London Book Fair
2014
London Book Fair 2014
Rights Catalogue
ÉDITIONS CALMANN-LÉVY
& ÉDITIONS N°1
31 rue de Fleurus
75278 Paris cedex 06
France
www.editions-calmann-levy.com
***
RIGHTS DEPARTMENT
Subsidiary rights manager : Patricia Roussel
Subsidiary rights assistant : Johanna Diaz
Tél : + 33 (0)1 49 54 36 48
[email protected]
[email protected]
Highlights – Fiction
 Commercial & Literary fiction
Des vallées à vélo (des pentes et des coteaux) / Riding allong valleys (hillsides and slopes) by Barbara Constantine …5
Personne ne peut arrêter une fille qui rêve / No one can stop a girl with a dream by Brigitte Hemmerlin …….……6
Dark nights / Dark nights by Denis Jeambar ..………………………………………………………….………6
Fenicia / Fenicia by Pierre Brunet .…………………………………………………………………………….7
Xenia/ Xenia by Gérard Mordillat ……….……………………………………………………..……….…….8
1 rue des Petits-Pas / 1 rue des Petits-Pas by Nathalie Hug ……………………………………………..….……9
L’Entre-temps / The Meantime by René Guitton ………………….…………………………………..…..……9
L’Enfant des Maures / The Children of the Massif des Maures by Frédérick d’Onaglia …………………..……10
Le Marcheur de Fès / The Walker of Fez by Éric Fottorino ………………………………………….………..11
Un automne en clair-obscur / Autumn Chiaroscuro by Martine Delomme ……………………………………11
Week-end surprise / A Week-end Away by Agnès Abécassis ………………………………………..…..……..12
Et je te donnerai les trésors des ténèbres / I give you the Treasures of Darkness by Jean Bertolino ………………12
 Suspense fiction
Souviens-toi de demain / Remember Tomorrow by Vanessa Caffin …………………………...…………………13
Né pour être sauvage/ Born to Be Wild by Alexis Aubenque..………………………………………………….14
Pour le bien des enfants / For the Children’s Sake by Alexis Aubenque .……………………..…………………14
 Historical fiction
L’Homme aux ciseaux d’argent / The Man with Silver Scissors by Antonin Malroux ……………………………15
L’Enfant de la cerisaie / The Cherry Orchard Child by Geneviève Senger …………………………………........15
Retour au pays bleu/ The Blue Landscape of Home by Françoise Bourdon …………………………………...…16
La Grange de Rochebrune/ Rochebrune Farm by Françoise …………... …… ……………………….................16
Les montagnes chantaient la liberté / Over the Mountains to Freedom by Hélène Legrais ……………………..…17
Je jouerai encore pour nous / I’ll Play Along, For Us by Élise Fischer ………………………………….............17
Le Sculpteur de nuages / The Carver of Clouds by Jean Anglade ………………………………………………18
L’Orpheline de la forêt Barade / The Orphan of the Barade Forest by Michel Peyramaure ………………….......18
Highlights – Non-Fiction
 Documentary / Society
La Violence de l’humanisme / Humanism and Violence by Patrice Rouget…...………..……………………….19
Nous n’étions pas des héros / We weren’t heroes by Benoît Hopquin ……..…………………………………..19
Un fléau si rentable / A Highly Profitable Scourge by Emmanuelle Grundmann...............………………….……20
FEMEN / Femen by Femen…………..…………………………………………..…………………………..21
Krach Machine / The Crash Machine by Frédéric Lelièvre & François Pilet ……………...……………………22
Rire le jour, Pleurer la nuit / Daytime Laughter, Nighttime Tears by Katy Hazan ……………………………....23
 Narrative Non-Fiction /Autobiography
Mémoires d’un fils à papa / The Memoirs of a Daddy’s Boy by Marcel Ophuls ………..……………..………….24
 Lifestyle
Une vie de Pintade en Afrique du Sud / The Pintades in South Africa by Sophie Bouillon ……….……………..25
Collection “Une vie de Pintade” / “Une vie de Pintade” series ………………………………………………....26
Backlist
 Literary fiction
La Demoiselle des tic-tac / Miss Tick-Tacks by Nathalie Hug ...……….……………………………………..27
L’Enfant-rien / The Nothing Child by Nathalie Hug.…………………..………….…………………………..27
Ce que savait Jennie / Jennie’s Truth by Gérard Mordillat ……………………………………………………28
Le Muscle et la Chair / Muscle and Flesh by Patrick Olivier Meyer………...……………….………………….28
Ma vie précaire / My Precarious Life by Elise Fontenaille ………….……..…………………………….……..29
Le Palais de mémoire / The Memory Palace by Elise Fontenaille …...…….……………………………………29
Backlist
 Commercial fiction
Et puis, Paulette… / And Then Came Paulette… by Barbara Constantine...…………………….………………….30
Tom, petit Tom, tout petit homme, Tom /Tom, Little Tom, Little Man, Tom by Barbara Constantine .....……..……31
À Mélie, sans mélo / To Mélie, without Melodrama by Barbara Constantine...………………………………………32
Allumer le chat / Turn on the Cat by Barbara Constantine ..…………………………………………..……..……32
Hôtel Miranda / Hotel Miranda by Iman Bassalah …………………..……………………………………………33
L’Iranienne / The Iranian Woman by Maurice Bigio ………….…………………………………….…..…………33
La Mémoire des autres / Other People’s Memories by Annelise Corbrion …...…………………………....…………34
Le Berceau de la honte / The Cradle of Shame by Mano Gentil ………………………………………...…………34
L’Avant-dernière Chance / The Next-to-Last Chance by Caroline Vermalle ……………………………………….35
Le Théorème de Cupidon / Cupid’s Theorem by Agnès Abécassis ……………………………………..………….35
 Suspense fiction
Robe de marié / The Groom Wore White by Pierre Lemaitre….……………………………………………………36
Cadres noirs / High-Profile Management by Pierre Lemaitre ...……..……………………….………………………36
La Nuit des enfants-rois / The Prodigies by Bernard Lenteric…...…………………………………………………37
Noces de paille / Straw Wedding by Yves Hughes……..…………………………………..………………………37
Série “Diane Silver” / “Diane Silver ” series by Andrea H. Japp……………………………………………………38
Série “ La Dame sans Terre” / “The Landless Lady ” series by Andrea H. Japp.……………………………………39
Monestarium / Monestarium by Andrea H. Japp ………………………….………………………………………40
La Croix de perdition / The Cross of Perdition by Andrea H. Japp ...………………………………………………40
 Historical fiction
La Dame de Kyoto / The Lady of Kyoto by Éric Le Nabour ……..……………………………….……………41
Fernand de Magellan / Magellan, Inventing the World by Patrick Girard
…….……..…………...………………………41
Un Bateau pour l’enfer / The Saint Louis’ Epic by Gilbert Sinoué ….…………………….………………………42
La Dame à la lampe / The Lady of the Lamp by Gilbert Sinoué ……..……………………………………………42
Backlist
 Social Sciences
Collection “La Petite Bibliothèque des Idées” / “A Little Library of Modern Thought ” series …….…………….43-45
Works by Raymond Aron ……………………………………………………………………….………………46
Works by Léon Poliakov ……..…………………………………………………………………..………………47
La Critique et la Conviction / Criticism and Conviction by Paul Ricœur …....………………………………………48
Dictionnaire international de la Psychanalyse / International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis by Alain de Mijolla ..…..…48
Bohèmes / The Bohemians by Dan Frank ……..………………………………………………………………….49
Esprits d’Europe / Spirits of Europe by Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine…....…………….…………………………..49
Rhétorique spéculative / Speculative Rhetoric by Pascal Quignard..…..……………………………………………..50
La Haine de la musique / The Hatred of Music by Pascal Quignard ……..………………..……………………….50
Sur les traces des Chrétiens oubliés / Among the Forgotten Christians by Charles Guilhamon …....………...………51
Blind Date / Blind Date by Anne Dufourmantelle ..…..…………………………………………………………51
 Narrative non-fiction / Autobiography / Biography
Pierre Cardin / Pierre Cardin by Sylvana Lorenz…………………………………………………………………..52
Adolfo Kaminsky, une vie de faussaire / Adolfo Kaminsky, the Life of a Counterfeit Artist by Sarah Kaminsky……….53
Moi Pierre Seel, déporté homosexuel / I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual by Pierre Seel…………………………..53
Les Sœurs Beauvoir / The Beauvoir Sisters by Claudine Monteil ...……………………………………………....…54
Un homo dans la cité / On Being Gay in the Projects by Brahim Naït-Balk ……………………………………....…54
Staline, vie privée / The Private Life of Stalin by Lilly Marcou ..………………………………………………....…55
Hermann Hesse, poète ou rien / Hermann Hesse, a Poet and Nothing Else by François Mathieu ………………..…..55
 Lifestyle / Albums
Collection “Petites philosophies” / “A Dose of Philosophy” series by Catherine Rambert...…………………………56
Bonheur zen / The Most Beautiful Zen Stories by Henri Brunel .…………………………………………..………..57
Conte du chat maître zen / The Tale of the Zen Master Cat by Henri Brunel.………………………………………57
DES VALLÉES À VÉLO (DES PENTES ET DES COTEAUX)
Riding along valleys (hillsides and slopes)
Barbara Constantine
Barbara Constantine's upcoming novel, set in the country as always, is about bicycles and aging
people, children and animals but more so… rebellious teenagers, an unhappy overworked father
and a great-aunt on Prozac. Theoretically, not the stuff dream vacations are made of. Yet despite
the tensions, some knockdown drag-out fights and a few rivers of tears, it is the roaring laughter,
the vital discoveries and heartwarming moments that will of course be remembered.
Summertime : two short months to heal, learn, get along and love one
another ; two short months to do some pretty serious growing up...
The eldest of the pack, 18, had first planned on going on vacation
alone with his new girlfriend. But he failed his exams, he is broke and
he noticed that his dad is slowly going down the drain. So he decides to
go to the country with his 8-year-old twin half-brothers and his 13year-old angry half-sister. His great-aunt (75) lives right next door ;
obviously she'll help out with the kids... She turns out to be too
depressed and totally unfit to look out for anything, including herself !
Des vallées à
vélo (des pentes
et des coteaux)
The four kids are going to have to do it all – all by themselves – in a
house without indoor plumbing, TV, Internet or even a washing
machine ! They are also going to have to look after the great-aunt, who
has taken a turn for the worse. All this, not wanting to add more
troubles to his already full plate, without letting their father, Dimitri,
know what's going on.
Because Dimitri, meanwhile, is in the city to work. He's been working
day and night for some time now. Mornings and evenings, at his job as
a plumber ; afternoons, at his wife's bookstore. Though he's not really
into books the thought of closing the bookstore never even crossed his
mind. So he reads the inside covers, bios and bookseller favorites, trying
to advise the clients – almost with a smile. Not an easy task for him
these days, but “avec le temps”, as the song by Léo Ferré goes, he'll
somehow get by... And maybe, after all, through reading, he'll dig up
the energy and love that he thought had deserted him.
Autumn 2014 – Commercial Fiction
Barbara Constantine writes novels and fixes a house in the Berry region. She also watches the cranes go by, the
flowers and the trees grow, and the cats, and the birds, and the squirrels... She is the author of Allumer le chat
(2007), A Mélie, sans mélo (2009) and the best-sellers Tom, petit Tom, tout petit homme, Tom (2010) and And then came
Paulette (2012), which has been sold in 19 languages.
5
PERSONNE NE PEUT ARRÊTER UNE FILLE QUI RÊVE –
No One Can Stop a Girl With a Dream
Brigitte Hemmerlin
A young woman is lost to unrequited love; her life will never be the same.
Based on a widely talked about case from thirty years ago, Brigitte Hemmerlin recounts a
law school student’s obsession with a famous criminal lawyer.
The moment Claire sets eyes on the picture of Gabriel Doré in a major weekly magazine,
she falls head over heels in love with him. To seduce the man, who doesn’t even know she
exists, she will gradually weave her way into his life. First she takes on a summer job as his
personal assistant. Then she becomes friends with Dominique, the law firm’s chief
secretary. Though Gabriel spurns her advances, Claire is eventually made an associate at the
firm where she will work for next several years.
Hurt but happy, Claire will give up everything – family, fiancé, friends and future – just to
be near the man she loves. When in time she is fired, she refuses to give up her passion.
Instead, she destroys her own life just to have him near her.
From law firm to courtroom by way of prison – where the suffering of the convicted is
clearly palpable – Claire, guided by love, loses control of her life and ultimately commits an
act that will send her to prison.
March 2014 – Literary Fiction – 240 p
French Sale : Paperback edition.
In a story reflecting both an era, prior to the abolition of the death penalty, and an environment, that of the judicial system,
Brigitte Hemmerlin gives us a fictionalized account of her own past, her elegant prose moving effortlessly from dream to
reality and back again.
Brigitte Hemmerlin was a lawyer from 1978 to 1981. She is now a journalist and a writer and she is currently working on her second
novel.
DARK NIGHTS – Dark Nights
Denis Jeambar
It all started at the Cerf family estate. The last descendant of the illustrious family has just purchased a highlycoveted painting, a thoroughbred at a gallop. Suddenly… In a matter of seconds, life will never be the same for the
protagonists of the present stories, a totally immersive tour de force that is also, through a strange play of mirrors,
an invitation to self-reflection.
Twenty-nine short stories spun together around a common thread: nighttime. In a
nocturnal journey from opera stage to trendy Parisian bar, the author conjures up a
host of characters who will see the world in a different light – and shape. A moment
in the life of: a diva, a baby-faced boxer and a tightrope walker; a man who decides to
become a cold-blooded killer, an unfortunate collector and a cutthroat chief inspector;
a gorgeous Cuban woman…
A motley crew, that is to say, with an appetite for duplicity and secrets. Each delights
in disclosing their hidden identity, and the gangrenous inner wound that will send
them reeling into the darkness of night. At the heart of these “nocturnal” short
stories: a search for the absolute, a longing for wasted potential, and the decay of the
body– and soul…
In turn disquieting, frightening and razor-sharp, a collection of bittersweet short
stories reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Crack-Up.”
A master of the art of brevity and suspense, Denis Jeambar gives us a collection of
narratives carved with gemlike precision and skill.
January 2014 – Literary Fiction – 242 p.
Onetime editor-in-chief and general director of several magazines, Denis Jeambar is a journalist and a writer. He has published
numerous essays, novels and a biography. The present volume of 29 short stories is his first work published by Calmann-Lévy.
6
English
sample
translation
available
x
FENICIA – Fenicia
Pierre Brunet
Pierre Brunet gives us the story of his mother Fenicia, a heroine marked early in life by the
brutality of the world ; a radiant and tragic figure who would leave behind a heritage first of
fascination and idolization, then of chaos, ruin and silence.
On April 5, 1964, at the age of 31, Fenicia would pass away in a
psychiatric ward on the outskirts of Paris. She had had a number of last
names as well as the two given names of Ana and Fenicia. For one of
her sons, she would become both a myth and a taboo – a taboo broken
here at last through the recounting of her story. The story of little Ana,
abandoned at birth near a Catholic orphanage in Barcelona and
adopted, at the age of 4, by a fervent couple of anarchists, Conchita
and Mateo.
Spain's Civil War is in full swing. Exile, life on the road and internment
in the concentration camp of Argelès-sur-Mer are little Ana's earliest
memories. It is there that her new parents would decide to change
Ana's name to Fenicia, in honor of the Phoenicians, who, in the minds
of the Spanish anarchists, had landed in Spain not for conquest but
rather to give the country its indomitable spirit of freedom.
The intelligent and beautiful Fenicia would grow up in France. An
anarchist, a seductress, a teenage mother, a wife, but also a doctor of
letters, Fenicia would be loved by many : by Mateo, her adoptive
father, for whom she would remain “his little girl from heaven above” ;
by Georges, the brilliant lawyer who would be Fenicia's her first lover
and mentor ; by Jean, her faithful husband who would never
understand her and lastly by Gil, the gallant knight who would be her
final lover. But the puzzle pieces of this life would never fit together.
March 2014 – Literary Fiction – 434 p.
Indeed, over the course of the years, she would never be sure of being loved, would eternally remain the little girl
terrified by the fear of abandonment, by the violence of war, by the ugliness of the world… And terrified, what is
more, by the possibility of her own ugliness. Henceforth, Fenicia would steer her life into the virgin territories of
make-believe. A life invented and reinvented, a life where truth and lies would become inextricably tangled and
eventually cause her downfall.
With abandonment for a birthright, war for a childhood and exile for a country, is it possible to make peace with
both the world and oneself ? How long can you maintain a balancing act of fact and fiction before you are overtaken
by History and the story of your life ? At least thirty-one years, in this case – enough time for an entire life.
Pierre Brunet was born in Paris in 1961. He has held a number of jobs, including ad salesman, croupier, delivery
man, security guard and journalist, to name a few. In 1994, he began working by chance in the field of
humanitarian aid, which would take him first to Rwanda and then to Bosnia. He is now a member of the board of
a French NGO and spends a good part of his time writing. He is the author of Barnum and J.A.B., published
respectively by Calmann-Lévy in 2006 and 2008.
7
XENIA – Xenia
Gérard Mordillat
Xenia is the story of two women, of two invisible heroines, that is, the cleaning women, cashiers
and salesgirls we run into everyday. It is also a revealing look at the struggle of just getting by, an
eye-opening incursion into the real-life workplaces of today's Thelma and Louises.
Xenia (“foreigner” in Greek) is a 23 years old mother with a 5 months
old baby. She is barely able to make ends meet by cleaning offices for a
corporate cleaning company, when her boyfriend takes off with all of
their savings. With no one to look after her son now, Xenia is forced to
take him to work, a makeshift solution that works for a while, thanks to
the help of her colleagues. Eventually she is caught at work with her son
and is fired on the spot.
Luckily, Xenia's neighbours are there for her, especially Blandine who
gets her a cashier job at the local supermarket. Soon – amid laughter and
tears, romances and quarrels but also hope and insurrection – Xenia and
Blandine are sharing the same daily routine : the same job, the same
apartment and the same furious drive to work their way to a better life.
Then one day their world comes crashing down around them : Blandine is
caught taking fruit from the supermarket's dumpster and is threatened
with losing her job.
Her fate sparks outrage among the inhabitants of the neighbourhood,
however, and spurred on by Xenia, they rise up against Blandine's unfair
treatment.
Janurary 2014 – Literary Fiction – 384 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition
(Le Livre de Poche)
Xenia and Blandine’ story is like a whirlwind, filled with heartwarming moments, everyday trials and triumphs and the
incessant struggles of earning a living at nose-to-the-grind jobs that don't leave much time for actual living. Along the
way, we encounter a group of truly amazing people who face the hardships of life with quiet dignity and a ready smile.
There is Gauvain, the laid-off bank employee who will win Xenia's heart ; Mrs Aziz, the affectionate old Algerian
woman and her shopkeeper son ; Biglouche, the mechanic with a heart of gold and Samuel, the young half-black
man in search of an identity.
They invite us into their world, which is also our own, a world where solidarity is not just another empty word. And a
world that Xenia and Blandine are determined to change for the better, even if it means first setting it on fire !
