THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING SENSATION WITH OVER 10 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
'Witty and touching' - Gillian Anderson
'Wins over its fans with a life-affirming message, a generous portion of heart and Barbery's frequently wicked sense of humor' - Time Magazine
'Clever, informative and moving' - Observer
Renée is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building. To the snobbish residents she is all they expect from a caretaker - hard working, dowdy and unsophisticated. But Renée has a secret. Beneath this façade she is a self-taught intellectual, devoted to Japanese arthouse cinema and her cat, Leo Tolstoy.
Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma has also learned to conceal her gifts. The precocious and lonely daughter of pampered parents, Paloma is convinced that life is meaningless and plans to end it all on her next birthday. But the arrival of a charismatic new resident will bring dramatic change to 7, Rue de Grenelle, altering the course of both their lives forever.
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'Resistance is futile . . . you might as well buy it before someone recommends it for your book group' - Guardian
'A book of great charm and grace' - Metro
'The book's attractive, Amélie-esque Parisian setting and cast of eccentrics will appeal to many' - Sunday Telegraph
'Breathtakingly singular novel . . . totally French yet completely universal' - Good Housekeeping
'A user's guide to life which is a delight on every level' - Elle
About the Author :
Muriel Barbery is the author of four previous novels, including the IMPAC-shortlisted multimillion-copy bestseller The Elegance of the Hedgehog. She has lived in Kyoto, Amsterdam and Paris and now lives in the French countryside.
Review :
Witty and touching, this novel features two of my favorite female characters
Resistance is futile . . . you might as well buy it before someone recommends it for your book group. Its charm will make you say yes
Clever, informative and moving . . . an admirable novel which deserves as wide a readership here as it had in France
Wins over its fans with a life-affirming message, a generous portion of heart and Barbery's frequently wicked sense of humor
A book of great charm and grace
Breathtakingly singular novel . . . totally French yet completely universal
The book's attractive, Amélie-esque Parisian setting and cast of eccentrics will appeal to many
Gently satirical, exceptionally winning and inevitably bittersweet
Enthusiastically recommended for anyone who loves books that grow quietly and then blossom suddenly
Reveals itself as a version of the Cinderella fairytale
Barbery's sly wit . . . bestows lightness on the most ponderous cogitations
The narrators' kinetic minds and engaging voices (in Alison Anderson's fluent translation) propel us ahead
An elegant, light-spirited and very European adult fable
Nobody ever imagined that this tender, funny book with a philosophical vein would have enjoyed such incredible success. For some, it is part Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, part Monsieur Malaussene by Daniel Pennac. While for others it resembles a written version of the film Amélie. Either way, readers are responding in vast numbers
The reader will be amused, surprised and moved by this philosophical tale: a user's guide to life which is a delight on every level
At once absurd and lyrical, cheery and bleak, contemplative and tender . . . It is the revelatory joy the characters afford each other - with recognition, with friendship, with love - that quietly rises to the top
A beautiful story with a large cast of fascinating, complicated characters whose behavior is delightfully unpredictable
Commands the sophistication, polish and mental agility that often distinguish French fiction . . . Barbery has a warm heart and a heart moreover that knows that great art and the best philosophy may (just possibly) possess redemptive qualities, or at least make life bearable in a materialistic and self-indulgent world Sydney Morning Herald
