fiction - Anastasia Lester Literary Agency - Free

FICTIONJoann Sfar, a multi-talented artist, achieved fame through his graphic-novel series DUNGEON and THERABBI’S CAT. But he has also had a successful debut as a filmmaker, with his biography of Serge Gainsbourgand the animated adaptation of THE RABBI’S CAT. (His website: joann-sfar.com) Joann Sfar has stayed true tothe themes dear to his heart, treating them with wry humor.Ferney, Alice: CHERCHEZ LA FEMME(Actes Sud, March 2013, 550 pages)60 000 copies sold in FranceTop 15 bestseller lists.Ø The author analyzes the story of a couple, from falling in love to breaking up. An uncompromisingportrait of a couple from every angle, showing the subtlest nuances of how their feelings evolve over thedecades.Ø A lush, meaty novel, about women, couples, love, family and how the way one was raised affects one’sadult life; and about death, illusions, broken dreams and reality – and how painful it can be to be pulledup short by it. A thoroughly absorbing character study, CHERCHEZ LA FEMME is a captivating bookthat takes apart the delicate mechanisms of a marriage with remarkable intelligence, sensitivity andhumor.Ø The novelist performs a veritable dissection of the couple: heredity, education and unspokenexpectations: implacable reflections about matrimonial and familial happiness; a complete and lucidimmersion in a couple’s intimacy, marked with stunning truthfulness and humanity.Alice Ferney’s impressive ninth novel follows two families joined by marriage, from the 1960s to thepresent day. With her wonderful narrative sense, her artistry in creating characters and her profoundpsychological insight, the author explores a couple’s expectations, desires and disappointments.Vladimir Korol, 27, an engineer and a Communist, lost his mother when he was still a child. NinaJavosky, 15½, is the daughter and granddaughter of miners. He plays the accordion, she dreams of a career as asinger. They get married, and Nina has her first child when she is 17: first Serge, then Jean take all her time andenergy. Nina stops school, starts drinking too much and regrets not having a real job. Serge, the favorite son,grows up to become a successful lecturer. He marries Marianne, an athletic, outgoing woman. The young coupleinherits both hopes and inner wounds from their parents and grandparents. As precisely as clockwork, thenovelist shows how their freedom is restrained by the invisible determinism passed down from precedinggenerations. Fifteen years later, Serge, in the midst of a mid-life crisis, falls in love with another woman.Marianne takes a lover too, and they eventually get divorced.First his parents, then his ex-wife die. The novel ends with Serge’s death at age 70, in a fast car with ayoung mistress beside him.The plot expresses the burden of personal desires; misunderstandings and differences between socialcategories show up through dialogue. But the keynote is what the characters tell themselves, how their dreamsget pulled up short by reality, how they cope with both life and solitude.Since 1993, Alice Ferney has written several critically acclaimed books published by Actes Sud,including LE VENTRE DE LA FEE, L’ELEGANCE DES VEUVES, GRÂCE ET DENUEMENT (winner ofthe Culture et Bibliothèques pour Tous Prize; English title: “Angelina’s Children”), LA CONVERSATIONAMOUREUSE (“The Lovers”), DANS LA GUERRE, LES AUTRES, PASSE SOUS SILENCE. A critic for theFigaro littéraire, this mother of three also wrote PARADIS CONJUGAL, published by Albin Michel in 2008.Rights sold: Italy (Bompiani)“Alice Ferney sauve son roman du désespoir par un sens de l'humour à toute épreuve – conjugale.Marianne lui donne une grâce folle par son intelligence et sa bienveillance. Cherchez la femme.” Elle“Ce livre impressionnant de la dépendance amoureuse sera aussi celui de la liberté et de l'ironieconquises au bout d'une intarissable épopée du bonheur et de la grande douleur.” Le Figaro littéraireCusset, Catherine: INDIGO(Gallimard, January 2013, 320 pages)65 000 copies sold in France !Ø Linking events together with precise and effective narrative craft, Catherine Cusset’s latest novel leads usto discover a humanity that is complex, tormented and compelling.Contact: Mrs Anastasia Lester ; Email:anastassia.lester@free.fr 5