Gérard Mordillat is a writer and a filmmaker. He has published numerous novels, including L’Attraction universelle,
Les Vivants et les Morts (Calmann-Lévy 2005), Notre part des ténèbres (Calmann-Lévy, 2008) and Ce que savait Jennie
(Rentrée Littéraire 2012). He and Jérôme Prieur are the coauthors of Corpus Christi, a three-part documentary film
on the origins of Christianity. He has made over twenty films and wrote the film adaptation of his novel, Les
Vivants et les Morts, for France 2.
8
English
sample
translation
available
x
1 RUE DES PETITS-PAS – 1 Rue des Petits-Pas
Nathalie Hug
With 1 Rue des Petits-Pas, Nathalie Hug deftly recounts village life in post-World War I France. A
remarkable fresco of vivid realism and heartfelt emotion.
The winter of 1918-1919. The Great War is coming to an end. A small village in
Lorraine, only a few miles from the front, is nothing but ruins. Most of the men are
dead; the women and children are struggling to survive. Nobody has been spared the
tragedies of war, but life must go on. It is time to rebuild, to reopen shops, to start
living again – in spite of old wounds.
Louise, an orphan at the age of sixteen, knows all about poverty and violence. Taken
in by a midwife, she is learning the trade of delivering babies, treating the complaints
of expecting mothers and lending a sympathetic ear. She is determined to move on, to
learn to read and write, to raise a child and to love. With each passing day at 1, rue des
Petits-Pas she will discover quite simply what being a woman really means.
But in the remote village of eastern France, local legends feed into fear, and hatred
keeps the villagers going. The war wasn't over with the signing of the Armistice.
February 2014 – Literary Fiction – 325 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition
Nathalie Hug lives in eastern France. She has co-written several thrillers with Jérôme Camut and is the author of two solo novels
published by Calmann-Lévy : The Nothing Child (2011) and Miss Ticks-Tacks (2012) which has been selected by the French Institute
magazine, Fiction France.
L’ENTRE-TEMPS – The Meantime
René Guitton
Rentrée
Littéraire
2013
x
Addressing his father with a shy yet loving “you”, a son explores his origins.
A brilliant and captivating novel written with passion, wisdom and care.
Alexandre, the little boy born in prison in a remote corner of Morocco in 1943, is a
grown man now. He is back in Casablanca to exhume his father. The father he had
adored, the naval officer who had taught him about airplane mechanics and green
flashes at sunset. The man who had taught him the importance of treating others
with kindness and respect.
However, exhuming his father means digging up the past. There is his mother,
Rose, a young Italian milliner, shy but impassioned ; and his maternal grandparents
truly enamored of freedom. But there is also Yemna, the Jew, and Mina, the
Muslim ; the aunt from America and the cousins from Africa…
With modesty and feeling, the author gives us a finely-wrought family history within
the larger context of History : that of World War II. Yet throughout it all, with the
world crumbling tragically around them, a sense of joy prevails. Cruelty is
outweighed by the pleasure of being together.
August 2013 – Literary Fiction – 208 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition
Publisher, author and an ardent defender of human dignity, René Guitton is a tireless purveyor of trends of thought, his work over
the years having sought, in particular, to establish a philosophical, cultural, and religious dialogue between the East and West. He
won numerous prestigious literary awards with Ces chrétiens qu’on assassine (Flammarion, 2009) and Si nous nous taisons : le martyre des
moines de Tibhirine (Calmann-Lévy, 2001). He is also the author of En quête de vérité (Calmann-Lévy, 2011).
9
L’ENFANT DES MAURES – The Children of the Massif des Maures
Frédérick d’Onaglia
A remarkable family saga of love, loss, passion and intrigue set against the beautiful hill country
of the Massif des Maures. A finely rendered novel of haunting narrative and riveting suspense.
32-year-old doctor Maurine Casténat has left Toulon for Collobrières,
her natal village. There, she intends to both set up a new practice and
help her sister, Carole, who is managing the family business now that
their father has fallen ill.
Relations between the two women are strained from the very start.
Between her consultations and duties on call, Maurine is rarely around.
Carole, in the meantime, must find new financial backers to save the
family business, which the economic downturn has brought to the
brink of bankruptcy. Enter Nicolas Devraux, a national forest engineer
who informs Maurine that the region’s chestnut groves are threatened
by the spread of the oriental gull wasp: the parasite may well wipe out
every single chestnut tree in the Var hinterland. Maurine is determined
to save the forest, her secret sanctuary, with the help of Nicolas, an
admirer of both the forest and the young woman’s courage and
honesty. She tackles the problem head-on.
At the same time the Casténat sisters’ aunt, a nun at the Carthusian
monastery in Vernes, reveals disturbing information about a thirty-year
old scandal, which had been big news at the time. Maurine starts asking
questions, setting off an unexpected wave of violent reactions in the
village. Nobody wants to see the long buried business come to light.
Emotions run high, Maurine starts getting poison-pen letters…
May 2014 – Fiction – 300 p.
French Sale : Book-club edition (France Loisirs)
A novel devoted to contemporary and universal themes: environmental
and conservation issues; the struggle of reconciling professional
responsibilities and personal life (the life of a country doctor and that
of a woman who wants to found a family); secrets from the past
shedding doubt on one’s very identity; the ravages of Alzheimer's
disease for sufferers and families alike; the difficulty of committing to a
new relationship after losing a spouse. A host of subjects that readers
of all ages and walks of life can easily identify with.
Frederick Onaglia’s fascination with Provence goes back to his early childhood, and the stories of his maternal
grandmother who passed on to him her passion for the contrasts and lore of her native region, a land of
unmistakable character and history, rich with savoir vivre, tradition and culture... All of his books explore the many
facets of life in Provence, attracting the author an ever-growing readership. Finalist of the Prix Carrefour and winner
of Lions Club International Prize for Le Secret des cépages (Belfond), Onaglia gives us an 11th novel rife with the magic
and mystery of the Massif des Maures.
10
LE MARCHEUR DE FÈS – The Walker of Fez
Éric Fottorino
After L‟homme qui m‟aimait tout bas (Gallimard, 2009) and Questions à mon père (Gallimard, 2010), Éric
Fottorino retraces his biological father's footsteps, in Fez, in search of his Judeo-Moroccan roots.
“He was born in Fez in February 1936. Today he lives near Barcelona. His illness
prevents him from using his legs, but he still has his memories. He was supposed to
be here with me, walking in Fez. But here I am, alone. He is my distant guide.
This is the story of my father, Maurice Maman. He didn't raise me ; he did not
give me his name. We've only really gotten to know each other in the past ten years.
I am retracing the path of his childhood, visiting the city, the Mellah, the souks. I
discover the stagnant wadi with its icy water, and my father’s childhood dream of
becoming a great Moroccan swimmer.
Here is the street where my father peddled coal, he had to see three stars in the sky
before would light up a cigarette. Over here, the balcony of their first apartment in
the European city. And there, the Empire Cinema where he would sneak in during
intermission. Next I stop in front of the Urbaine, with its elevator and terrace. From
that very same summit Maurice would cast off his talet, his prayer scarf, refuting
religion, the gesture of a teenager rising in revolt at the premature death of his older
sister. I think about his life and mine, and all of the things left unsaid. Fez tells me
his story.”
September 2013 – Fiction – 192 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Folio)
Éric Fottorino was the former director of the French daily, Le Monde. He won numerous prizes for his works : the Prix Europe 1
and the Prix des Bibliothécaires for Un territoire fragile (2000) ; the Prix François Mauriac de l'Académie française for Caresse de
rouge (2004) ; the Prix Femina for Baisers de cinéma (2007) ; and the Prix des Lectrices Elle 2010 for L'homme qui m'aimait tout bas.
UN AUTOMNE EN CLAIR-OBSCUR – Autumn Chiaroscuro
Martine Delomme
She thought she had found happiness. Her life is about to be turned upside down… A masterful narrative
and gripping suspense with an endearing heroine who comes to life as the story unfolds.
Un automne
en clair-obscur
by Martine
Delomme
September 2014 – Fiction
French Sale : Book-club edition
(France Loisirs)
Claire is the perfect wife, happy and fulfilled. She is expecting a second child and
enjoys her job at the cardboard factory owned by her husband, Henri. This latter has
fallen into a deep coma after a hunting accident, however, and his chances of surviving
are slim.
Claire’s life takes a sudden nightmarish turn. Olivia, Henri’s first wife starts harassing
her. She seems to be obsessed with her – even bent on destroying her – and much to
Claire’s surprise, none of colleagues even seem to care.
What’s behind Olivia strange behavior? How should Claire respond to her relentless
attacks? What if her husband was not the man she had though he was? Claire looks to
the past for answers, determined to bring the truth to light. Along the way, she
discovers her own unsuspected mettle.
At the center of a conspiracy and surrounded by a host of ruthless characters, Claire
finds two precious allies in her mother and her lawyer, an honest man and a divorced
dad. With courage and perseverance, she will ultimately change the course of things
and uncover the truth…
Martine Delomme was born in Bordeaux. Her four previous novels have gained her an ever-growing readership.
11
WEEK-END SURPRISE – A Week-end Away
Agnès Abécassis
A great summer read with fresh vibes and a delightful sense of humor with a lovely heroine today‟s readers will
easily identify with : Brune, a modern mom stretched thin between romantic entanglements, raising her sons and
her search for personal fulfillment.
Once upon a time, when paper mail was out and letters were sent electronically, in little
bits and pieces, was Brune, an actress and divorced mother of Nestor and Noé, twin
brothers experimenting puberty. A week in the life of this woman, in pictures. Snapshots
of her “moments”, her brief emotional outbursts. But those days, real feelings were
hidden by the seeming futility of text-messages.
Indeed, Brune was receiving ambiguous text messages from Leonard, her radio host
best friend, desperately in love with her. She was also always there for Suzie, texting her
during her love disappointments. Then she was chatting with Prunelle who had a job on
line and was being hounded by Simon, a sleazy guy on the Internet. Luckily, with all this
going on, Noé and Nestor were doing pretty well at school (if it weren't for that awful
teacher) and had an unlimited imagination.
In brief, a week in the life of a woman, still dreaming of vacation, who finds herself
invited to London, for a tête-à-tête weekend, just herself and her sons… but after all not
just her sons.
May 2013 – Commercial Fiction – 232 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition
Agnès Abécassis was born in 1972. She started her career as a writer and an illustrator for a women's health magazine. A former
screenwriter, she is also a journalist and a literary chronicler for a number of magazines. She is the author of the bestselling Les
Tribulations d’une jeune divorcée ; Au secours, il veut m’épouser !, a hilarious text on the joys of coupledom ; as well as Toubib or not toubib ;
Chouette, une ride ! ; Soirée Sushi and Le Théorème de Cupidon, a romantic comedy set in the movie industry.
ET JE TE DONNERAI LES TRÉSORS DES TÉNÈBRES–
I Give You the Treasures of Darkness
Jean Bertolino
A deftly-crafted supernatural thriller blending fact, action and suspense. 1248. A landslide in the Mountains
causes the face of Mount Granier to slide into the valley. Thousands are killed, including Jacques-Guillaume
Bonnivard, to whom Pope Innocent IV had entrusted the papal treasure during his exile in France.
Nearly eight centuries later, a group of four impassioned cavers – three medical students,
Joël, Xavier and Alexis, and a student of medieval history, Nadine – have put together
an expedition to explore the renowned Granier cave system. They are careful not to reveal
the true nature of their expedition, however: to discover the Pope’s gold. The expedition’s
chief financial sponsor is the mysterious Russian firm, Geotechnik, represented in France
by Didier de la Renardière, an insufferably arrogant businessman with unlimited funds
who joins the Granier exploration team, specialists Igor, Basile and Renaud in tow.
As the expedition pushes its way deeper and deeper into the underground galleries, little
do the explorers suspect they are being watched by a secret society. For centuries, a
ruthless enemy has been guarding the Pope’s treasure and, in particular, two priceless
relics, the authentic shroud of Christ and the holy chalice. The brotherhood will stop at
nothing to prevent the precious artifacts from falling into sacrilegious hands.
The adventure quickly turns into a nightmare.
March 2014 – Suspense Fiction –288 p.
Fine reporter, war correspondent and former director of a magazine, Albert Londres Prize in 1967, Jean Bertolino takes us on a
thrilling quest that compete esoteric traditions, the power of money and companions looking for an Ideal.
12
SOUVIENS-TOI DE DEMAIN – Remember Tomorrow
Vanessa Caffin
A young woman, the victim of a physical aggression, is struck by a severe form of amnesia. Will she
be able to piece the puzzle of her life back together again without the familiar bearings of memory?
A page-turning psychological thriller!
Following a violent assault, thirty-five year old Charlie Longe wakes up in the
hospital completely amnesiac: She has no memories of the past and her mind is
unable to record anything new. To remember the events of the day before, she
starts keeping a diary. In it, she discovers a cell phone number and the unsettling
words, “I am going to die, find husband, find Adam.” Is her life in danger? Who
is this Adam? And why is nobody answering the cell phone?
Charlie finds herself caught up in a disturbing quest for truth, her diary and the
badge of an advertising agency where she had apparently worked as her only
compass. But all of her leads get her nowhere. None of it seems to make any
sense. The agency owner is behaving strangely for one, and so is Georges, the
company’s graphic designer who hardly says boo but who seems to be hiding
something. Then there is Vincent, her moody neighbor, an author with a
writer’s block who swears he’d never seen her with a man before. Not to
mention all of the anonymous emails… Terrified, Charlie looks for answers,
alone, unable to trust anyone.
As it turns out, she had had a one night stand with Georges, who is trying to
protect her. He alone knows that Vincent is her ex-boyfriend. Following one of
their domestic quarrels, Charlie’s partner had left her for dead in the street…
After removing all traces of his existence from her apartment, Vincent had been
keeping a low profile. Charlie’s sudden reappearance initially sends him into a
spin, but her state of amnesia quickly becomes a genuine source of inspiration.
He will take a perverse pleasure in manipulating the young woman, as he weaves
the backdrop of his new novel.
March 2014 – Literature – 250 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition
(Le Livre de Poche)
Vanessa Caffin was born in 1976. The author of the acclaimed début novel J’aime pas l’amour… ou trop peut-être
(Anne Carrière, 2008), followed by Mémoire vive (Belfond, 2009), which is currently being adapted into film, she
published Rossmore Avenue with Belfond in 2011. This latter was among the ten international titles selected for the
2011 Berlin Film Festival. Caffin, who is particularly interested in cinema, is currently writing her first feature film
screenplay.
13
ALEXIS AUBENQUE
Former bookseller and genre literature buff, Alexis Aubenque made his crime fiction debut in 2008. His “River
Falls” trilogy – winner of the 2009 Prix Polar in Cognac – met with a great success. “Nuits noires à Seattle” is
his new series of true page turners, featuring Charité bien ordonnée (2011), Pour le bien des enfants (2013) and Né pour être
sauvage (2014). Each book of the series can be read separately.
NÉ POUR ÊTRE SAUVAGE – Born to Be Wild
This new investigation from Captain Mike Logan plunges us in the violent and criminal world of the Hells
Angels. Set under the sky of Seattle, it completes the series “Dark Nights in Seattle” from which each book
can be read separately.
Ryan Bonfire, onetime aspiring rock star turned Hells Angel, is back in Seattle for the
first time in fifteen years. No longer on his way to rock and roll stardom, he's here on
quite another mission – to take someone out – and he’ll need to have all of his wits
about him to do it !
But returning to his hometown has unexpectedly stirred up demons from the past, a
host of disturbing emotions – perhaps even scruples ? – that he will have to overcome
to execute the contract.
Meanwhile, Captain Mike Logan is back on the job with Lieutenants Angelina
Rivera and Dean Nelson, investigating the attempted murder of a police officer's
girlfriend. Could the case be related to Ryan Bonfire's return to Seattle ?
January 2014 – Thriller – 400 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition
POUR LE BIEN DES ENFANTS – For the Children‟s Sake
Also from the “Dark Nights in Seattle” series, For the Children‟s Sake is a hard-hitting and fast-paced
thriller about a both poignant and timely subject : adoption.
“A well tied-up plot, packed with suspense, that keeps us on tenterhooks up until the
last page” – Femme Actuelle
Becky Parker lives with her picture perfect family in an affluent Seattle suburb. A
straight-A student and a gifted musician, she has just discovered the whereabouts of her
older brother, Oliver, who was also adopted but whose home life has not been happy.
The siblings' prospective reunion is overshadowed by unfortunate circumstances,
however : Oliver, a delinquent looking for trouble, is suspected of having murdered a
famous surgeon. Becky wants desperately to believe in her brother. Yet she can't help
wondering whether Oliver is an innocent victim or a skillful manipulator.
Captain Mike Logan assigns the sensitive case to Lieutenant Rivera and his new
partner, Liu Zhang, who find themselves caught up in a tangled web of do-gooders and
child trafficking.
January 2013 – Thriller – 394 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition
14
L’HOMME AUX CISEAUX D’ARGENT – The Man with Silver Scissors
Antonin Malroux
The fate of an apprentice tailor in post-war France.
Rural France, the early 1950s. Young Jacques has always been fascinated by the local
tailor. He gives up school at an early age to enter his shop as an apprentice.
It is a daring decision. His former classmates all make fun of him. Sewing is a
woman’s job, they say. But Jacques doesn’t care. He works hard and manages to avoid
the temptations of teenage years, though his heart sorely tested by vacationing city
girls who find the artistically-disposed country boy very appealing.
By dint of hard work and passion, and particularly thanks to his mentor’s kindness,
Jacques masters the art of the silver scissors. Eventually he is confronted with a
terrible decision, however: should he stay with the tailor, who has taught him
everything he knows, or set off in the world to shape his own destiny…
Closely inspired by the author’s own story, the present book pays homage to the
virtues of apprenticeship. A fine tribute to the transmission of knowledge.
January 2014 – Fiction – 352 p.
French Sales : Audio edition,
Large Print edition, Book-club edition
Antonin Malroux trained as a tailor and later worked in business. In parallel, he began writing
novels. Today he is a corresponding member of the Clermont-Ferrand Académie des sciences,
belles-lettres et arts.
L’ENFANT DE LA CERISAIE – The Cherry Orchard Child
Geneviève Senger
1945. The war is over. Alice and her sister return to their native Alsace, which they
had fled during the fighting, determined to breathe new life into Val-Dieu, their
family estate and orchards.
Augustin, a childhood friend, helps them restore the house, which had been
ransacked during the war. He proves to be a great help, especially since he has been
in love with Alice since his teenage years. But the young woman, courted by several
men, is slow when it comes to both understanding her feelings and finding a
vocation.
Everything becomes clear during a distilling session. Two light bulbs go off: she
loves Augustin and she will become a producer of eau-de-vie. But fate ruins all of
her plans: Augustin turns out to be her brother, and a criminal fire reduces her
distillery to ashes... Alice has to start all over again. But how can she place her faith
in life again?
March 2014 – Fiction – 450 p.
