Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE PRIX GONCOURT 2022 ‘Beguiling’ Daily Mail

From the bestselling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog comes the story of one man’s promise to keep a secret that may hold him from the greatest joy possible.

Haru, a successful Japanese art dealer, appreciates beauty, harmony, balance, and good sake.

A few months after an affair with Maud, a mysterious Frenchwoman, he learns that she is pregnant with his child. But she issues him a heartbreaking warning: if he ever tries to see her or the child, she will kill herself.

Quietly devastated, Haru respects Maud’s wishes. And Rose grows up on the other side of the world, without ever knowing her father. Is it too late to change things?

From international bestseller Muriel Barbery comes a stunning tale of friendship, family secrets, and the enduring love of a father forced to live in the shadows.

Publisher Review

'Exquisite... Readers will be rapt' Publishers Weekly (starred review) 'A zigzag journey through Haru's life, rewinding and fast-forwarding from chapter to chapter, leaving us a bit dizzy but thoroughly delighted . . . It's rare these days for a novel to be devoted to beauty, much less present a philosophy, and that's precisely why Barbery's uniquely stand out' Boston Globe 'Unravels in poetic ways' i-D, Fiction to be Excited for in 2024 'If Muriel Barbery's sentences were stones, her books would be cathedrals . . . A magnificent novel' Le Figaro Litteraire 'Magical, infused with poetry . . . A touching story about life's trials, encounters, and friendships' Mademoiselle Lit 'A book of great beauty, imbued with poetry and melancholy' RTL 'An extremely gentle, extremely poetic book. Sad, luminous, and dark too . . . a marvel' France Info