratitude of the Libyan people.

The A26 tells the grisly story of a dying man with murderous intent, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier.

'Ultimately a very dark novel, but a very impressive one' The Complete Review 

Bernard lives with his sister Yolande who hasn't left the house since 1945. Bernard is now in the final months of a terminal illness. With no longer anything to lose, he becomes reckless—and murderous.

Locally the A26 is under construction. Concrete still wet, it stands ready to serve as a discrete cemetery for lost girls. 

The sequel to The Foundling Boy sees Jean learning to make his way in a world of murky allegiances after the French defeat of 1940.

'A delight' Independent on Sunday

In the aftermath of French defeat in July 1940, twenty-year-old Jean Arnaud and his ally, the charming conman Palfy, are hiding out at a brothel in Clermont-Ferrand, having narrowly escaped a firing squad. At a military parade, Jean falls for a beautiful stranger, Claude, who will help him forget his adolescent heartbreak but bring far more serious troubles of her own.

Having safely reached occupied Paris, the friends mingle with art smugglers and forgers, social climbers, showbiz starlets, bluffers, swindlers and profiteers, French and German, as Jean learns to make his way in a world of murky allegiances. But beyond the social whirl, the war cannot stay away forever...

In this sequel to the acclaimed novel The Foundling Boy, Michel Déon's hero comes to manhood not through combat but by discovering truths about desire and possession, sex and love, and the nuances that lie between crudely drawn battle lines.  

Andrea Japp uses her remarkable knowledge of French history to tell an intricate and spellbinding story of a battle between church and state.

'An excellent read' Historical Novels Review

1304. The Church and the French Crown are locked in a power struggle. In the Normandy countryside, monks on a secret mission are brutally murdered and a poisoner is at large at Clairets Abbey. Young noblewoman Agnès de Souarcy fights to retain her independence but must face the Inquisition, unaware that she is the focus of an ancient quest.  

The sequel to The Foundling Boy sees Jean learning to make his way in a world of murky allegiances after the French defeat of 1940.

'A delight' Independent on Sunday

In the aftermath of French defeat in July 1940, twenty-year-old Jean Arnaud and his ally, the charming conman Palfy, are hiding out at a brothel in Clermont-Ferrand, having narrowly escaped a firing squad. At a military parade, Jean falls for a beautiful stranger, Claude, who will help him forget his adolescent heartbreak but bring far more serious troubles of her own.

Having safely reached occupied Paris, the friends mingle with art smugglers and forgers, social climbers, showbiz starlets, bluffers, swindlers and profiteers, French and German, as Jean learns to make his way in a world of murky allegiances. But beyond the social whirl, the war cannot stay away forever...

In this sequel to the acclaimed novel The Foundling Boy, Michel Déon's hero comes to manhood not through combat but by discovering truths about desire and possession, sex and love, and the nuances that lie between crudely drawn battle lines.  

Longlisted for the Prix Goncourt 2011

Described as 'one of the most significant novels of this year' by L'Express, Monsieur Le Commandant is the story of French Academician and Nazi sympathiser Paul-Jean Husson, who writes a letter to his local SS officer in 1942 with shocking consequences.

'The story of France’s anti-Semitism is one much told by historians: it has seldom been written about so powerfully by a novelist' The Spectator 

French Academician and Nazi sympathiser Paul-Jean Husson writes a letter to his local SS officer in the autumn of 1942.

Tormented by an illicit passion for Ilse, his German daughter-in-law, Husson has taken a decision that will devastate several lives, including his own. The letter is intended to explain his actions. It is a dramatic, sometimes harrowing, story that begins in the years leading up to the war, when following the accidental drowning of his daughter, Husson’s previously gilded life begins to unravel. And through Husson’s confession, Romain Slocombe gives the reader a startling picture of a man’s journey: from pillar of the French Establishment and World War One hero, to outspoken supporter of Nazi ideology and the Vichy government.

Clisson and Eugénie is a fiction novel by one of history's great leaders, offering a fascinating insight into how the young Napoleon viewed love, women and military life.