French Sales : Book-club edition,
Large Print edition
Geneviève Senger was born in Mulhouse. She worked as a nurse for ten years before
embarking on a career in writing. She has written numerous books for young readers and is the
author of several novels published by Flammarion, Pygmalion and Presses de la Cité. She
draws her inspiration from the tumultuous history of Alsace where she lives and works.
15
FRANCOISE BOURDON
Former teacher, Françoise Bourdon is a writer with a passion for history and literature. Her most recent novels, set in
Provence – her region of adoption – explore the trades and lives of the bygone times.
RETOUR AU PAYS BLEU – Back to The Blue Landscape of Home
Grief-stricken characters find happiness – and hope – in the landscapes of
their native Provence.
From farmhouse to hill town bastide, among the vineyards, olive groves, lavender
fields and holly oaks of Provence, the author recounts the intersecting destinies of
a host of soul-searching characters.
Recently widowed, Sabine takes refuge at the Mas des Anges where she forms a
special bond with a blind man... A fifty-year old man, laid off for economic
reasons, devotes himself to the duty of remembrance, and discovers newfound
happiness...
A husband takes his Alzheimer’s-stricken wife back to the lavender fields of her
youth. She hasn’t forgotten them...
A woman leaves her unfaithful husband to become a lavender farmer...
A grandson is given the task of convincing the family matriarch to give up the
sumptuous estate on which she has spent her entire life. He sides with his
grandmother instead of the family...
Françoise Bourdon gives us a richly embroidered tapestry of human life – shot
through with the silver thread of hope – in a poignant collection of finely crafted
stories.
October 2013 – Fiction – 330 p.
French Sales : Paperback edition,
Book-club edition, Large print edition
LA GRANGE DE ROCHEBRUNE – Rochebrune Farm
Three generations of impassioned lavender farmers struggle to preserve their regional heritage, in a Provence
family saga of vibrant scents, colors – and emotion.
Rochebrune Farm, 1918. Pierre has returned to the family farm with a severe
facial disfigurement. But the unconditional love of his wife, Antonia, and the
birth of a daughter, Valentine, restores his will to live. He decides to begin to
grow lavender: Antonia has a passion for it.
Years go by. World War II is a terrible time for the whole family. Valentine, who
has lost her great love to the war, is disconsolate. In 1958, she marries a childhood
friend. The couple has a son, Alexis who, after a happy childhood spent among
the lavender fields, falls in love with a young English girl on vacation in the
region. He will never forget his first love.
By the age of thirty, Alexis is running the family farm and is the only single person
in the village. Who will take care of the lavender fields one day, when he can no
longer farm them?
April 2013 – Fiction – 374 p.
French Sales : Paperback edition, Book-
club editions, Large print edition
16
LES MONTAGNES CHANTAIENT LA LIBERTÉ –
Over the Mountains of Freedom
Hélène Legrais
1940. Determined to escape occupied Paris, Amédine interrupts her studies at the
Sorbonne and returns to her parents’ house in Perpignan. To relieve her boredom, she is
sent to her grandfather’s in Font-Romeu, a resort village bristling with big city
vacationers from as far away as Paris, summer and winter alike.
There, Amédine helps out at her aunt’s tea room, in an atmosphere of happy childhood
memories. She also renews an old friendship with a former playmate, Vincent. Their
supposed relationship sets tongues wagging in the village, but Amédine has more
important things to think about. She is part of an escape network, run by the village
priest, helping evaders over the Pyrenees into Spain.
Among the fugitives, there are a good number of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution,
including Daniel Weber: Amédine had been madly in love with him in Paris. While
waiting to cross through the mountains to freedom, he has moved into a cottage with his
mother and sister. But informants are everywhere, even in places you’d least expect. His
mother and sister are arrested. And the noose seems to be tightening on Daniel too…
April 2014 – Fiction – 300 p.
Former radio journalist Hélène Legrais worked in Paris before returning to her native Catalonia
to devote herself to writing.
JE JOUERAI ENCORE POUR NOUS – I‟ll Play Along, For Us
Elise Fischer
With this beautiful love story paced by classical music, the author also orchestrates a suspense-packed thriller
and unveils, revelation after revelation, the weight of a heavy past.
1975. Twenty-year-old Anaïs Lange, an impassioned pianist, lives with her
grandmother in Nancy, in the East of France. Already well-known locally, she is
unexpectedly given the opportunity of replacing a famous pianist on tour in the region.
Thus does she meet and fall in love with the charming violinist, Nathanaël. The lovers
tell each other everything, including their family histories. Nathanaël's father and
grandfather, owners of a music store perished in concentration camps and his mother
managed to escape the roundup, taking with her, as sole possession, her violin. Anaïs
tells the story of her father, an active member of the Resistance who attempted the
impossible to help Jewish families escape from the Gestapo and was a hero during the
Liberation.
September 2013 – Historical fiction
304 p.
The lovers' respective pasts create an even stronger bond. Passionately in love, the
young musicians are soon expecting a child and contemplating marriage. But
Nathanaël's mother and grandmother are inexplicably against their union. This fierce
opposition seems incomprehensible, until Anaïs discovers that her family history is
based on terrible lies.
French Sales : Book-club edition,
Large print edition
Elise Fischer is a journalist and the author of a number of novels.
17
LE SCULPTEUR DE NUAGES – The Carver of Clouds
Jean Anglade
Inspired by the life of Ralph Stackpole, the picturesque and spirited portrait of a renowned American
sculptor – the toast of San Francisco in the 1930s – who left his country at the height of fame for the love of
Francine, a beautiful Frenchwoman.
California, 1898. Ralph is orphaned at the age of thirteen. Left to fend for himself, he
encounters Jack London, whom he decides to become a gold prospector. After being
trapped in a collapsed mine, he realizes that he is not cut out for a life of adventure.
Spontaneously drawn to sculpting, Ralph turns to the study of fine arts, his promising
talent soon earning him a scholarship that takes him to the Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon
returning to San Francisco, he makes a name for himself as the city's official sculptor,
piling up impressive public commissions.
Then one day, Francine, a beautiful French immigrant from the Auvergne region,
enters his workshop. His love for the homesick Frenchwoman soon leads Ralph to leave
the United States again and to settle on a farm in the heart of the French countryside.
Thus begins a whole new life, complete with a cast of colorful characters. Ralph thinks
that his days as a sculptor have come to an end, only to discover the unsurpassed quality
of the gray stones used to build the village church, the Volvic stone.
August 2013 – Historical fiction – 288 p.
French Sales : Paperback edition,
Book-club edition, Large print edition,
Audio edition
Jean Anglade was born in 1915. From humble origins, he would go on to become first a
school teacher then an Italian teacher and an associate professor. The spiritual successor
of Alexandre Vialatte, he is considered the literary patriarch of the Auvergne region.
L’ORPHELINE DE LA FORET BARADE - The Orphan of the Barade Forest
Based on historical events, Michel Peyramaure deftly recounts the tragic
fate of a daughter of the Renaissance, victim of the tumultuous times of
French religious conflicts in a region wracked by cruelty and violence.
Michel Peyramaure
Southwestern France, the late 16th century. Damien is an old man now. Memories are
all he has left. The groundskeeper of Lherm Castle, in the heart of France's Périgord, he
has lived through troubled times, having witnessed the horrors of war that would see
the last of the seigniorial line die out.
He sadly recalls a far-off and somber past. In those days, Lherm Castle looked out over
the wilds of Barade Forest, a particularly cutthroat domain as the region is torn by the
French wars of religion and inhabited by hermits, outlaws and highway robbers. Bloody
battles would sweep through the Périgord, and the seignior of Lherm himself would
ultimately fall victim to fierce combat.
With great emotion, Damien then recalls the arrival – and the grim fate – of young
Marguerite, barely five years old at the time. The daughter of the deceased lord, and
the sole heir of Lherm Castle, Marguerite would grow up in the castle with her mother
and her mother's new husband, a powerful feudal lord. At the age of twelve, Marguerite
is betrothed to her half-brother. However, after the death of her step-father, her
heartbroken mother withdraws to a convent. Alone in the world and at the mercy of a
cruel husband, the young bride soon finds herself at the center of a diabolical
conspiracy to dispossess her of her fortune. One person alone could save her : Damien,
the old groundskeeper, who loves her like a daughter.
Janvier 2014 – Historical fiction – 240 p.
French Sale : Book-club edition
Michel Peyramaure has written a number of acclaimed historical novels, including Les Villes du silence (2010), Tempête sur le Mexique
(2011), Mourir pour Saragosse (2012) and Les Folies de la duchesse d’Abrantès (2013), all published by Calmann-Lévy. He was awarded the
Prix de la Société des gens de lettres and the Prix Alexandre Dumas for his entire body of work.
18
LA VIOLENCE DE L’HUMANISME – Humanism and Violence
Why has the fate of animals gradually worsened with the so-called progress of
civilization? Why, in a society as developed as our own – so confident in its abilities, so
capable of subordinating its basic needs to moral considerations – do we persecute
animals with a clear conscience practically verging on enjoyment?
Does metaphysical humanism, in deifying man, require that we live in denial of our
origins, and that animals be punished for being too similar to us?
Patrice Rouget
Or do we treat animals viciously for other reasons? Perhaps because they are not
prisoner to the rhetoric of death, because they are not subject to the corrupt passion of
self, because they would be happy – if left alone – to live fully in the world and to
surrender, in death, to the natural order of things? Is that why we hate them deep
down?
Patrice Rouget’s essay looks at the metaphysical course that led us first to turn our
backs on animals, then to make them scapegoats (of our imperfections) and finally to
demote them to the status of industrial object (used to satisfy our hedonistic impulses),
all with the staunch support of metaphysical humanism, the deceptive ideology that has
accompanied with impressive consistency the history of philosophy.
April 2014 – Essay – 144 p.
In doing so, he condemns a humanism that chose to establish the “natural exception” of
mankind through the punishment of all other living beings.
After earning degrees in literature and philosophy, Patrice Rouget worked in textbook publishing. He went on to found and run a
general literature publishing house and later, to teach philosophy. His work examines the treatment of living beings in industrial
societies.
NOUS N’ÉTIONS PAS DES HÉROS – We weren‟t heroes
Benoît Hopquin
Seventy years ago, liberated France needed heroes – Resistance fighters, soldiers of the 2e Division Blindée,
officers of the Foreign Legion and fighter pilots – to redeem the country‟s shame. In 1944, the Free French
Forces and the Companions of the Liberation were heroes.
In June 1940, they were outcasts. Indeed, stunned by the blow of defeat, most French
people quickly resigned themselves to the German Occupation, adjusting their mindsets
and managing to get by as best they could. Only a handful of men and women refused
the apparent course of fate. With the destiny of France in the hands of Pétain, they
chose to fight back. Some found a boat and made it to London, rallying to the side of a
certain General de Gaulle; others went into hiding. In any case, they were few and far
between.
April 2014 – Document – 300 p.
French Sale : Large print edition
François Jacob, Daniel Cordier, Hubert Germain and ten other Companions recount the
context of their participation, as humble extras, in the greater scheme of History. Their
unassuming stories – there is no puffed up glory here – paint a kaleidoscopic picture of
Free France, from Bir Hakeim to the liberation of Strasbourg by way of London, Tunis,
Damascus and Murmansk, but also D-Day and the Battle for Paris.
Our reluctant heroes describe the hardships of daily life, the role played by “colonial”
troops, the conflicts with staunch Vichy soldiers; they tell of friends, who lost their lives
either on the battlefield or in the camps. The Companions also give an unvarnished
account of the joy, the disappointment and the difficulties of adjusting to normal life in
post-war France.
Ultimately, their stories are the stories of ordinary people who, by making the right decision, find themselves caught up in
extraordinary events. “We’re not heroes,” they each insist. “It was the only thing to do.” Or was it? There weren’t that many
of them after all…
Special correspondent for Le Monde, Benoît Hopquin is the author of Ces Noirs qui ont fait la France (2009) and Passage de témoin (2011),
dialogs with Raymond Aubrac and Renaud Helfer-Aubrac, both of which were published by Calmann-Lévy.
19
UN FLÉAU SI RENTABLE
A Highly Profitable Scourge. The Low-down on Palm Oil
Emmanuelle Grundmann
Focusing on both health and environmental issues aroused by palm oil, Emmanuelle Grundmann
gives us the first thoroughly documented and impartial investigation on this latest “green” gold,
and sifts through the truths and falsehoods that have clouded the debate for the past twenty years.
The reader is in for some revelations.
Palm oil is everywhere, distributed by supermarkets around the world,
found in an ubiquitous array of agribusiness foods and household
products, including cookies, cakes, pastries and powdered milk,
condiments, ready-made meals, ice cream and pizzas, cosmetics and
soaps...
Why ? Because of its mechanical and thermal properties that give it a
“hold” infinitely more stable than any other vegetable oil, no matter
what the temperature.
As for its nutritive value ? Numerous NGOs and public health
agencies have sounded the alarm, repeatedly challenging its high
content in saturated fatty acids, synonymous today who have the
obesity of consumers with little access to fresh produce.
Criticisms don't stop here, however. The oil palm, native to Africa, is
being intensively farmed in some of the world's most valuable
rainforests, with devastating effects on habitat, biodiversity and
indigenous peoples. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Central Africa and Latin
America, millions of acres of primary forest have been cleared in
favor of sprawling palm oil plantations. Authorized by often corrupt
governments, the food industry giants in charge of operations take
advantage, what is more, of local cheap labor forces, deprived of their
traditional livelihood through rainforest destruction.
September 2013 – Document – 264 p.
Yet the issue is virtually taboo, as both “agro” concerns and governments condemn any overly curious journalist who
may rub consumers the wrong way and interfere with “business”.
Emmanuelle Grundmann is a biologist, a naturalist and a primatologist. She has published a number of books
examining animal and human interaction, including Ces forêts qu'on assassine (2007) and Demain, seuls au monde ? (2010),
both of which were published by Calmann-Lévy.
20
FEMEN – Femen
By Femen
The first book published by the founding members of FEMEN, explaining the goals of popfeminism and giving us their incredible story, in four-part harmony.
During the Euro 2012, their war cry was heard all around the world :
“Ukraine is not a brothel !” Inna, Sasha, Oksana and Anna, the
founders of the FEMEN activist movement, grew up in ordinary
families in two small Ukrainian towns. Each showed signs of unusual
independence early on, refusing to succumb to the overriding
hopelessness of life in post-Soviet Ukraine, determined to amount to
something in life.
Since 2008, the “gang of four” came up with a new kind of feminism,
a more radical and spectacular movement they would call “popfeminism”. Thus FEMEN, or “thigh” in Latin, was born.
Topless, and sporting floral crowns and high heel shoes, the four
women's slight frames were turned into vehicles of ideological
expression, placards for painting slogans and images. Humor,
dramatic staging, physical daring and the shock factor soon became
part of the foursome's highly-effective repertoire.
First in Ukraine, and then the world over, the four women have taken
on issues of gender inequality as well as poverty, discrimination,
dictatorships and religious dictates.
March 2013 – Document – 272 p.
In Italy, they protested against the conduct of Silvio Berlusconi ; in France – dressed like housekeepers – against
that of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The Ukrainian activists have climbed steeples and embassy walls, have burst in
on TV studios and polling places and – as the movement has radicalized – each of the four women has spent time
in prison. They have been sued for hooliganism in Ukraine and banned from entering countries abroad. Yet thanks
to unprecedented media coverage, FEMEN has found branches in over a dozen countries and their movement is
very strong in France, Germany and Brazil. According to them, this is just a beginning.
This is their story, told in their own words to journalist and Russian specialist Galia Ackerman.
Anna, Inna, Oksana and Sasha are the founder members of the FEMEN. Inna and Oksana fled to Paris to
escape persecution in Ukraine.
Journalist, translator and writer, Galia Ackerman, is a specialist of post-Soviet countries. She has published
numerous works, including Tchernobyl, retour sur un désastre (“Folio” Gallimard, 2007) and Le Roman du Juif universel,
by Elena Bonner and André Glucksmann (interviews and remarks collected by Galia Ackerman).
Foreign Sales : Polity Press (English World Rights), Arachne Publishing Co. (Korean), Malpaso (Spanish World Rights).
21
KRACH MACHINE – The Crash Machine
How high-frequency traders are undermining the stock market
Frédéric Lelièvre & François Pilet
WINNER OP THE PRIX DUMUR 2013
Both a meticulous investigation and a pedagogical tool for the general public exploring the stakes
of financial markets today, which can be read as a thriller.
In the past ten years, a new sort of speculator has taken control of financial
markets : HFTs, or high-frequency traders. These mathematics and physics
virtuosos, hired by hedge funds and major banks at exorbitant prices,
develop algorithms able to execute trading instructions at the speed of light.
The resulting software, infinitely more rapid than human traders, navigate
financial markets on automatic pilot, turning profits and manipulating
markets in split seconds – with complete impunity.
Backed by a wealth of previously unpublished legal documents, the present
investigation reveals the hidden face of high-frequency trading.
Against a backdrop of tax evasion and industrial espionage, the book also
looks at the FBI's exposure – at the behest of Goldmann Sachs and the
Société Générale – of ambitious young traders accused of circumventing
banking regulatory codes. Financial enforcement authorities know perfectly
well that traders using HFT “hot rods” are manipulating the market. But
they don't have the means to pursue them. Do new rules therefore need to
be put into place ? The United States has chosen not to intervene. Will
Europe be able to hold out against today's all-powerful finance lobbies ?
March 2013 – Document , Economy –232 p.
Frédéric Lelièvre heads the Economics & Finance Section of the Swiss daily Le Temps.
François Pilet heads the Economics Section of the weekly Le Matin Dimanche.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Points)
22
RIRE LE JOUR, PLEURER LA NUIT
Daytime Laughter, Nighttime Tears - Jewish Children in the Creuse during
the Second World War (1939-1944)
Katy Hazan
An exceptional historical document of great emotional impact exploring a little known facet of the
history of the Holocaust: the fate of Jewish children in Occupied France.
From November 1939 to November 1943, the Chateau Chabannes, in the
Creuse region of France, would host Jewish children between the ages of 5
and 17. The children of foreigners for the most part and of German Jews in
particular, most were exiles separated from their parents who had found
help through the OSE, a Jewish organization to save children.
In 1941, to celebrate the center’s two year anniversary, the staff of Chateau
Chabannes put together the educational project of publishing a newspaper.
The paper, complete with drawings, letters, songs, poems and photos,
would recount daily life at the chateau. A myriad of voices – from director
Félix Chevrier to the teachers by way of the children – would raise
questions and look for answers. The paper would be published up through
May of 1942, a short but intense interlude that provided a unique hiatus for
the Jews of unoccupied France during World War II.
And indeed, the contributors’ accounts are filled with hope and joy. It was
“a luminous period,” one of the teachers would even write. It is this
contrast – between what we read and what we know of the tragedy of the
war – that gives the present work its extraordinary force and great historical
value.
April 2014 – Document – 210 p.
Reproduced here in its entirety, the newspaper is accompanied by an indepth historical analysis. Through firsthand testimonials and concrete fact
(administrative difficulties, the absence of parents, how the children were
welcomed by a rural population, the roundups), the present work recounts
an entire chapter of the history of the Holocaust in France.
Associate history professor Katy Hazan oversees the OSE’s archives and history department. She is the author
of numerous works including Les orphelins de la Shoah, les maisons de l’espoir, Le Sauvetage des enfants juifs pendant
l’Occupation, dans les maisons de l’OSE 1938-1945 and Les Enfants de l’après guerre dans les maisons de l’OSE. She has
written for Les Cahiers de la Shoah and the magazine Archives juives and is currently on the editorial staff of Revue
d’histoire de la Shoah.
23
MÉMOIRES D’UN FILS À PAPA – The Memoirs of a Daddy‟s Boy
Marcel Ophuls
The name Marcel Ophuls will forever be associated with the film The Sorrow and The Pity, a
landmark documentary that brought to the public eye France‟s ambivalent stance during the
German Occupation – that of massive collaboration and sporadic episodes of resistance.
The now eighty-six year old filmmaker decided to write his Memoirs, a
personal epic propelled by the winds of History: Born in Frankfurt in 1927,
he leaves Nazi Germany with his family in 1933. The German Jew becomes
French in Paris. War breaks out and he is exiled again. In Hollywood
during the 1940s, he becomes an American citizen then goes to war in
Japan. Most of his historical documentaries will retrace in one way or
another, the remarkable course of his life. For example, The Sorrow and The
Pity is an account of the exodus of Mendès France interwoven with
memories of Ophuls’ own exodus, in his father’s convertible, from Paris to
the south of France.
Today he tells his story with outspokenness and a hint of mischievous glee,
admitting that his great career as a documentary film maker was in reality a
second choice. The son of Max Ophuls was raised to revere “Cinema” with
a capital C, the “real cinema” of Capra, Lubitsch, Hitchcock and his father,
of course. He would only turn to making documentaries after an aborted
attempt in the field of fiction.
His first feature film, the screwball comedy Banana Peel, is a commercial hit,
but the next, the Eddie Constantine series Fire at Will, is a box office failure
that will sign his death warrant in the field. A fortunate demise for
documentary film buffs: Marcel Ophuls would go on to direct one
masterpiece after another in the genre, and would be awarded an Oscar for
his 1989 film, Hotel Terminus, about the life of Nazi war criminal Klaus
Barbie.
January 2014 – Memoirs – 312 p.
The Memoirs of a Daddy’s Boy, with guest appearances by Bertolt Brecht,
François Truffaut, Marlene Dietrich and François Mitterrand, is a lighthearted yet melancholic work , the story of a son struggling to come out of
his father’s shadow: “The trouble is, I am the son of a genius…”
The work includes a wealth of previously-unpublished photographs.
Foreign Sale : Ullstein – Propyläen (German)
24
UNE VIE DE PINTADE EN AFRIQUE DU SUD
The Pintades in South Africa
Sophie Bouillon
An immersion in the cultural diversity of South Africa, through the portraits of Johannesbourg,
Cape Town and its people. The journalist Sophie Bouillon guides us through the country, its
culture and its trends, not forgetting the tips and addresses that have made the Pintade series so
successful.
One of the worst things that could happen to a tourist in South
Africa is to miss out on Johannesburg. But the country's longneglected financial hub is emerging as a destination with attractions
able to rival those of its younger sister, Cape Town. This latter, of
course, is better served by Mother Nature in breathtaking landscapes.
But Johannesburg has all the flavor and momentum of a decidedly
modern city. And more and more globetrotters are coming to the
megalopolis to experience the unique urban energy of Jo'burg.
Whether Capetonian or Jo'burger, the girls of South Africa reflect the
identity of their respective cities. Capetonians are easy-going, athletic
and bronzed by the southern sun ; Jo'burgers, on the other hand, are
uncompromising and brave, excessive and impassioned.
Energetically rising to the challenge, Sophie Bouillon recounts in
particular the country's two great urban lionesses, in a lively and
hands-on insider's guide that is sure to please.
South Africa is an adventure, not just a jaunt ; a destination, not a
mere stopover. You don't just go hang out on the other side of the
globe by mere chance. From Cape Town yoga classes to hip Jo'burg
bars, by way of Soweto barbecues and Cape Malay curry restaurants,
Sophie gives us the lowdown on a fascinating country in the midst of
tremendous change.
October 2013 – Non-fiction – 384 p.
Not to mention the multiple and multifaceted women of South Africa themselves, as diversity here truly is the
name of the game. Nelson Mandela worked toward reconciliation, equality and the end of apartheid and a lot
remains to be done in a country that counts eleven official languages and innumerable ways of life. Sophie takes us
under her wing and guides us through the urban jungle, explaining the safety codes for shambling through the
covey as we make our way from the bleachers of a cricket match to a local design studio, from a day spa getaway to
a Township greasy spoon.
Sophie Bouillon lived in Cape Town before moving to Johannesburg in 2008, where she works as a freelance
journalist for Libération, Courrier International, Radio Suisse Romande and XXI. In 2009, she was awarded the Prix
Albert Londres.
25
SERIES « UNE VIE DE PINTADE »
Directed by Layla Demay & Laure Watrin
Written by female journalists living on-site and set up like an advice column, the authors go behind the scenes
of major world cities to give an insider‟s view of the different slices of life with funny and inspired illustrations.
A pintade, which translates as “guinea fowl”, is neither a chick nor a turkey, not even a pheasant and definitely not a birdbrain.
There’s nothing demeaning about this bird name. This fowl, native to Africa, symbolizes liberated women (contrary to chicks, a
guinea fowl knows how to fly, though not very well !) and is the perfect representation of today’s woman : both serious and
light, feminine and feminist. A woman who wants it all, who tries to juggle home and work life and stay on top of everything
while claiming the right to indulge in frivolous things once in a while ! The guinea fowl is an attractive bird who is fierce,
gregarious, unruly, independent, and who makes a lot of noise…
Across the globe, whether in Paris, Buenos Aires, Beirut or Tokyo, women ask themselves the same questions, but the answers
differ according to culture and geographic location. Love, seduction, sex, male-female relations, women’s place in society, in the
working world, political freedom, children, body image, beauty, shopping, fashion. All of these themes are present in this series
and are addressed with multicultural flair, humour and a light spirit.
You can also visit the dedicated website including news, quizzes and good places all over the world : www.lespintades.com
French Sale for all titles : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche)
Foreign Sales for Une vie de Pintade à Paris : Business Weekly Publications (Complex Chinese),
Time Books (Korean), Lijiang Publishing House (Simplified Chinese), Ripol-Classic (Russian).
LES PINTADES PASSENT A LA CASSEROLE
A “3 in 1” book : a culinary expedition into Paris and New York, a foodie‟s
guide and a gourmet cookbook.
“Tell me what you are eating, and I'll tell you what kind of Pintade you are.” Such is the
adage of Layla Demay and Laure Watrin who take to the kitchens of fellow chicks in
Paris and New York.
In a thorough investigation of a number of themes – families and mealtime, cooking and
socializing, feelings and food – our feathered reporters meet with renowned chefs,
amateur cooks, supermarket managers, VIP food gurus, cheesemakers and fishermen
alike, to reveal their favourite recipes.
To top it all off, ten great chefs from Paris and New York (including Daniel Boulud,
Mario Batali, Wyllie Dufresne, Inaki Aizpitarte, Adeline Grattard and William
Ledeuil) join the fellowship of the fowl, offering up their own recipes, which all include
pintade (or guinea fowl) in their list of ingredients.
26
October 2010 – Lifestyle / Travel
Foreign Sale : Ripol-Classic
(Russian)
NATHALIE HUG
Nathalie Hug lives in eastern France and is the author of several thrillers and suspense novels published
with Jérôme Camut. With L'Enfant-rien, her first solo novel, she explores a new literary genre. She is also the author of
Miss Tick-Tacks and 1, Rue des Petits-Pas published by Calmann-Lévy in 2012 and 2014.
LA DEMOISELLE DES TIC-TAC – Miss Tick-Tacks
Moselle, 1944. Under Allied bombs. Trapped in the cellar beneath the ruins of her house
Rosy, a fourtneen-year old German girl clings to her past in order to survive.
English
sample
translation
available
Miss Tick-Tacks is part of Fiction France Review‟s focus titles for translation.
“A thoughtful, accomplished novel” – Le Figaro Littéraire
“When the innocent become the playthings of adults and madmen…” – L’Express
“My new world is hardly wider than I am tall, and as long as two men. What remains of the ceiling
over my head is a tangle of blackened beams. I keep searching for a current of fresh air, some sign of a
presence. But there isn't even a glimmer of light. Everything is perfectly still. The sloping ground is
littered with debris of all sorts, the leftovers of our previous life, everything we had carefully packed away
in the hopes of better days”.
March 2012 – Fiction – 208 p.
Rosy wants someone to come rescue her, but knows there's little hope : in the village,
she and her mother, both Germans, were hated and nobody ever gave them any help.
The truth is Mutti did admire Hitler, until her dying breath. In order to survive in her
underground cell, Rosy clings to memories, and her scant provisions. Her sole
companions are a single small hen and the horrible hairy spiders that uncle Eddy –
whom she had loved like a father – called “the tick-tacks”.
French Sales : Book-club edition (France Loisirs), Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
L‟ENFANT-RIEN– The Nothing Child
A story carried by the voice of a little boy, alternately serious and funny, perfectly rendered in a tone that
manages to disturb and excite the reader.
“A brilliant debut novel by Nathalie Hug who knows how to create this cruel
and gnawing feeling called remorse. The U-turn of the end is a real warning
shot, the reader cannot get away with.” – Le Magazine des livres
A lonely child, raised by an emotionally-crippled mother, searches for a father and
dreams of another life. Adrien lives with his loving but elusive mother, his halfsister Isabella, who is lucky enough to have a dad to come and get her
every weekend, and a kidney disease that binds him to stay at home. A quiet and
thoughtful child, Adrien suffers from the secrecy surrounding his birth.
One day, his mother gets hit by a car and is turned into a “heap-of-strawberriesand-cream”. Taken in by his half-sister's father, Adrien gets a chance at the life he
has always dreamed of.
Adrien, the Nothing-child, returns to his mother's side, and disappears into a world
of shadows, memories and dreams. The final twist transforms the whole story and
makes this dark and moving book sound like no other.
January 2011 – Fiction – 144 p.
French Sales : Book-club edition (France Loisirs), Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
27
CE QUE SAVAIT JENNIE – Jenni‟s Truth
Gérard Mordillat
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.
“ The finely rendered and scathing portrayal of a couple thirsting for justice
in a lawless era.” – Le Monde des livres
“ The heroine is a warrior, fierce and deeply affecting.” – Lire
13-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 but he kills himself
on his motorcycle before their very eyes. Her mother, Olga, finds herself on her own,
raising 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 a second accident brings the happy interlude to an abrupt
end. Jennie and her younger sisters and brother are separated and placed in different
foster homes. Jennie, transformed into a Mother Courage, 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.
This novel is a hard-hitting, short read that’s impossible to put down and which confirms
the full scope of the author’s literary talent.
Gérard Mordillat is a writer and a filmmaker. He has published numerous novels, including
L’Attraction universelle, Les Vivants et les Morts (Calmann-Lévy 2005), Notre part des ténèbres
(Calmann-Lévy, 2008) and Ce que savait Jennie (Rentrée Littéraire 2012). He and Jérôme Prieur
are the coauthors of Corpus Christi, a three-part documentary film on the origins of Christianity.
He has made over twenty films and wrote the film adaptation of his novel, Les Vivants et les
Morts, for France 2.
English
sample
translation
available
x
August 2012 – Literary Fiction – 224 p.
French Sales : Paperback edition
(Le Livre de Poche), Book-club
edition (GLM).
LE MUSCLE ET LA CHAIR – Muscle and Flesh
Patrick-Olivier Meyer
An unexpected father and son relationship, both explosive and poignant in this
second novel by Patrick Olivier Meyer, confirming the promise of the first,
Nevrospiral (Calmann-Lévy, 2010). The author's edgy writing skillfully juggles
humor and melancholy.
Ewad Kubicz, a 31 years old Parisian photographer, is about to become a father. Then
he learns of the death of his own father, Kazimierz Kubicz, whom he had cut off all
ties with fifteen years earlier.
Kazimierz, a former pole vault champion, had led a thousand lives, from his native
Poland to the United States, without ever settling down for good. First as a national
hero and then a traitor, later as an unfaithful husband and a truant father, the impulsive
charmer had always been an enigma to his son. The unreal announcement of his death
reopens old wounds and sets Ewad off in search of his father via encounters, in both
Poland and the United States, with the women in his life. Unexpected events and
reflections on the past soon turn Ewad's journey into a personal quest. How can we
forgive being betrayed by someone we love ?
January 2013 – Fiction – 200 p.
Patrick Olivier Meyer was born in California in 1969. His family moved to the suburbs of Paris, when he was two. Since then, he
has taken up writing and been exploring ways of moving on. Le Muscle et la Chair is his second novel. He is also the author of
Nevrospiral (Calmann-Lévy, 2010).
28
ELISE FONTENAILLE
Elise Fontenaille was born in Nancy and has worked as a journalist. She is the author of numerous novels, including
Les Disparues de Vancouver published by Grasset and which received the 2010 Prix Erckmann-Chatrian.
MA VIE PRÉCAIRE – My Precarious Life
A story on life on the edge, that is, balancing urgency, necessity and a certain taste for risk, her story
beautifully reflecting the vulnerability of life.
“The title itself reads like a promise : My Precarious Life. Mine, not that of another,
the possessive indicating a kind of pride, a claim to singularity. Once the book is
opened – and we are captured by its fast-paced prose – it is impossible to put
down.” – ELLE
“A year ago to the day, I put all of my books out on the sidewalk : hundreds and thousands of books.
They had covered the walls of my home, spreading, over time, like a second grainy skin, a lichen of sorts,
invading every inch of my apartment. Even the bathroom, the kitchen, the hall... Up until then, I
didn't think I was capable of getting rid of even a single book. If someone was even a tiny bit late
returning a book I'd lent them, I'd be physically sick, would experience an actual sense of loss, as if one
of my children – made out of paper – had been taken from me. [...]. Once the books were arranged in
their makeshift library, I went to the window, a little to one side behind the curtain, and with a pair of
binoculars I watched.”
When Elise is forced out of her flat in Paris, she gets rid of everything she owns,
including her books. Unencumbered by material possessions, she lives day by day,
letting her desires, her natural curiosity and the kindness of strangers decide her fate, a
happy or a tragic ending hanging in the balance at each new step.
April 2012 – Literary fiction – 180 p.
From a shack in Saint-Nazaire to a beach in Guyana, Elise will make friends, both real and virtual, will encounter a slumlord
and a cop-cum-writer, will experience heartbreak and exchange love money. She will sleep out in the open and be confined
to the walls of a convent. She will be jostled by chance, overwhelmed by choices and shaken up by encounters.
LE PALAIS DE MÉMOIRE – The Memory Palace
An evocative yet delightful tale, taking the reader down intellectual, spiritual and sensual roads in a
spellbinding journey.
From the depths of an opium den, the Jesuit Artus de Leys – deserted by faith and
torn by love – hesitates over the comfort of oblivion and the pain of remembrance.
The man he loves exists only in his mind now. To bring him back to life, Artus builds
an imaginary edifice inherited from an ancient art form : a memory palace.
With each addition to his palace, memories come flooding in, from his first visit to
China in the 1720’s, invited by the Emperor Kangxi to train young scholars in the
Forbidden City, to his escapades in Paris and his friends of bygone days. He sees
himself riding in the forests of Manchuria alongside his beloved pupil, Jade, who he
initiates to the Ars Memorativa and the Christian faith. But Artus can't keep
reminders of their passion's fatal turn at bay, without seeing his palace of memory
collapse.
August 2011 – Literary fiction – 162 p.
29
ET PUIS, PAULETTE… – And Then Came Paulette…
Barbara Constantine
After her 2010 best-seller Tom, petit Tom, tout petit homme, Tom, Barbara Constantine succeeds
once again to create a real gem and takes the reader to a moving and strong story, full of life,
humor and hope. You will smile, be teary-eyed and above all feel good.
RIGHTS SOLD IN 19 LANGUAGES
PRIX DES LIBRAIRES - LE LIVRE DE POCHE 2013
Ferdinand lives all by himself on his big empty farm. His son, daughter and
grandchildren have all moved away.
One day his neighbour Marceline shows up after a terrible storm. With his
usual awkwardness, Ferdinand invites her to stay. Then his best friend Guy, a
recent widower at loose ends, moves in. Lastly come the Lumière sisters,
fleeing a monster of a nephew bent on getting their home.
Thus a strange 67 to 95 year-old quintet is formed. An odd arrangement, to
say the least, that little by little becomes the norm. When the health needs of
the eldest prove too challenging, the quintet decides to recruit a suitable
candidate at a nearby nursing school, who, in exchange for a few hours work a
week, will be given room and board. Muriel takes them up on it. Then at the
local agricultural school, Kim is enlisted to help out with the garden.
One night an increasingly round and nauseous Muriel gives birth – both to her
own surprise and that of everyone else – to a little girl, an unwanted addition
in Muriel's eye... But our new-formed fivesome doesn't see things in the same
light... Baby Paulette will be well looked after indeed !
January 2012 – Fiction – 144 p.
Barbara Constantine writes novels and fixes a house in the Berry region. She also watches the cranes go by, the
flowers and the trees grow, and the cats, and the birds, and the squirrels... She is the author of Allumer le chat (2007),
A Mélie, sans mélo (2009) and the best-sellersTom, petit Tom, tout petit homme, Tom (2010) and And then came Paulette
(2012).
French Sales : Book-club editions (GLM & France Loisirs), Large print edition (Feryane), Audio-book edition (Audiolib),
Paperback editions (Le Livre de Poche adult & young-adult editions), Condensed edition (Selection du Reader’s Digest).
Foreign Sales : MacLehose Press (World English), Einaudi Stile Libero (Italian), Seix Barral (World Spanish), Rowohlt Kindler
(German), Intrinseca (Portuguese/Brazil), Meulenhoff/Boekerij (Dutch), Kinneret Zmora (Hebrew), Can Yayinlari (Turkish),
Shanghai 99 (Simplified Chinese), Munhakdongne (Korean), Bertrand (Portuguese), Yuan-Liou Publishing (Complex Chinese),
Empuries/Grup62 (Catalan), Sekwa Förlag (Swedish), Arvids (Danish), Azbooka-Atticus (Russian), Bazar Forlag (Norwegian),
Poplar Sha (Japanese), Stereoma SA (Greek).
30
TOM, PETIT TOM, TOUT PETIT HOMME, TOM
Tom, Little Tom, Little Man, Tom
Barbara Constantine
This is the heart-warming story of a little boy who acts like an adult and a mother who acts like a
child.
RIGHTS SOLD IN 11 LANGUAGES
“A concentrated dose of vitamins to brighten your life ! Happiness,
pleasure…things you absolutely need right now for a welcome change of
pace.” – Gérard Collard, bookseller
“Barbara Constantine tenderly paints the lives of regular people, and
knows like no one else how to bring them to life to share with us the mix
of solemnity and irony that make up their everyday lives.” – Prima
“Barbara Constantine helps us see la vie en rose, and it feels fabulous!” –
Femmes d‟Aujourd‟hui.