'[A] melancholy tale' The Guardian

Their eyes met... and they soon knew that their hearts were made for each other. Triumphant on the field of battle, Clisson turns his back on worldly success. He falls in love and marries and Eugénie, but how long will their love survive? Written in an eloquently Romantic style true to its period, the tragic story of Clisson and Eugénie reveals one of history's great leaders to also be an accomplished writer of fiction.

In The Panda Theory, from the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier, a newcomer's benign appearance is shattered by the secrets of his past.

'Action-packed' The Telegraph 

Gabriel is a stranger in a small Breton town. Nobody knows where he came from or why he's here. Yet his small acts of kindness, and exceptional cooking, quickly earn him acceptance from the locals. His new friends grow fond of Gabriel, who seems as reserved and benign as the toy panda he wins at the funfair. But unlike Gabriel, the fluffy toy is not haunted by his past...

Adapted for television in France, the third of the Nicolas Le Floch mysteries sees the protagonist investigate a murder hidden among a tragic accident, and encounter supernatural forces along the way.

Paris is in mourning. At the firework display marking the Dauphin's marriage to Marie Antoinette, hundreds of people have been injured or crushed to death. But not all the victims died accidentally...

The tragic incident on Place Louis XV yields a new case for Commissioner Le Floch when a strangled woman is found amongst the other corpses. The investigation takes him to the home of a furrier on Rue Royale, where he must deal not just with its curious residents but also face the terrifying forces of the supernatural. 

Adapted for television in France, the second of the Nicolas Le Floch mysteries sees the protagonist undertake his second major murder investigation when the body of a prominent courtier's son is found.

'It's the superb Parisian detail and atmosphere that truly beguiles' Sunday Times

An unusual death during a society evening at the Opera reveals something sinister at the heart of the French court... 

October 1761 finds the newly-promoted Commissioner Le Floch on duty at a Royal performance of Rameau's latest work. Events take a dramatic turn and Nicolas soon embarks on his second major investigation when the body of a prominent courtier's son is found. The initial evidence points to suicide, but Le Floch's instincts tell him he is dealing with murder of the most gruesome kind.  

In the second of the Napoleonic Murders series, described as a 'splendid war epic' by Sunday Telegraph, a serial killer is targeting young army recruits.

In 1809, the forces of Napoleon's Grande Armée are in Austria. For young Lieutenant Lukas Relmyer, it is hard to return to the place where he and fellow orphan Franz, were kidnapped four years previously. Franz was brutally murdered and Lukas has vowed to avenge his death. When the body of another orphan is found on the battlefield, Captain Quentin Margont and Lukas join forces to track down the wolf that is prowling once more in the forests of Aspern... 

Described as a 'splendid war epic' by Sunday Telegraph, the third of the Napoleonic Murders series sees Cabasson's hero, revolutionary soldier Quentin Margont, infiltrating a royalist conspiracy to save Napoleon's Empire.

March 1814. With the armies of Russia and Prussia advancing, Paris is in real danger of falling to occupying forces for the first time in 400 years. But at a moment when all efforts should be directed towards the defence of the city, Joseph Bonaparte is concerned with the murder of a retired colonel, and orders Major Margont to conduct a secret investigation into his death. Once again Armand Cabasson marries his phenomenal knowledge of the Napoleonic period with his psychiatric expertise to create a gripping and totally convincing narrative.  

Described as a 'beautiful writer' by The Times, Fiona Kidman brings us a powerful story of women’s lives spanning decades and continents.

'Engaging and captivating' The Lady Magazine

1943. Violet Trench crosses Lake Rotorua with a small boy, but rows back without him. Sixty years later, a boat is ritually set alight on the same body of water.

The intervening years see Violet open a café by the lake the scene of an event in the summer of 1963 with lasting repercussions for Violet and her young employees. Their lives diverge, but Violet's influence on them all and on runaway Jessie Sandle in particular will linger like the scent of the truffles with which she infuses her dishes.