Tom, an eleven-year-old boy, lives with his young mother, Joss. She was
thirteen when she gave birth to Tom. As Joss has a penchant for going out,
falling in love and disappearing on weekends, Tom is often left to his own
devices and has learned to fend for himself. Plus, the little money his mother
does earn is scrupulously set aside to pay for breast reduction surgery. Joss
wants men to pay attention to her for something more than just her chest.
Tom, therefore, slips quietly into his neighbours' vegetable gardens for food,
digging up carrots and potatoes... Before leaving, however, he carefully replants
and waters everything he has dug up.
January 2010 – Commercial fiction
260 p.
One day, he enters a new garden and comes across Madeleine, an old woman
who had been lying in the middle of her cabbage patch for two whole days.
Without Tom's help, she would most certainly have died.
Barbara Constantine writes novels and fixes a house in the Berry region. She also watches the cranes go by, the
flowers and the trees grow, and the cats, and the birds, and the squirrels... She is the author of Allumer le chat (2007),
A Mélie, sans mélo (2009) and the best-sellersTom, petit Tom, tout petit homme, Tom (2010) and And then came Paulette
(2012).
French Sales : Paperback editions (Le Livre de Poche adult & young-adult editions),
Large print edition (Feryane), Book-club editions (GLM & France Loisirs).
Foreign Sales : Blanvalet (German), Fazi Editore (Italian), Seix Barral (World Spanish),
Grup 62 (Catalan), Munhakdongne (Korean), Azbooka-Atticus (Russian), Könyvmolyképző Kiadó (Hongrois),
Yuan-Liou Publishing (Complex Chinese), Albatros media (Czech), La Maison des femmes (Vietnamese), Sekwa Förlag (Swedish).
Movie Sale : Rhamsa Productions.
31
BARBARA CONSTANTINE
À MÉLIE, SANS MÉLO – To Mélie, without Melodrama
A fantastic dose of refreshment, humor and emotion ! “ This book invites us to take the time to live, to love
from 10 to 78, to escape the infernal pace of work, illness and death.” – ELLE
Mélie is 72 and lives alone in the countryside. Her granddaughter, Clara, 10year-old, is coming to spend the whole summer with her for the first time. The
evening before her arrival, Mélie learns that she has some serious health
problems and should begin a heavy treatment immediately…too bad, she says !
But her top priority is her dear Clarinette !
Indeed the grandma is really not into melodrama and prefers to spend her
summer (perhaps her last ?) making wonderful memories for Clara : funny ones,
like watching bamboo grow while listening to La Traviata, singing songs in the
rain, or tasting the weeds growing on trail edges.
And there’s also old Marcel, who teaches Clara how to do handy work, and
Fanette, her mother, who wants to find a step-father for Clara, or Bello her
godfather, who wants to include her in his group of musical godchildren… Of
course, since life always holds surprises, Mélie is finally going to fall in love.
French Sales : Book-club edition (GLM), Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche),
September 2008 – Fiction – 256 p.
Large print edition (Feryane).
Foreign Sales : Cairo Editore (Italian), Azbooka-Atticus (Russian).
ALLUMER LE CHAT– Turn on the Cat
Barbara Constantine‟s first novel, Allumer le Chat is about fairly normal
folks who rather naturally experience incredibly weird things.
There is the embalmer at a funeral home who takes up photography as a hobby, a
child who learns healing from his pot-smoking grandpa, a cat convinced of being
an intellectual, and… well, you get the drift.
This is a book written to make us laugh. It is not a nice book. Between the lines is
a running critique of annoying idiots. However, it is infused with a certain
tenderness that pays homage to simple lives and to the pride of humble spirits, to
those who do not run with the pack, who pass inconspicuously. It is a tribute to
“un-beautiful” people. The short chapters, titled much like silent movies, are
written in a spoken style. It is a book that begs to be seen and listened to. The odd,
quirky characters will stick in your memory for a long time because you know that
they really do exist – you have seen them !
French Sales : Book-club edition (GLM), Paperback edition (Points Seuil).
Foreign Sale : Cairo Editore (Italian).
32
January 2007 – Fiction – 256 p.
HÔTEL MIRANDA – Hotel Miranda
Iman Bassalah
“Iman Bassalah‟s exquisite novel is a poignant missive from that inviolate
stronghold, from that pocket of resistance denouncing dictatorships –
wether marital or political – around the world : the human heart.” – ELLE
20-year-old Selma boarded, after spending time in a Tunisian jail, an overloaded
vessel bound for Lampedusa. The Arab Spring had not yet occurred. Ever since
her boyfriend had mysteriously disappeared, the sole purpose of her life had been
to get to Paris. She leaves behind her mother, Zineb and her adorable brother,
Rabih – whose mental handicap had turned him into an avid collector of photos
of Ben Ali, in his mind a fabulous king.
Meanwhile, Louise is desperate to find a hotel room in Paris. She is determined
not to spend another day trapped by her relationship and the dictates of perfect
motherhood.
Thus do our two runaways find themselves making a temporary last stop at the
Hotel Miranda, a no star hotel, home to a cast of luminous characters with secret
sorrows. There is Osmani, the goodhearted old Turk ; Moncef, the proprietor with
a booming laugh ; Warda, the Lebanese connoisseur of good bread ; Ilan, the
Israeli tourist ; Mama Fanta, the Malian matron ; Taoufik, the emergency room
doctor ; all of whom will give Selma and Louise a warm welcome to their new
home, a safe haven where they will be able to make a fresh start, to rebuild their
lives at last.
Iman Bassalah is a journalist and a writer who divides her time between France, Italy
and Tunisia. She is the author of numerous works, essays and short stories. Hotel
Miranda is her first novel.
May 2012 – Commercial Fiction
240 p.
Foreign Sale : Newton Compton
(Italian).
L‘IRANIENNE – The Iranian Woman
Maurice Bigio
The story of one woman's determination to forge a new destiny for both her son and her country. Based on
an international Iranian figure, Shirin Ebadi, and her fight for human rights.
“ A masterful novel of Iran today. Powerful and moving.” – Biba
Shirine is an Iranian, a mother and a lawyer. A staunch defender of freedom of
thought, of women's rights, of hope. Jew, she had converted to Islam out of love to
marry Shapour, a respected scientist. Their son, Shantia, is afflicted with a form of
muscular dystrophy transmitted on the mother's side. Shirine refuses to give in to
guilt but her convictions have put up a wall between herself and her husband, who,
due to the illness of Shantia, progressively turned to be a religious fanatic.
Despite the threats, Shirine continues braving the arbitrary decrees of Iranian society:
she disobeys her husband and continues her work as a lawyer. Her indomitable spirit
soon lands her in jail and 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 now and is determined to save her son.
May 2012 – Commercial Fiction
264 p.
Foreign sale : Newton Compton
Maurice Bigio was born in Cairo and lives in France. A staunch defender of human
rights, he has closely followed the political, social and religious evolution of the MiddleEast region. He won the Prix du Livre Pourpre 2013 for this novel.
(Italian).
33
LA MÉMOIRE DES AUTRES – Other People‟s Memories
Annelise Corbrion
A novel that challenges our convictions for which the author was awarded the 2012 Prix Nouveau Talent
Bouygues Télécom-Metro.
Emma is having a hard time getting over her parents' sudden death. She does find
some comfort, however, in her work as a computer graphics artist specialized in
touching up old photographs. Immersing herself in the lives of perfect strangers,
frozen in eternal happiness, she restores some of the original splendor of memories
tarnished over time.
Little does she expect the “paranormal” turn her life is about to take when she
receives a mysterious email one day. Its sender is none other than a man from one of
the photos she had restored – a man who had died in the 1940s ! He says he needs
her help, as do the other ghosts whose requests soon start inundating her inbox.
Why are all of these departed souls getting in touch with her ? Emma unwittingly
becomes their messenger, carrying out their last wishes to defy oblivion and establish
truth. Until she gets one too many emails – one that involves her personally. Soon she
is off on dangerous investigation of memories that don't quite belong to the past. The
departed may have brought Emma back to life, but she is in for a wild ride... Just how
far will Emma be willing to go in her quest for truth ?
April 2012 – Commercial Fiction
210 p.
Annelise Corbrion lives in the east of France. La Mémoire des autres is her debut novel.
Foreign Sale : Fabbri (Italian).
LE BERCEAU DE LA HONTE – The Cradle of Shame
Mano Gentil
A story of love, with all of its contradictions, that illuminates a little-known chapter of Nazi policies intent
on turning reproduction into a weapon for victory.
The Third Reich, with its reproduction of the pure race – the Aryan – Marthe
could care less about all that. She loves Johannes, period. He is an SS officer,
handsome, considerate and, more importantly, the key to escaping her miserable
fate as a Picard peasant.
Thanks to him, she is accepted into one of the most confidential programs : the
Lebensborn. Love and ambition, but also ingenuity, soon see her settled in the
Heim des Mésanges, the sole French maternity facility for expanding the Germanic
race. There she and Johannes studiously collaborate on fulfilling their mission of
having a child.
Marthe has a new life, and a new name. Now she is Agatha, the beautiful Agatha.
But these carefree days are over all too soon. The debacle will force the young
mother to abandon her comfortable life at the “Heim des Mésanges”. Alone.
Mano Gentil was born in 1961. She has worked as a copywriter, a journalist and an
office manager. She has written a dozen novels for adults and adolescents, all of which
have dealt with questions of humanity. Her previous novel, Dans la tête des autres, was
published by Calmann-Lévy in 2010.
January 2013 – Commercial Fiction
240p.
French Sale : Large print edition
(VDB).
34
L’AVANT-DERNIÈRE CHANCE – The Next-to-Last Chance
Caroline Vermalle
This touching and convincing story is an artful mix of cheeky dialogue and the expression of feelings and
emotions that are hard to share. The German edition of L‟Avant-dernière chance, Denn das Glück ist eine Reise,
has been a best-seller in Germany.
While working on the filming of a movie in London, Adèle, an independent young
French intern, receives an unexpected text message from beyond the grave ! Indeed,
her grandfather, who passed away a few days earlier, writes to wish her happy
birthday… This odd event causes Adèle to remember the past few months, in an
attempt to make sense out of things.
Her Grandpa Georges, aged 83, a homebody and avid gardener suddenly decided to
set off on a road trip around France with his friend. Adèle, worried about his fragile
health when she found out, asked that he send her daily updates by text message.
And thus began their unique correspondence, a seemingly simple form of
communication which brought them back together after ten years apart. Could texting
be a way for them to nurture their close relationship even when separated by death ?
Caroline Vermalle worked on documentaries for BBC in London for 7 years. She now
lives in Paris and runs an architectural firm. L’Avant-dernière chance is her debut novel and
won the Prix Nouveau Talent Bouygues in 2009 and the 2011 Prix Chronos.
March 2009 – Fiction – 252 p.
French Sales : Large print edition (A vue d’oeil), Condensed edition (Sélection du Reader’s Digest), Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche Jeunesse).
Foreign Sales : Lübbe (German), Ediciones B (Spanish), Ecus Publishing (Complex Chinese), Gallic Books (English World rights).
LE THÉORÈME DE CUPIDON – Cupid‟s Theorem
Agnès Abécassis
“Between sparkling situations and compelling twists, Agnès Abécassis gives us a delicious romantic
comedy in two voices, one female and one that has transformed.” – La Nouvelle République
“Bubbly, energetic, Agnès Abécassis gave a sweep to the gloom, and
gives us lightness and cheerfulness, with a beautiful energy which
become trademark.” – Question de femmes
Nothing happens by chance. Indeed, even love has its laws, a mathematical law, in
our case the Cupid's theorem : two parallel lines that never converge. Unless, that
is, if they meet up at an intersection and fall in love.
Take, for example, the trajectories of our lovebirds with seemingly antipodean
expectations. Adélaïde, an exuberant, straight-forward and funny casting director –
and fed up with love – and Philéas, an awkward, serious and shy filmmaker – with
sex on the brain.
Each in turn relates the ins and outs of daily life, revealing, along the way, the failures
of one very short-sighted cherub... who finally gets it right !
March 2011 – Commercial fiction – 240 p.
Agnès Abécassis was born in 1972. She started her career as a writer and an illustrator for a women's health magazine. A former
screenwriter, she is also a journalist and a literary chronicler for a number of magazines. She is the author of the bestselling Les
Tribulations d’une jeune divorcée ; Au secours, il veut m’épouser !, a hilarious text on the joys of coupledom ; as well as Toubib or not toubib ;
Chouette, une ride ! ; Soirée Sushi and Le Théorème de Cupidon, a romantic comedy set in the movie industry.
35
French Sale : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Movie Sale : Nexus Factory.
PIERRE LEMAITRE
Pierre Lemaitre is a scriptwriter for TV and cinema. His first novel, Travail Soigné (Éditions du Masque) received
the Festival de Cognac Prize in 2006. His third novel, Cadres noirs won the 2010 European Thriller Prize – Le
Point.
ROBE DE MARIÉ – The Groom Wore White
“Though the French suspense novel often seems a bit tentative next to the machine of English-language
suspense, this one comes to shake away our misconceptions and demonstrate a morbidly efficient „French
touch‟.” – Atmosphères
Sophie Auverney, the thirty-year-old nanny of little Loïc, feels she is losing her
mind, she forgets details, does or errands unexpected things. Sophie is haunted by
her terrible past. Vincent, her husband, committed suicide after a tragic car
accident had left him paralyzed and there have been other deaths too among her
loved ones.
One day, she awakens from a deep sleep and finds Loïc in his bed, strangled by a
shoelace. Panic-stricken, Sophie runs away. A kind stranger crosses her path at the
train station and invites Sophie to her house. There, Sophie steals her ID then
wakes once again from a deep sleep to discover the young woman’s lifeless body.
Did Sophie stab her ? She doesn’t recall anything.
Knowing that the police are already searching for her, she goes into hiding. Is she a
cold-blooded murderer ? What is going on ?
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche ), Book-club editions
(GLM & France Loisirs), Audio-book edition (CDL).
January 2009 – Suspense fiction – 286 p.
Movie Sale : Alexandre Films.
Foreign Sales : Ullstein (German), House of Books (Dutch), Könyvmolyképzö Kiadó (Hungarian), Kashiwa Shobo (Japanese),
Fish+Fish (Complex Chinese), Muza (Polish), Dasan Books (Korean), Fazi Editore (Italian), Azbooka-Atticus (Russian),
Editora Nemo – Autentica (Portuguese/Brazil), MacLehose Press (English World rights), Alfaguarra (Spanish World rights).
CADRES NOIRS – High-Profile Management
WINNER OF THE 2010 PRIX DU POLAR EUROPÉEN - LE POINT
“Lemaitre brilliantly explores an explosive social reality” – Le Parisien
57-year-old Alain Delambre, former human resources manager, has been
unemployed for five years. Unable to find work in his field, he has accepted a menial
job as an inventory clerk at a ridiculously low salary. With the support of his wife
Nicole and their two daughters, he tries his best to make do. Then one day he comes
across an unexpected job offer that fits his profile to a T, except for his age. Not to be
put off, he goes in to the recruitment agency ready to give it all.
Short-listed along with two other candidates, he is informed that the management's
final decision will depend on how well he reacts under intense pressure, that is in a
simulated hostage-taking situation. Determined to land the job at all costs, our
protagonist agrees to play the game, setting off an unstoppable chain of events... Our
disillusioned and scorned hero may be a “grandpa boomer”, but he is more than ready
to prove that he too is an expert at making the most of any opportunity that comes
his way. A remarkably taut, well-crafted novel and a blistering attack on the cynicism
and snobbery of corporate bigwigs and management techniques.
February 2010 – Suspense fiction – 350 p.
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (France Loisirs).
Foreign Sales : Fazi Editore (Italian), Pegasus Yayinlari (Turkish), House of Books (Dutch),
Muza (Polish), Dasan Books (Korean), Editora Nemo – Autentica (Portuguese/Brazil), Alfaguarra (Spanish World rights).
36
LA NUIT DES ENFANTS-ROIS – The Prodigies
Bernard Lenteric
The electrifying and pulse-pounding novel of a whole generation.
The most powerful computer on Earth has been equipped with a program to
detect child prodigies. Jimbo Farrar, a young man, prodigy, became in charge of
this operation, created for dozens of years but forgotten by all. One day, whereas it
has never discovered anything that really matters, the computer alerts Jimbo : seven
child prodigies have been localized. Jimbo is the only one to know and he will keep
their existence secret.
Some years later : New York City, nighttime in Central Park. Seven teenagers are
brutally attacked, beaten and sexually abused. All seven victims, however, happen
to be the child prodigies, linked what is more by a single mind, a single spirit. Thus
is born their inexorable hatred of the world, hatred only to be quenched by a series
of robberies and perfect crimes.
First publication : May 1992
New release : May 2011
Fiction – Thriller – 350 p.
If there were eight of them, the world would be theirs – and the long night of the
Prodigies would come at last… Jimbo knows it and is trying desperately to stop
them... Unless, of course, he is on their side !
Bernard Lenteric was born in 1944 and died in march 2009. He has been a filmmaker
before becoming a successful writer.
Movie Sale : The Prodigies, released on June 2011 and produced by Fidélité Productions.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Foreign Sales : Salani (Italian), Demipage (World Spanish).
NOCES DE PAILLE – Straw Wedding
Yves Hughes
A masterfully-crafted dark novel, full of humour, in two acts from the
tender meeting between a young taxidermist and a lovely old couple with
a weird wish to a suffocating paranoia and a astounding outcome.
Lukas, a taxidermist, meets clients for an unexpected mission. Charlotte and
Léonce have been together for fifty years and they toy with the crazy idea of being
stuffed. That way, they won’t be separated ; they will continue to hold each other’s
hand.
At first quite confused, Lukas is quickly carried away by the project. And gets
involved in the game. All three will become obsessed by the idea. A strange
relationship develops between them, like a weird complicity, very intimate, made up
of imagination, tenderness and humour…. black humour.
Lukas finally becomes part of his clients’ everyday life. He even settles in their house.
Then, when the Day comes, he will have everything at hand. The project takes on
great importance, to the point that it is obsessive, and finally becomes the ultimate
goal of their lives. And soon, they are gripped by suspicion. They start to doubt, to
spy on each other, to watch, to suspect each other. Indeed, each will become
progressively very impatient.
Born in Geneva in 1960, Yves Hughes has written scripts for the television and for radio.
He has also written numerous novels for young people. Straw Wedding is his fourth novel.
37
2005 – Suspense fiction – 190 p.
Foreign sale : Ripol Classic (Russian).
DIANE SILVER – Diane Silver series
Andrea H. Japp
Born in 1957, trained as a toxicologist, since 1990, Andrea H. Japp has written over twenty novels, she is considered
one of the “queens” of crime fiction in France. She has also written many novellas, scenarios for television and cartoons.
Celebrated French detective novelist Andrea H. Japp has left historical fiction for a while to make a remarkable
return to the world of thrillers with a contemporary setting starring Diane Silver, one of the world‟s finest
profilers.
DANS LA TÊTE, LE VENIN – Venom
France, 2008 : a man has been strangled by a former lover who had dropped out of sight.
Two psychotic teens, Louise and her sidekick Cyril, are ensnared in a murderous brand
of Satanism. The final step in their initiation involves committing a murder but their own
bloodthirsty plans are annihilated when the two are brutally murdered.
USA, 2008 : Diane Silver is hunting down a serial killer. Yves, a French cop who Diane
trained in profiling, informs her of the murder of the two teens. As she reconstitutes the
murder of the two adolescents, Diane opens Pandora’s box…
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (GLM “Main Selection”),
Large print edition (Libra Diffusio).
Foreign Sale : Editora Nemo – Autentica (Portuguese / Brazil).
March 2010 – Crime Novel
266 p.
UNE OMBRE PLUS PÂLE – A Lighter Shadow
Diane has made a pact with Rupert Teelaney, alias Nathan, one of world’s rich and
famous, to hunt down serial killers and eliminate them in order to spare their future
victims. This is perfectly illegal, but Diane wants more than anything to find the “tout”
who drove her daughter into the hands of a murderer. While Nathan is hunting down
the tout, Diane is working on a gruesome case : in a quaint cottage, a pipe leak reveals a
mass grave in the basement housing at least 9 women’s bodies. In Paris, Yves Guéguen
takes a liking to Sara Heurtel and her son Victor. Nathan is watching him and Yves is
getting in the way. How will these three stories come together ?
September 2009 – Crime Novel
308 p.
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (GLM “Main Selection”).
Foreign Sale : Editora Nemo – Autentica (Portuguese / Brazil).
LA MORT, SIMPLEMENT– Death simply
Any relief Diane might have felt after this vengeful murder is masked by her growing
feelings of doubt about Nathan. Who exactly is he ? A righter of wrongs or a charming,
intelligent and dreadful psychopath who is merely looking for excuses to do what he
loves most : killing ? When Diane learns that her best friend and French counterpart
Yves Guéguen was murdered in Paris, she wonders if Nathan might be involved.
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (GLM).
Foreign Sale : Editora Nemo – Autentica (Portuguese / Brazil).
January 2010 – Crime Novel
330 p.
38
LA DAME SANS TERRE – The Landless Lady
Andrea H. Japp
A historical series by Andrea H. Japp, author of about thirty novels, and considered one of the “queens” of
crime fiction in France.
Published between 2006 and 2008, around 384 p. each.
VOL. 1 – The Track of the Beast
1304. France is divided by the conflict between Philip the Fair, who wants to free himself
from the church’s omnipotent authority, and Pope Benedict XI, who dies suddenly from
poisoning. In these troubled times, Agnès, a tempestuous young widow, will see her destiny
change radically. Why does Eudes de Larnay, Agnès’s perversely stupid half-brother, accuse
her of being possessed by the devil and plotting with heretics to bring her before the
Inquisition ? Who sends the letters bearing the papal seal that speak of the “divine blood” to
the convent of Clairets ? What does the young Clément, Agnès’s protégé, discover in the
books of the convent’s library ? What can one make of the dead bodies found abandoned in
the forest, burnt but without any trace of fire, or clawed by a mysterious animal ?
VOL. 2 – The Rose-Whisperer
Agnès is dragged before the court of the Inquisition, where Nicolas Florin, the Grand
Inquisitor, wants to see her weep and beg, and demands that she be put to death. Meanwhile,
at the convent of Clairets, one nun after another is found poisoned. They know that the
culprit is among them but who could really commit such atrocities ? Everyone is a suspect.
Élodie, the mother abbess is sure only of one thing : the key to solving this mystery lies in
the manuscripts of the Abbey’s secret library. Though Agnès doesn’t know it yet, she is not
alone : Count Arthus of Authon is prepared to kill in order to save Agnès, who has stolen
his heart. Francesco de Leone, a Knight Hospitaller, is on a mysterious quest involving
Agnès and has sworn to protect her at all costs against her enemies. Finally, Clément’s
ingenuity may just change his destiny and his Lady’s one forever.
VOL. 3 – Divine Blood
In this third volume, the knots surrounding the multiple mysteries exposed in the first two
volumes are untied. The title, Divine Blood, is a clue. Whose blood courses through young
Clément’s veins ? And what does this reveal about his identity ? Who was behind murders in
the convent of Clairets ? The investigation will go as far as Rome and Pope’s closest advisors.
As for the love kindling between Agnès and Arthus, there is yet another surprise in store…
VOL. 4 – The Battle of the Shadows
Young Clémence (formerly Clément) has disappeared. Agnès desperately hopes to find
her again. She manages to escape the clutches of the inquisition but is being slowly
poisoned… Arthus, count of Authon, now Agnès’s husband falls, in his turn, into the
hands of the Inquisition ; whereas Francesco de Léone, the white knight, tries once again
to save them and protect their secret. A thrilling ride from beginning to end, the fourth
volume of “La Dame sans terre” gives long-awaited answers to the mysteries of this
exciting and intriguing story.
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (GLM “Main Selection”).
Foreign Sales : Gallic Books (English), Goldmann (German), Gotica (Portuguese), Family Leisure Club (Russian).
39
POLARS HISTORIQUES – Historical Thrillers
Andrea H. Japp
MONESTARIUM – Monestarium
1288. Alexandria, Egypt. An Armenian merchant helps a dying man in the desert
who bequeaths him a mysterious bag containing bone and clay fragments.
1290. Acre, Galilee. The Armenian has been contacted by someone who wants to
buy the mysterious bag from him. Instead of money in exchange for the bag, only a
knife to the throat.
1307. Convent of Clairets, France. Angélique, a young cloistered nun, has been
strangled. What was the motive ? Undoubtedly because she too closely resembled
one of her sisters, Marie-Gillette d‟Andremont, who found anonymous refuge in
the convent after fleeing Spain where her lover was assassinated by two killers…
The investigation thus begins, conducted by Plaisance de Champlois, the young
and newly-appointed abbess of Clairets, aided by the honourable Aimery, count of
Mortagne. Rumour has it that these murders are all linked to the secret held in the
mysterious bag containing bone and clay fragments. A diptych of the Virgin in
conversation with repentant soldiers, given to Marie-Gillette by her lover before his
death is the key to the enigma. The answer, which, if revealed, would threaten the
Church’s credibility, is presumably to be found in a reflection on the soldiers’
March 2007 – Historical Thriller - 356 p.
armor…
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (GLM “Main Selection”),
Large print edition (Libra Diffusio).
Foreign Sales : Algaida Editores (Spanish), Euromedia (Czech).
LA CROIX DE PERDITION – The Cross of Perdition
Winter 1308. The snowbound Convent of Clairets. A string of macabre murders
involving Tarot cards. How do the brutal killings of Dominican nuns tie in to the
ruthless hunt for Arnauld Amalric's cross, of alleged magical powers, worn during
the Albigensian Crusade in Béziers (a military campaign initiated by the Catholic
church to eliminate the Cathars) a hundred years earlier ? And who exactly is
Claire, young daylight-shunning woman determined to protect four ill-treated, but
gentle, “circus freaks” ?
As the champions of good, young abbess Plaisance de Champlois and Knight
Arnaud de Villeneuve, look for answers, the reader is caught up in a spine-tingling
and expertly-crafted medieval mystery.
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (GLM “Main
Selection”) Large print edition (Libra Diffusio).
Foreign Sale : Algaida Editores (Spanish).
40
May 2008 – Historical Thriller - 330 p.
LA DAME DE KYOTO – The Lady of Kyoto
Éric Le Nabour
“A captivating look at Japan through the eyes of an impassioned young woman
searching for freedom” – Le Semeur hebdo
“Both the magnificent portrait of a woman at a historic crossroads and an engrossing
tale, the author‟s poignant „Lady of Kyoto‟ has it all.” – Le Dauphiné Libéré
Kyoto, 1904. Myako Matsuka has been the ward of her brother, Naoki, since the
assassination of their parents, a couple of rich silk industrialists. When Naoki leaves for the
front during the Russo-Japanese War, Myako is left to manage the family business on her own.
Horrified by working conditions in the factory, she doesn't hesitate to violate her brother's
instructions, revealing a proud and independent temperament.
But her troubling love for an English diplomat, Allan Pearson, and the entrance into her life
of a young Frenchman with a passion for stamps, Martin Fallières, complicate the situation.
November 2012 – Historical Fiction
380 p.
Torn between passion, family ties and professional responsibilities, tormented by her parents'
mysterious death, Myako is going to have to choose : a painful decision that will expose the
equally tragic truth of her own past and that will cause her future to take a very different
direction than the one she had imagined.
Foreign Sale : Newton Compton
(Italian).
Éric Le Nabour earned early acclaim with several biographies and historical works. He is also an
expert on the East and the Far East.
FERNAND DE MAGELLAN – Magellan, Inventing the World
Patrick Girard
In this novel Patrick Girard relates the exceptional destiny of Fernand de Magellan‟s
history, often overlooked. Magellan's great journey is a prototype of sorts, an adventure for
adventure's sake, a feat with no tomorrow. The gallant maritime epic of a veritable Don
Quixote of the Seas.
Educated in the Portuguese court, the penniless fidalgo was raised on feats of chivalry, serving as a
young man in India and Barbary until a wound makes him unfit for soldiering. Decommissioned
and living on a modest pension granted by Portugal's Manuel I, with whom he is out of favor,
Magellan devotes himself to a secret dream : to sail around the southern tip of the newly
discovered Americas, the passage to the Moluccas spices.
Achieving this feat would not only bring new wealth and lands to his native country, it would also
reunite him with his former comrade in arms, now the vizier of the Sultan of Ternate, with whom
he had been secretly corresponding.
But like Columbus before him, Magellan's request for a small fleet is refused by the Portuguese
court. He is forced to turn to Spain, to win the trust of the recently crowned Don Carlos, future
Charles V, also a newcomer to Spain.
May 2012 – Historical Fiction
350 p.
Historian, journalist and novelist Patrick Girard is the author of numerous works, including the epic historical trilogies Le
Roman de Carthage (Éditions N°1) and Al Andaluz (Calmann-Lévy).
Also published written by Patrick Girard :
CHRISTOPHE COLOMB – Christopher Columbus (April 2011 – 350 p.)
Foreign Sales : Presença (Portuguese), El Ateneo (Spanish – Latin America only).
41
GILBERT SINOUÉ
Gilbert Sinoué was born in Cairo in 1947. His books, among which Le Livre de saphir (Gallimard, Prix des Libraires 1996),
L’Enfant de Bruges (Gallimard, 1999), A mon fils, à l’aube du troisième millénaire (Gallimard, 2000), Des jours et des nuits
(Gallimard, 2001), L’Ambassadrice (Calmann-Lévy, 2002), Les Silences de Dieu (Albin Michel, 2003), and Un bateau pour l’enfer
(Calmann-Lévy, 2005) have been translated throughout the world with great success.
UN BATEAU POUR L‟ENFER – The Saint Louis‟ Epic
November 8th, 1938. Following the murder in Paris of the Embassy attaché von
Rath, Goebbels – in retaliation – launched the tragically famous Kristallnacht,
“Night of the Broken Glass” : the burning of synagogues and ransacking of Jewish
homes. From then on, in addition to an out-going visa, the Jews who wanted to
leave Germany had to buy an immigration visa.
1939. For reasons of exterior propaganda, Adolph Hitler decided to authorise the
departure from Germany of all Jews who desired to do so. In May 13th, 1939, the
S.S. Saint-Louis, a liner sailing under the Nazi flag, casted off from Hamburg.
Close to a thousand passengers were aboard, all German Jews and all in possession
of very expensively acquired valid tourist visas. Destination : Havana, Cuba, where
the exiled would wait for the right to enter the United-States.
On May 23th , the day prior to the boat’s entrance into Cuban territorial waters,
Gustave Schroeder, captain of the Saint-Louis, received a cable from the Cuban
government. The latter, manipulated by the Nazi agents established there, had
suddenly decided to cancel all the authorisations. Schroeder was informed that the
January 2005 – Historical fiction – 304 p. ship would not be authorised to come alongside. And an order was given to make an
about turn and to bring back its “cargo” to Hamburg. Schroeder decided to disobey
and established radio contact with the governments of the so-called free world.
Roosevelt, the first approached, refused. Thus began the horrifying epic of the SaintLouis.
French Sales : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche), Book-club edition (GLM), Large print edition (Libra Diffusio)
Foreign Sales : Actel Trading (Greek /Cyprus), Neri Pozza (Italian), Pro Editura (Romanian),
Styria de Ediciones (Spanish), Park Publishing (Hungarian), Kok Ten Have (Dutch).
LA DAME À LA LAMPE – The Lady of the Lamp
Gilbert Sinoué paints here a portrait of Florence Nightingale‟s life. A pioneer of modern nursing, known as
“The Lady of the Lamp”, for the oil lamp she always carried as she ran through darkened hospital
hallways.
This formidable woman’s life is recounted through a series of conversations between
the young biographer, Jonathan Brink – inspired to document Miss Nightingale’s
life after having interviewed her twenty-some years earlier – and Henry Bonham
Carter, Nightingale’s cousin and right-hand man through much of her life.
From her bourgeois beginnings and early role as a caretaker to her clear compassion
for those less fortunate than she ; from her legendary work in the Crimean War to
the foundation of the first nursing school in Great Britain ; from her organization of
field medicine during the US Civil War to the commendable work she accomplished
in the latter part of her life fighting infectious diseases…
Gilbert Sinoué artfully delves into the past to bring Florence Nightingale, as well
as the people and events that marked her, back to life.
French Sales : Paperback edition (Folio), Book-club editions (GLM & France Loisirs),
Large print edition (Feryane).
Foreign Sales : Psichogios (Greek), Neri Pozza (Italian).
42
April 2008 – Historical fiction – 286 p.
LA PETITE BIBLIOTHÈQUE DES IDÉES
A Little Library of Modern Thought
J. Derrida, J. Baudrillard, J. Kristeva, A. Negri, etc.
DE L’HOSPITALITÉ by Jacques Derrida & Anne Dufourmantelle (1997)
Anne Dufourmantelle attends a seminar held by Jacques Derrida. He speaks of hospitality but also of hostility, the
other and the stranger, or what is approaching our borders.
Foreign Sales : Boom (Dutch), Stanford UP (English), Sangyo Toshu (Japanese), Ekkremes (Greek), Ediciones de la Flor (Spanish),
Passagen Verlag (German), Escuta (Portuguese /Brazil), Resling Publishing (Hebrew), Egyptian National Center for Translation (Arabic),
Dongmoonsung Publishing (Korean).
LES OBJETS SINGULIERS by Jean Baudrillard & Jean Nouvel (2000)
This title is an initial dialogue between a philosopher and an architect, both known for the audacity and strength of
their works. They explore the “singular objects” of our time and make a lively critique of current obsessions and
paradoxes.
French Sale : Paperback edition (ARLEA)
Foreign Sales : Minnesota UP (English), Dongmunsun (Korean), Fondo de Cultura Economica (Spanish),
Passagen Verlag (German), Electa (Italian), Dar Charkeyyat (Arabic), Kajima Institute (Japanese), Futura (Greek),
Paideia (Romanian), AGM (Croatian), Yem Publications (Turkish), Boekencentrum Publishers / Klement (Dutch).
L’AVENIR D’UNE RÉVOLTE by Julia Kristeva (1998)
This title brings together three of Kristeva’s major texts on exile and revolt, more in terms of an interior revolution
than political action. The texts are witness to her powerful argumentation, both on a psychoanalytical level and as a
literary critic. She also touches on her own arrival in France and what it means to be a stranger in a strange land.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Champs-Flammarion)
Foreign Sales : Boom (Dutch), Columbia UP (English), Il Nuevo Melangolo (Italian),
Instituto de Sao Paulo (Portuguese /Brazil).
DU RETOUR by Antonio Negri (2002)
In his own inimitable voice, Antonio Negri recounts his exceptional destiny. From one letter to another (F for Future,
B for Red Brigade, C for Crime, etc.), he relates the most important events of his life, his political commitments, his
exile in France, his return to Italy and his imprisonment.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Foreign Sales : Metaichmio (Greek), Rizzoli (Italian), Campus (German), Ehak (Korean), Sakuhin Sha (Japanese), Routledge
(English), Van Gennep (Dutch), Record (Portuguese/Brazil), Korpus (Slovenian), Sic (Polish).
COMME DES FRÈRES by Frédéric Boyer (1998)
This is a magnificently-written biblical, literary and philosophical essay on fraternity and war.
Foreign Sale : Dongmunsun (Korean).
43
LA PETITE BIBLIOTHÈQUE DES IDÉES
A Little Library of Modern Thought
B. Cannone, C. de Portzamparc, P. Sollers, G. Pommier, etc.
VOIR, ÉCRIRE by Philippe Sollers & Christian de Portzamparc (2003)
A second dialogue between an architect and a writer. They evoke favourite writers, painters, other architects and raise
the question : can we think without language ?
French Sale : Paperback edition (Folio).
Foreign Sales : Minnesota UP (English), Yapi Kredi Kültür (Turkish).
LE SENTIMENT D’IMPOSTURE by Belinda Cannone (2005)
This title invites us to reflect upon the origins and manifestations of a very common feeling that we carefully hide –
feeling out of place, like we do not deserve the place we are and fear being found out. The author draws on literature,
film, psychoanalysis, politics and personal accounts to better understand this phenomenon.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Folio).
Foreign Sales : Bibliotheca nueva (Spanish), Editura Art (Romanian), East China Normal UP (Simplified Chinese),
Edizioni di Passaggio (Italian).
L’ ÉCRITURE DU DÉSIR by Belinda Cannone (2000)
WINNER OF THE BEST ESSAY PRIZE FROM THE ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE 2000
What makes us a writer ? What is the driving force behind the desire to write, transcribe, tell the world’s story ?
Belinda Cannone studies this question through an analysis of her favourite writers.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Folio).
Foreign Sale : East China Normal UP (Simplified Chinese).
À QUELLE HEURE PASSE LE TRAIN… by Jean Oury & Marie Depussé (2003)
This is an extraordinary dialogue about madness and ordinary life in a mental hospital, housed in an old castle, between
Jean Oury, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and writer Marie Depussé.
LES CORPS ANGÉLIQUES DE LA POST-MODERNITÉ by Gérard Pommier (2000)
Psychoanalyst Gérard Pommier explores the current need to smooth over the rough edges, to “angelify” the body and
desire (cloning, virtual reality) which paradoxically leads to a resurgence of extreme violence. A very pertinent analysis
of our constantly changing society.
Foreign Sale : East China Normal UP (Simplified Chinese).
44
LA PETITE BIBLIOTHÈQUE DES IDÉES
A Little Library of Modern Thought
J. Darras, M-A. Ouaknin, C. Bident, etc.
NOUS SOMMES TOUS DES ROMANTIQUES ALLEMANDS by Jacques Darras (2002)
Poet and essayist Jacques Darras explores the thinking of great German romantics such as Hegel, Schelling,
Holderlin, Lessing, etc. and the influence they have on us today, particularly in terms of building Europe.
Foreign Sale : East China Normal UP (Simplified Chinese).
LETTRES SUR LA NATURE HUMAINE À L’USAGE DES SURVIVANTS
by Dany-Robert Dufour (1999)
Dany-Robert Dufour, writer, essayist and linguistics professor at the University of Paris brings us a anthropological
essay on the human being as an “anaxotl” – that is a being who, unlike most animals, is incapable of taking care of
himself at birth.
Foreign Sale : Dongmunsun (Korean).
RECONNAISSANCES by Christophe Bident (2003)
Writer and literature professor, Christophe Bident explores the theme of recognition, particularly in the works of
Robert Antelme, Maurice Blanchot and Gilles Deleuze.
Foreign Sale : Arena (Spanish).
ANTHROPOLOGIE DE l’INHUMANITÉ by Maria Victoria Uribe (2003)
This book relates the history of Colombia from the period of “La Violencia” from the 1950‟s to nowadays,
through the study of the massacres. Basing herself upon political, social and contextual considerations, the author, a
Colombian anthropologist born in Bogotá, establishes a typology of the massacres and of its perpetrators. The author
questions the symbolization and ritualization of acts of violence, the semantic grounds of an inhuman anthropology,
but also the devastating effects of the massacres regarding the body classification.
C’EST POUR CELA QU’ON AIME LES LIBELLULES by Marc-Alain Ouaknin (1998)
Rabbi Marc-Alain Ouaknin, who holds a degree in philosophy, tells the story of a meeting between a wise master and
his disciple in the Luxembourg Gardens and the philosophical quest that is born from this meeting. He mixes the
teachings of the Bible, cabala, major European literary texts and philosophical references with his own personal
humour and prose.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Points Seuil).
Foreign Sale : Dongmunsun (Korean).
45
RAYMOND ARON
Born in Paris in 1905, Raymond Aron, professor of Philosophy, was in turn, professor at the Institut des Sciences
Politiques and at the École Nationale d’Administration in 1945, sociology professor at the Sorbonne in 1955, director of
research at the École pratique des Hautes Etudes and professor at the prestigious Collège de France (1970). In parallel,
he also pursued a career in journalism, contributing to Combat, Le Figaro where he became director of their politics
department in 1976 before being appointed general administrator of L’Express in 1979. His many works have marked the
20th century.
L‟OPIUM DES INTELLECTUELS (1955)
First published in 1955, L’Opium des intellectuels is an irrevocable condemnation of the
credulity tinged with dishonesty and of the dogmatism on which the French
intelligentsia stands.
Raymond Aron examines with rigorous and strict probity the evolution of “the Left”,
“the Revolution” and “the Proletariat”, ideas that belong to the myth he explodes.
How is it possible to accept the attitude of intellectuals who are merciless toward the
failings of democracy but ready to tolerate the worst of crimes as long as they are
committed in the name of the proper doctrines ? How is it possible not to grasp the
absurdity of the political and ideological mixtures that alienate intellectuals who are
religion seekers, who worship History as a god ?
April 2004 – Essay - 341 p.
Even if he repudiates his youthful ideas, Raymond Aron does not take the law into his
own hands. He offers a dispassionate thought-process, a fight rid of all hatred, urging
“all those who refuse to see in the Forum struggles the secret of the human
destination” to follow him.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Pluriel).
Foreign Sales : Kiepenheuer & Witsch (German), Doubleday (English World rights),
Lindau Edizioni (Italian), Mlata Fronta (Czech), Yilin Press (Simplified Chinese),
Akademiai Kiado (Hungarian), RBA Libros (Spanish), Dituria (Albanian),
Curtea Veche (Romanian), AST (Russian).
PAIX ET GUERRE ENTRE LES NATIONS (1962)
Dissuasion, subversion, persuasion. These are the three central means by which state
relations are conducted. Having reached the end of his investigation, Raymond Aron
tries to define the moral doctrine of diplomatic action and the strategy with the best
chance of saving peace without sacrificing liberty. Finally, in an exercise of utopian
thought, he is looking for the conditions of peace by law.
In 1962, when the book is published, these conditions are not completed and peace is
ensured by the absence or limitation of wars. Raymond Aron’s analysis takes place at
the height of the Cold War and explains the power struggle imposed by the nuclear
weapons that only a few military powers hold. It is also a reflection on the history of
mankind.
Foreign Sales : Golden Marketing (Croatian), W. Martins Fontes (Brazil),
University Ljubljana (Slovenian), Social Sciences Academic Press (Simplified Chinese), AST (Russian).
January 2004 – Essay - 341 p.
Calmann Lévy also holds rights to Essai sur les libertés (1965).
46
LÉON POLIAKOV
Léon Poliakov was born in St Petersburg on November 25, 1910. Raised in Russia, Italy and Germany, he studied law
and literature in Paris before turning to journalism and historical research. In 1944, he participated in the creation of the
Centre of Modern Jewish Archives. At the end of World War II, he assisted Edgar Faure at the Nuremberg trials. He
died in Paris in 1997.
Léon Poliakov published numerous works with Calmann-Lévy, including Le Bréviaire de la haine (1951), Le Procès de
Jérusalem (1963), Les Banquiers juifs et le Saint-Siège (1967) and Le Mythe aryen (1971).
HISTOIRE DE L‟ANTISÉMITISME – 4 VOL. (1955)
Covering the history of prejudice against Jews from the time of
Christ through the rise of Nazi Germany, this title presents in
elegant and thoughtful language a balanced, careful assessment of
this egregious human failing that is nearly ubiquitous in the history
of Europe.
VOL. 1 : Du Christ au juifs de cour
VOL. 2 : De Mahomet aux Marranes
VOL. 3 : De Voltaire à Wagner
VOL. 4 : L‟Europe suicidaire
French Sale : Volumes 1 and 2 : Paperback edition (Points Seuil).
Foreign Sales : Idiomas Vivientes (Spanish), RCS Libri (Italian), Perspectiva
(Portuguese), Jüdischer Verlag (German), Pennsylvania UP (English), Hasefer
(Romanian), Universitas (Polish), Chikuma Shobo (Japanese).
LA CAUSALITÉ DIABOLIQUE (1980/1985/2006)
“Diabolical Causality”
Part 1 : Essay on the origin of persecution :
Here Poliakov examines the principal groups that have, like the Jews, been
scapegoats in European history – who have been held responsible for epidemics,
wars and other disasters.
Part 2 : From Mongol domination to Lenin’s victory :
Poliakov describes the October revolution. He retraces the origins of Russian
history, marked by the division – civil and religious – between the people and the
authorities and analyses the manner in which, over the centuries, this divide gave
birth to the idea that “conspiracy” could explain all conflicts.
Foreign Sales : Munchik Editores (Spanish), Perspectiva (Portuguese).
47
LA CRITIQUE ET LA CONVICTION – Criticism and Conviction
Paul Ricœur
A lesson in philosophy, Criticism and Conviction is a witness to Ricœur‟ stunning ability to bring
knowledge and culture together.
For the first time, one of the major philosophical minds of the 20th century, known for
his discretion, chooses to reveal his personal and intellectual evolution to two fellow
philosophers, Marc de Launay and François Azouvi.
Criticism and Conviction is not only an introduction to the life and work of Paul Ricœur,
covering all of the philosophical schools of interest, from metaphysics to
psychoanalysis, from hermeneutics to ethics, from the history of philosophy to religion.
It is also a long and inspiring thought process which explores a few questions that have
rarely or never been touched upon in his other books : aesthetics, for example, or
current events. This work is also a thought-provoking meditation on existence and
death.
November 1995
Essay/Interview - 290 p.
Paul Ricœur is one of the major philosophers of the 20th century. His works are diverse,
abundant and continue to meet success both in France and throughout the world. His most
renowned works are De l'interprétation (Seuil, 1965 and 1995), Le Conflit des interprétations
(Seuil, 1969), La Métaphore vive (Seuil, 1975), Temps et Récit (Seuil, 1983-1985), Soi-même comme
un autre (Seuil, 1990).
François Azouvi and Marc de Launay, researchers at the prestigious French CNRS, were
the editors-in-chief of the Revue de métaphysique et de morale, under Ricœur’s direction.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Pluriel).
Foreign Sales : Editoriale Jaca Book (Italian), Columbia UP (English/US), Polity Press (English/UK), Edicoes 70 (Portuguese), KRC (Polish),
Karl Alber Verlag (German), Yapi Kredi Yay (Turkish), Association Apokalipsa (Slovenian), Greenbee Publishing (Korean).
DICTIONNAIRE INTERNATIONAL DE LA PSYCHANALYSE
International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis
Alain de Mijolla
Seven years of work, 500 international contributions from all horizons, 2000 pages, 1600 entries.
The first dictionary of its kind, written by internationally known analysts from France
and abroad. It defines and describes the development of the different theoretical and
clinical psychoanalytical notions, as well as the principal actors, works, events and
institutions in the history of psychoanalysis and of the psychoanalytical movement in
the world since their origins.
The entries are presented alphabetically. The terms are translated into five languages
and are followed by a short bibliography which is completed at the end of the volume.
Besides a great number of Freudian and post-Freudian notions, this dictionary is the
only one to provide entries such as : biographies of the world’s principal
psychoanalysts, their most remarkable works, events which have marked the history of
the psychoanalytical movement and its various evolutions, and the principal institutions
which have illustrated its development, not to mention the contribution of certain
movements derived from psychoanalysis such as Analytical Psychology (Jung) or
Individual Psychology (Adler).
Neuropsychiatrist and psychoanalyst Alain de Mijolla is a member of the Société
Psychanalytique de Paris, the International Psychoanalytical Association and Archives and
the History of Psychoanalysis Committee. Founder and president of the International
Association of the History of Psychoanalysis, he is the director of the Institute of the
History of Psychoanalysis of the EHESS Research Centre on Europe.
Foreign Sales : Gale Thompson (World English), Akal (World Spanish), Imago (Portuguese).
French Sale : Paperback edition (Pluriel).
48
April 2002 – Reference book
2 volumes of 950 pages each
BOHÈMES – The Bohemians
Dan Franck
They were and always will be the heroes of the Bohemian period : a magnificent era whose influences and
movements still reverberate at the turn of the twenty-first century.
Dan Franck's book covers the first thirty years of the 20th century, when Montmartre
and Montparnasse were filled with glorious subversives who were inventing modern art
and the literary language of the century : Picasso the gentle anarchist, Apollinaire the
eroticist, Modigliani and his women, Max Jacob and his men, the fiery Aragon, the
solitary Soutine, Man Ray, Gertrude Stein, Henri Matisse, Andre Breton and many
others.
They came from many different countries. They were painters, poets, sculptors,
musicians, and began seminal movements such as fauvism, cubism and surrealism.
Their lives were as flamboyant as their work ; they were hedonists, believed in free love
and broke all the rules of conventional Parisian society.
Dan Franck has written many books and his work has been published in over twenty-eight
countries.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Foreign Sales : Grove Atlantic (World English), Clio Publishing (Korean),
Psichogios (Greek), Dals (Romanian), Garzanti (Italian), Wydawnictwo Iskry (Polish),
Renmin UP (Simplified Chinese), SonM (Bulgarian), Sel Yayincilik (Turkish),
Parthas Verlag (German),Sluzbeni Glasnik (Serbian), L&PM (Portuguese/Brazil).
1998 – Essay/Art – 570 p.
ESPRITS D’EUROPE. AUTOUR DE MILOSZ, PATOCKA ET BIBO
Spirits of Europe. A Study of Milosz, Patocka and Bibo
Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine
WINNER OF THE 2005 CHARLES VEILLON EUROPEAN ESSAY PRIZE
“It is shocking to realize that these great minds were „on the other side of the
wall‟ making a accurate analysis of our own [Western] society” – Syndicalisme Hebdo
Why are we building a European Union ? It is worthwhile to recall that this political
union was first envisioned to avoid reliving the atrocities that took place in Eastern
Europe in the 20th century. But how to put into place a system that would ensure man’s
proper treatment of his fellow man ? Numerous intellectuals from Central and Eastern
Europe have dedicated their work if not their lives to this question.
March 2005 – Essay – 360 p.
This extraordinary generation of thinkers was dominated by three figures : Czeslaw
Milosz (1911-2004), Polish poet and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature ;
Jan Patocka (1907-1977), leading dissident Czech philosopher, first spokesperson
(together with Vaclav Havel) of Charter 77 for the respect of civic and human rights,
who died after a long interrogation by the secret police ; and Istvan Bibo (1911-1979),
political thinker and hero of the 1956 revolution, who inspired the Hungarian
intelligentsia disappointed by Marxism.
Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine constructs her essay – a cross between philosophy, history of ideas and biography – around
the ideas, influence, and genius of these three “modern-day heroes”. Their connection with and influence by great minds
such as Hannah Arendt, Arthur Koestler, Max Weber, Hermann Broch and Milan Kundera is perceptible. In a lively,
vigorous style, the author shows us that the attempt of these thinkers to revamp the ethic foundations of European
civilisation is not a thing of the past but, in fact, a thing of the future.
Born in 1966, Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine is a philosopher and historian of ideas. She has devoted the main part of her works
to the intellectual history of Central Europe and is the author of Constantin Noica, Nationalisme et Philosophie (Humanitas, 1998), Jan
Patocka: l’esprit de la dissidence (Michalon, 1998), Cioran, Eliade, Ionesco : l’Oubli du fascisme (PUF, 2002).
French Sale : Paperback edition (Folio).
Foreign Sales : Editura Est (Romanian), Shanghai Sanhui Press Culture (Simplified Chinese), Wydanictwo Pogranicze (Polish).
49
PASCAL QUIGNARD
Pascal Quignard was born in 1948. He won the Prix Goncourt in 2002 with Les Ombres errantes (Grasset). He is the
author of numerous novels, including Tous les matins du monde (1991, Gallimard), Terrasse à Rome (winner of the Grand Prix
du Roman de l’Académie Française in 2000, Gallimard) and Villa Amalia (2006, Gallimard), and essays : Petits Traités
(1981, 1983, 1984, Clivages), La Leçon de musique (1987, Hachette), Le Nom sur le bout de la langue (1993, P.O.L), Le Sexe et
l’effroi (1994, Gallimard). Passionately fond of music since his childhood, he plays cello and has founded the Baroque
Opera and Theatre Festival in Versailles.
RHÉTORIQUE SPÉCULATIVE (1995)
“I call speculative rhetoric the antiphilosophical literary tradition that runs throughout the western history
since the invention of philosophy. I date its theoretical advent back to 139, in Rome. Its theorist was
Fronto.”
“Literature is language seen as a throwing weapon. (…) Human life relies on language like the arrow
relies on wind. (…) The archer’s target is the aiming eye. The whole book aims at a final point. The final
point is the only moment when the writer and the reader meet : they meet to say farewell. The final point is
the moment when they kill each other. The final point is the punctured eye. Then, imagination gives the
reader’s body back to reality, like the sea would leave a dead body on the shore.”
January 1995 – Essay - 218 p.
Foreign Sale : El Cuenco de Plata
(Spanish World rights).
Pascal Quignard explains through five short tracts that it is better to show rather than
demonstrate, that images are stronger than thoughts ; that obviousness exempts from
conviction and language from philosophy. Passionately fond of literature, an
unashamed literary-minded person, Quignard relies, among others, on the
conversations between Marcus Aurelius and Fronto and undertakes to rehabilitate the
latter. Marcus Cornelius Fronto, Marcus Aurelius’ private tutor, hated philosophy and
religion and has been criticized throughout the history of literature, when he was not
simply forgotten. Beyond a mere reinstatement, this is a brilliant literary analysis by
Quignard, to whom, as well as to Fronto, literature is impervious to rationality, to
predictable.
With Speculative Rhetoric, Pascal Quignard immerses the reader in what he
calls, right from the dedication, “a defence of literary-minded people”, clever
and sincere.
LA HAINE DE LA MUSIQUE (1996)
A surprising and fascinating essay that guides us through a bright analysis on
music, our relation to sounds and to silence.
This book is composed of ten little tracts that calls on “the connections between
music and the pain from the constantly surrounding sounds”. It may seem paradoxical
from Pascal Quignard, in whose work music has a great significance. To explain this
paradox Quignard analyses several founding myths, among which Saint Peter whose
remorse was called up by a rooster’s crow or the sirens’ song in Ulysses’ odyssey ; but
also the very origins of instruments, from their name to their production. He chooses
the example of the zither, or khitara, made out of tortoise shell, sheep guts and cow
skin, just like Ulysses’ killing bow.
From the darkness of the first men’s cavern to the darkest pages of our history, the
author shows us how music can be a source of pain. It can even become a slavery tool
for, as Quignard explains, “musical rhythms captivate the body’s rhythms. (…)
Hearing and obedience are connected. A conductor-leader, performers-subordinates,
obedient people, such is the structure that is built by the execution of music.
Wherever there is a leader and subordinates, there is music.” He reminds us that in
the death camps during the Second World War, prisoners went in gas chambers
listening to music. Some conductors who came back from the camps, like Simon
Laks, but also other people who had always loved music, like Primo Levi, have
explained how music has become a suffering or related to the memory of this
suffering. Thus, “the phrase Hatred of music is used to express how loathsome music
can become even to who loved it most”.
50
January 1996 – Essay - 328 p.
French Sale : Paperback edition (Folio).
Foreign Sales : El Cuenco de Plata
(Spanish World rights), Seido-Sha (Japanese).
SUR LES TRACES DES CHRÉTIENS OUBLIÉS
Among the Forgotten Christians
Charles Guilhamon
An uncontroversial yet extremely lively account of the Church's position in the world today, exploring both
the difficulties facing Christians in a number of countries and the vitality of their faith. An adventurepacked travel narrative full of extraordinary – and at times tragic – encounters, as well as an inspirational
questioning of mankind.
“An extraordinary travel account attesting both today’s disturbing rise of intolerance and
fanaticism and – through inspirational encounters – the inexhaustible power of dreams
of fraternity.” – L’Est-éclair
Right after graduation, Charles and Gabriel decide to ride their bikes around the world.
They give themselves a year and a very tight budget : 1€ per person, per day. They will
cover 11,000 kilometers, finding refuge among Christians in countries where they are a
minority, barely tolerated and even persecuted.
Thus do they visit communities who practice their faith the way the first Christians did.
We will stay with the Baghdad Chaldeans in Iraq, encounter the Christians of Nepal
immediately after a church bombing, be admitted to a clandestine Catholic community in
China and meet the new inhabitants of the Tibhirine monastery in Algeria, as well as a
priest without parishioners in Mauritania and parishioners without a priest in the heart
of the Amazon.
September 2012 – Travel literature/
Religion – 450 p.
Charles Guilhamon is a recent graduate of the prestigious ESSEC business school. He is
the head of a company dedicated to the social and solidarity economy.
French Sale : Book-club edition (GLM).
BLIND DATE – Blind Date. Sex and Philosophy
Anne Dufourmantelle
Blind Date imagines this meeting between sex and philosophy, not as a real tête-à-tête, but as it has always been
happening, that is to say indirectly, blindly, in areas that are common to neither : love letters, thought, eroticism,
writing…
Blind date is said of a rendez-vous between two strangers, organized by an absent third
party who knows them both.
Philosophy – starting with astonishment (Aristotles), declaring itself the science of being,
hoping to be the curer of the soul, finding its etymology as “love of wisdom”, seeing itself
as a spiritual education, rectifying itself as logic of statements, delivering itself at length in
textbooks, written in all languages but supposedly thinking in one... – is slowly vanishing.
Sex – it finishes when explanations become necessary, it is commented upon only at its
disappearance, it upsets all theory trying to circumscribe its effects… It is present
everywhere, all the time, and is perpetually missing.
It is said that the rendez-vous was made three thousand years ago. Officially, that is. But it
has been postponed ever since.
Born in Paris in 1964, Anne Dufourmantelle is a philosopher and psychoanalyst. She is the
author of several books including La Sauvagerie maternelle (Calmann-Lévy, 2001), La Femme et le
Sacrifice (Denoël, 2007) and Éloge du risque (Payot, 2011).
Foreign Sales : Donzelli Editore (Italian), Illinois University Press (English).
51
September 2003 – Essay – 220 p.
English
samples
translation
available
x
PIERRE CARDIN
By Sylvana Lorenz
Pierre Cardin‟s call emerged early, at the age of 8 and his vital need for creation never left him
since. At now 92, the last emperor of haute couture hasn‟t lost any of his glory or power. His
secret: “To keep open, alert. To stay available to welcome what destiny brings him, destiny which
has kept all its promises but which has denied him the most beautiful and precious of creations: a
child.”
More than the fashion designer and the internationally famous
businessman, it’s the private side of Pierre Cardin’s life that Sylvana
Lorenz, artistic director and PR of L’Espace Cardin, wishes to unveil in
this book; and this is especially difficult since Pierre Cardin is such a
secretive person. He has always been very careful to hide his
weaknesses and wounds. Straight as an “i”, born in the Venice region,
Pierre Cardin, never shows his feelings or successes; over the years he
has managed to turn his solitude into an ally and to keep his thirst for
life intact. He never shows any of the tantrums known to Hollywood
stars, preferring to keep the Viandox beverage which has warmed him
up when he first arrived in Paris in 1944, on the menu of his famous
Maxim’s restaurants.
Confidences, anecdotes, shared moments which Sylvana Lorenz has
kept away in her diary year after year, has enabled her to paint the
portrait highly intelligent and very private workaholic conqueror. The
last child of a family with seven children, the son of an old Italian
immigrant, transforms everything he touches into gold. He has always
lived and still lives for the love of Art.
March 2006 – Biography – 204 p.
Sylvana Lorenz has been working closely with Pierre Cardin for over 35 years. An art gallery director, who also
works for Match TV, she is part of the jet-set and has been around the world with Cardin several times.
Foreign Sale : Surugadai Shuppan Sha (Japanese)
52
ADOLFO KAMINSKY, UNE VIE DE FAUSSAIRE
Adolfo Kaminsky, the Life of a Counterfeit Artist
Sarah Kaminsky
“...I‟ve got to stay awake, as long as possible. Fight off sleep. The math is simple. In one hour I can make
false papers for thirty people. If I sleep for an hour, thirty people will die...”
This is the incredible story of Adolfo Kaminsky’s life as a counterfeit artist, active
from 1943 to 1971. His convictions lead him to spend his entire life in hiding, guided
by survival instincts, necessity and danger alone. A race against the clock – and against
death – in which every minute truly counted.
A genius forger, he devoted his life to aiding the great opposition movements of the
20th century, working for the French Resistance and the Algerian FLN, providing
false papers for Jews emigrating to Palestine, teaching counterfeiting techniques to
the combatants of repressive regimes in Spain (under Franco) and Greece (during the
Regime of the Colonels), and aiding the freedom movements of Latin America and
Africa.
September 2009
Non-fiction narrative - 208 p.
French Sales : Book-club editions
This book questions the notions of commitment, destiny, free choice and
consequences. When Kaminsky, at the age of 17, begins making forgeries for the
Resistance, little does he realize that he is already caught up in an inexorable
mechanism : that of his own sense of duty towards fellow man. This is also a dialog
between a father and a daughter. Sarah, born in 1979, attempts to understand her
father's unusual destiny, giving us the account of a man whose very existence was a
secret and who accepts, at last, to speak of the past.
Sarah Kaminsky was born in Algeria and has lived in France since she was three. Today,
(GLM & France Loisirs)
Foreign Sales : Angelo Colla Editore she is both an actress and playwright. Adolfo Kaminsky, une vie de faussaire is her first book.
(Italian), Kinneret Zmora Dvir (Hebrew),
Antje Kunstmann (German), Capital Intelectual (Spanish).
MOI PIERRE SEEL, DÉPORTÉ HOMOSEXUEL
I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual
Pierre Seel
Pierre Seel remained active until late in life in his personal crusade, publicly airing the long-overlooked
tragedy of the homosexual holocaust. His account of his suffering and his plea for justice are heartrending
in their dignified restraint.
On a 1941 fateful day, in Nazi-occupied Strasbourg, 17-year-old Pierre Seel was
summoned by the Gestapo. He had made the mistake of reporting a theft that had
occurred in a gay area of town. The police added his name to a list of suspected
homosexuals that was soon turned over to the occupying Germans. To attempt escape
would have meant the arrest and deportation of his family, so young Seel chose instead
to report to Gestapo headquarters, starting out on a journey that would take him from
the safety and innocence of his teenage existence to the horrors of the war.
In this brief, powerful memoir, he recalls the details of his arrest and torture by the
Gestapo and his horrific experiences at the Schirmeeck-Vorbruch concentration camp
in Alsace, where homosexuals were the most despised of prisoners. Inexplicably
released in 1941, he was drafted into the German army, saw action on various fronts
and managed to survive the war. In 1981, outraged by a prominent bishop's
characterization of homosexuals as “sick”, he became inspired with a sense of
obligation to obtain recognition for what had happened to some 350,000 homosexuals
during the war, and his public statements became a famous cause in France. Pierre Seel
passed away in 2005.
Foreign Sales : Basic Books (English/US), Text (Russian), Cassara Editora (Portuguese/Brazil).
53
April 1994
Autobiography - 264 p.
LES SŒURS BEAUVOIR – The Beauvoir Sisters
Claudine Monteil
Great historical moments, such as Jean-Paul Sartre‟s funeral and the feminist struggle for legalizing
abortion are relived through the eyes of these incredible women.
One was blond, the other was a brunette. One a painter, the other a writer. One
was docile, the other was a rebel. Despite their differences, Hélène and Simone
de Beauvoir were united by an indestructible love. Neither time nor diverging
aesthetic or political opinions ever managed to shake it. But their correspondence
and memories reveal an equivocal relationship in which love is tainted with
condescendence on Simone’s part, and with jealousy on Hélène’s, Hélène being a
less talented artist and eternally in the shadow of her world famous elder sister.
Beyond the ambiguities of this attachment, we discover the lives of two women
who passionately dreamed of a life different from that of their mother and from
that of all the submissive and virtuous women who came before them – those
women who always spoke in terms of duty. To exist as women and as artists : such
was the parallel struggle of the Beauvoir sisters.
Claudine Monteil is a historian focusing on women of the 20th century and a specialist
on Beauvoir sisters, whom she knew personally. She is the author of several works
including Simone de Beauvoir, Mémoires d’une jeune fille rebelle (Ed. du Rocher, 1996), and
two novelistic biographies, Les Amants de la liberté, on Sartre and Beauvoir (Éditions n°1,
1999) and Les Amants des temps modernes on Charlie and Oona Chaplin (Éditions n°1,
2002).
March 2003 – Biography
300 p
Foreign Sales : The Seal Press (World English), Circe (World Spanish), Silcheonmunhak (Korean),
Langen-Müller (German), People’s Literary Publishing House (Simplified Chinese), Castelvecchi (Italian).
UN HOMO DANS LA CITÉ – On Being Gay in the Projects
Brahim Naït-Balk
The inspirational story of a young man of North African descent coming to terms with his homosexuality.
Brahim Naït-Balk grew up ashamed. Ashamed of himself, ashamed of his
sexuality, ashamed of the difference isolating him from the rest of his family :
homosexuality. How does a Muslim, a Berber, the eldest of a large Moroccan family,
reconcile his particular nature with his cultural background ? How can he construct
his identity with an absent father and an overly possessive mother ? And above all
how is he to find happiness in the projects, where virility is a badge of honour, boys
are programmed to dominate and the law of the jungle rules ? The sensitive and
romantic Brahim dreams of love only to be subjugated to violence, sexual aggression
and the daily humiliations of neighbourhood bullies.
For years he lived in fear, hugging the walls, trying not to be noticed. And then one
day he decided he'd had enough. At the age of 30, he comes out of the closet and
declares his sexual preference. Many hurdles must be overcome, but he is ready for
them, ready to bear with pride the burden of being different. Today at the age of 45,
he hosts a radio program on homosexuality and coaches the Gay Paris Football
team.
October 2009 – Non fiction narrative
200 p.
Un homo dans la cité is a story of transformation, of one man's choosing freedom over
fear to come into his own.
Un homo dans la cité is Brahim Naït-Balk’s first book.
54
STALINE, VIE PRIVÉE – The Private Life of Staline
Lilly Marcou
The man behind the legend and the shadow of the legendary figure of Joseph Stalin fell over most of the 20th
century.
This work attempts to shed light on the mystery of the man behind the legend, to
understand the inner-workings of his personality based on previously unpublished
archival information, as well as accounts from surviving family members and close
friends.
Author Lilly Marcou dives into the large quantity of Soviet documents available to
Western researchers in order to question established notions and bring the shadowy
areas of Stalin’s life into light. She distinguishes hearsay from truth, analyzes certain
controversies and reveals little-known facts.
It is easy to think that a dictator under whose regime so many atrocities were
committed can be nothing other than a monster. By looking at him as a whole human
being, he becomes all the more vulnerable before the judging eyes of history.
March 1996 – Biography
Born in 1936, Lilly Marcou headed a research group working on the international
Communist movement for the Centre d’études et de recherches internationales (1975 –
1981) before teaching at SciencesPo in Paris from 1982 to 1988. She has written
numerous works including Les Défis de Gorbatchev (Plon, 1988), Ilya Ehrenbourg, un homme
dans son siècle (Plon, 1992) and Elsa Triolet, les yeux et la mémoire (Plon, 1994).
Foreign Sales : Arenula (Italian), Wydawnictwo Iskry (Polish), Levne Knihy (Czech),
Duna Kiado (Hungarian), Jorge Zahar (Brazilian), El Ateneo (Spanish/Latin America),
Family Leisure Club (Russian).
HERMANN HESSE, POÈTE OU RIEN
Hermann Hesse, a Poet and Nothing Else
François Mathieu
A complete and comprehensive biography, based on Hesse's twenty volumes Complete Works as well as the
four volumes of his Correspondence and the writer's numerous accounts of his family and friends, explores
both the profoundly human values and the artistic devotion of a man who was “a poet, and nothing else”.
By the time he was twelve, Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) had already decided he would
be a poet, and nothing else, a decision his unbending family took as a sign of madness.
Hesse would persevere, however, and in 1946, he would be awarded the Nobel Prize in
Literature. The poet's philosophy of perseverance as the path to self-fulfillment is
reflected in all of his literary creations. Indeed, Peter Camenzind, Knulp, Demian,
Siddhartha, Harry Haller, the “Steppenwolf”, and Joseph Knecht in The Glass Bead Game
all convey the same message : rise up against yourself, free yourself from the constraints
that prevent you from living, dare to break with the old and to start anew.
The author gives us a vivid portrayal of the writer, starting from his childhood. He
examines, in particular, the subtlety of Hesse's thought, influenced by the teachings of
Nietzsche and Eastern philosophies, and recounts the author's slow and definitive retreat
to the Swiss village of Tessin. François Mathieu sets out to encounter the writer,
uncovering along the way a universal body of work rooted in the depths of the human
soul and in a love of nature.
August 2012 – Biography – 550 p.
Former journalist, François Mathieu is a translator, literary critic and author. He has
translated numerous German literary greats, including Grimm, Kafka, Brecht and
Wassermann. He also edited, translated, and introduced a collection of texts by Hermann
Hesse, Brèves nouvelles de mon jardin (Calmann-Lévy, 2005).
55
Foreign Sale : Shanghai Century
Literature (Simplified Chinese).
PETITES PHILOSOPHIES – A Dose of Philosophy series
Catherine Rambert
We all know it is difficult to discern our happiness amongst the stress, the noise and worries of every day
life. With one thought per page and one philosophical tale for every season, this collection brings together
365 thoughts, aphorisms, or hints to help the reader take a step back and acquire more wisdom, appreciate
inner peace‟s silent presence, develop it through simple actions and share it with others.
PETITE PHILOSOPHIE DU MATIN – A Dose of philosophy in the morning
Do you wish you be calmer, more balanced and happier in your day-to-day life ? This title suggests simple
daily strategies that everyone can use to succeed and maintain peace of mind when dealing with the day’s
hassles. What better time than the morning, with its promise of a fresh, new start, to make good resolutions?
(2001)
French Sales : Book-club edition (GLM), Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Foreign Sales : Random House (German), Armenia (Italian), L&PM (Portuguese / Brazil).
PETITE PHILOSOPHIE DU SOIR – A Dose of philosophy in the evening
What valuable lessons can we learn at the end of each day ? Can we avoid repeating today’s mistakes
tomorrow ? Did we seize the day ? A Dose of philosophy in the evening offers advice and stratagems to reflect
upon at the end of the day, and what better moment than the nighttime to review the hours gone by and
make simple resolutions for tomorrow. (2002)
French Sales : Book-club edition (GLM), Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Foreign Sales : Ripol (Russian), Armenia (Italian).
PETITE PHILOSOPHIE DE LA PAIX INTÉRIEURE – A Dose of philosophy for Inner Peace
The search for inner peace is the eternal quest of all human beings. To be in peace, to live as well as possible
with one's self and with others. To seek harmony in all things and be aware of one's luck, to love, share and
exchange, and taste the pleasures of the moment... (2004)
French Sale : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Foreign Sale : Armenia (Italian), L&PM (Portuguese / Brazil).
PETITE PHILOSOPHIE POUR CEUX QUI VEULENT ATTEINDRE LE
SOMMET DE LA MONTAGNE – A Dose of philosophy for those who want
to reach the top of the mountain
Getting to the top of the mountain, fulfilling one’s dreams, or fully succeed, to lead a happy private and
professional life, to be in harmony with oneself, to surpass oneself, to reach for the stars… who hasn’t
dreamt of this ? (2006)
French Sale : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Foreign Sale : Armenia (Italian).
PETITE PHILOSOPHIE POUR SURMONTER LES CRISES
A Dose of philosophy for Overcoming Difficulties
With the world economic crisis hitting home, how are we to maintain a positive outlook ? How are we to
keep our spirits up and put things into perspective – or even see cause for hope – when everything seems to
be pointing to gloom and doom ? Catherine Rambert has the answers. (2009)
French Sale : Paperback edition (Le Livre de Poche).
Catherine Rambert is a journalist, and editor in chief of a major television magazine, Télé Star. She has also written La Fête des
maires, published by Lattès, Femmes d’influences, published by Hachette/Carrère, and has penned her first novel Impostures sur papier
glacé, published by Éditions n°1 in 2007.
56
HENRI BRUNEL
LES PLUS BEAUX CONTES ZEN – The Most Beautiful Zen Stories
These three volumes of Zen tales, stories and anecdotes offer a wide range of
traditional material from Japan, China, Tibet, and India. A few of these pieces
are new accounts of parables by Zen masters, but they are mostly based on oral
traditions that go back to early Buddhist sources.
Varying in length from half a page to half a dozen pages, these 70 delightful
short stories, have at least one thing in common : they are all designed to break
ordinary expectations, to surprise and charm the reader into fresh ways of
thinking – whether they transport us to a world of animals who think and speak
like scheming humans, a romantic realm of heroes and princesses, or the downto-earth everyday life of monks, beggars, robbers, courtesans, and greedy nobles.
Also exists in an illustrated version (2002)
Foreign Sales : Diogenes (German), La Campana (Catalan), Sic ! Publishers (Polish),
November 2001 – Tales
Pro Print Publishers (Romanian), Ripol Classic (Russian), Garamond (Czech).
CONTE DU CHAT MAÎTRE ZEN – The Tale of the Zen Master Cat
Entrusted to a Zen leader, Koyabashi the cat, an old tomcat all covered with
scars, has dedicated his youth to learning and serving. As he became a leader
himself, he carried on with his spiritual quest travelling the length and
breadth of Japan, accompanied by his only disciple, a little monk cat, naive
and a bit undisciplined. Wandering from temple to temple, the two pilgrims
discover all the different stages of Zen wisdom.
Thus the story of their trip is both a tale in which you can find all the
qualities (especially the sense of humour and poetry) that made Les Plus beaux
contes zen a success and a real introduction to the key concepts of Buddhism :
“the Four Noble Truths”, “the Noble Eightfold Path”, “the Six
Perfections”… These teachings have never been presented in such a brilliant
and lively way.
September 2004 – Album
Thanks to Christian Roux’s numerous illustrations, inspired by Henri
Brunel’s text, The Tale of the Zen Master Cat will delight the eye and the mind
of the readers of all ages.
Foreign Sales : Soshi-Sha (Japanese), Eurasian Press (Complex Chinese), Sic ! Publishers (Polish),
DTV (German), Solbaram Publishers (Korean), Garamond (Czech).
French Sale : Paperback (Points Seuil).
Calmann-Lévy also published Henri Brunel‟s Humour zen (2003) and L‟Année zen (2003).
57
We are represented exclusively by the following agents :
- GERMAN :
Liepman Agentur
Ms. Eva Koralnik
Englishviertelstrasse 59
8032 Zürich - SWITZERLAND
Tél : 41 43 268 23 80 / Fax : 41 43 268 23 81
[email protected]
- GREEK :
Ms. Niki Dougé
4 rue Jeanne d’Arc
75013 Paris - FRANCE
Tél : 33 1 45 86 07 48
[email protected]
- ITALIAN :
Luigi Bernabò & Associates
Mr. Luigi Bernabò
Via Cernaia 4
20121 Milano - ITALY
Tél : 39 02 45 47 37 00 / Fax : 39 02 45 47 35 77
[email protected]
- SPANISH & PORTUGUESE :
AMV Agencia Literaria
Mr. Eduardo Melon Vallat
Maldonadas 9, 2° Dcha
28005 Madrid - SPAIN
Tél : 34 91 365 25 16 / Fax : 34 91 364 07 00
[email protected]
Translations : Heather Allen
Cover illustration : Cédric Scandella

minecraft map height limit

Frankfurt rights guide

Year 9 - Coombe Girls` School

Program Notes - Squarespace

Mini-Bibliobattle in English 表現集 Introducing your book and author

AFI Older Persons Report SOCIAL FORUM ON THE Rights of Aging

Press Monitoring August 25 to September 2, 2014

DES ジャパン LNG ノンデリバラブル・フォワード OTC 取引に関する基本

May 2014 - Ville de Montréal Ouest

Honors Composition Summer Reading 2013-2014 Student Name