2015 London Book Fair
Plon www.plon.fr
Rights sales manager Florence maletrez florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com
PLON & PRESSES DE LA RENAISSANCE 12 avenue d’Italie 75013 PARIS Tel : + 33 (0) 1 44 16 09 30
Contents
Fiction Literature Rudik, the other N ureev, Philippe Grim bert………………………………………………….. p . 3 Of A mber and Silk, N edjm a……………………………………………………………………..p. 4 Hold me tight, Marie Fryd m an…………………………...……………………………………. p . 5 A season of granite, Florian Ferrier………………………..…………………………………… p. 6 M onsieur is dead, Karine Silla………………………………..………………………………… p . 7 If I were Rich, Sophie Talneau………………………………...……………………………….. p. 8 The Judge, Christophe Lam bert………………………………...………………………………p . 9 Historical Novels The W olf and the Lion, Denis Lépée………………………………………………………….. p. 10 Eugène and M athilde, Michel Setan………………...………………………………………… p. 11 The Little Pest and Puss in Boots, Juliette Benzoni………………………………………….. p. 12 Letizia, Patrick d e Carolis…………………………………………………………………….. p. 13
Non-Fiction
EVENT A bout Islam, Olivier Ravanello……………………………………………………..……….. p. 14 Biography Geneviève de Gaulle A nthonioz, Caroline Glorion………………………..…………………. p. 15 Geneviève de Gaulle and Germaine Tillion: Dialogues…………………………………………p. 16 A lice Guy, First W oman Filmmaker in History, Emm anuelle Gaum e…..………………….. p. 17 1 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Document Jihadism, David Bénichou, Farhad Khosrokhavar, Philippe Migaux……………………..p. 18 A mazing and unexplained, Did ier van Cauw elaert……………………………………..……p. 19 Sociology Godless or Lawless, Monique Canto-Sperber…………………………….……………………p. 20 The new clash of generations, Marie-France Castarèd e, Sam uel Dock……….………….…..p. 21 W hat unites us?, Roger Pol-Droit…………………………………………..…….……………p . 22 The keys to the Future, Jean Staune………………………………………..…….……………..p. 23 W hy are our children so uneducated?, François-Xavier Bellam y………...…….……………..p. 24 A nd God created sex, Patrick Banon……………………………………………....……………p. 25 Philosophy Snobbery, Ad èle van Reeth and Raphaël Enthoven…………………………………………p. 26 True Life stories Rose, Thierry Lévy…………………………………..…………………………………………p. 27 Defying Chaos, Sœ ur Sophie d e Jésu s………………………………………………………...p. 28 The M aster’s breath, Blanche d e Richem ont………………………………………………… p. 29
Dictionary for lovers of… Dictionary for lovers of Journalism, Serge July……………………………………………….. p. 30 Dictionary for lovers of the M editerranean, Richard Millet……...……………………………p. 30
2 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Literature
RUDIK, THE OTHER NUREEV Already 13,000 copies sold in France!
Philippe GRIMBERT 180 pages
A journey into the life story of a living legend Tristan Feller, a Parisian psychoanalyst, is reputed to have received a great num ber of celebrities from the w orld of perform ance or literature in his consulting room . Wiser after these years of practice, he enjoys this reversal of the situation in w hich t hese inaccessible id ols strip them selves of their m ask to becom e once again, through psychoanalytic transfer, trem bling child ren w ho place their d estiny in his hands. One encounter w ith an uncom m on patient w ill nonetheless upset his usual analytic behavior and bring him , against his w ill, to experience his practice in a d ifferent light. Returning from his first visit to Russia since his fam ous leap tow ard s liberty, Rud olf N ureyev confid es the reasons for his profound d epression to his psychoanalyst…The aura of this singular m an im poses such an unusual pace in the therapeutic relationship that Feller rapid ly find s him self d estabilized by his encounter w ith the star. Which one w ill actually lead the dance and become the analyst of the other?
By the author of A Secret translated into 25 languages
Philippe Grimbert is a psychoanalyst, w riter, and essayist. His novels, Un secret (Grasset, 2004 – Prix Wiso and Grand Prix des lectrices de Elle), La M auvaise Rencontre (Grasset, 2009), and Un garçon singulier (Grasset, 2011) have m et w ith popular and critical success. H e is also the author of several essays, includ ing Psychanalyse de la chanson, Pas de fumée sans Freud and Chantons sous la psy.
3 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Literature After N edjma’s w orldw ide best-seller
OF AMBER AND SILK
L’AMANDE
N edjma 288 pages
A torrid novel of the sexual adventures of a Muslim man in Paris, as w ell as a satirical tract in w hich an Arab w oman settles the score w ith him. For the third tim e, N ed jm a takes on the them e that rem ains the p enu ltim ate taboo of the Arab w orld : sex. After L’Amande, an initial narrative that w ill stand out in the history of literature as the first erotic novel w ritten by an Arab w oman , and La traverse des sens, w hich traces the erotic jou rney of a you ng Mu slim w om an, D’ambre et de soie is the tale of the sexu al escap ad es of a Moroccan stu d ent w ho has com e to Paris. Constitu tionally incap able of loving w om en – let alone Eu rop ean w om en – d u e to his cu ltu re, Karim find s h im self confronted w ith the tu rbu lent sexu ality of Western Society. Destiny w ill p lace Bad ra, the heroine of L’amande, squ arely in his p ath, and she w ill take him in hand . H aving recovered from the affairs of her you th, accom p anied only by the m em ory of her form er lover, now in his tom b, Bad ra has becom e a m atu re w om an, p erhap s a bit jad ed , bu t w ise in the w ays of love. She is the one Karim , the Arab, w ill ap p roach to tell of his love life and his sex life, to try som ehow to u nd erstand w here it has all gone w rong. In retu rn, Bad ra w ill not hesitate to tell him a few p lain tru ths concerning Arab m en. The new and long-aw aited novel of N edjma, author of L’Amande, the novel w hose international success led to its publication in 25 countries (w ith over 120,000 copies sold in France alone), stand ing ou t as the first erotic novel w ritten by a Mu slim w om an. N ed jm a is also the au thor of La traversée des sens (Plon, 2009). Since she received a nu m ber of d eath threats w hen L’A mande w as p u blished , the au thor p refers to stick to her nom d e p lu m e, N ed jm a, rather than reveal her id entity .
Rights sold in Lithuania (Alma), Taiw an (Aquarius), Serbia (Laguna)
Brazil (Editorial Objetiva) Croatia (N aklad a Oceanm ore) Germ any (Droem er Verlagsanstalt) Denm ark (Tid erne Skifter) Finland (Wsoy) Greece (Livanis) Great-Britain (Transw orld ) Spain (Maeva Ediciones)
L’amande w as sold in :
Italy (Einaud i) Japan (Bungei Shunku) Poland (Zysk) U.S.A (Grove Press) H ungary (Trivium Kiado) The N etherland s (De Bezige Bij) N orw ay (Bazar Forlag AS) Portugal (Asa/ grupo Leya)
Russia (Ripol Classic) Rom ania (Ed itura Trei) Serbia (Laguna) Slovenia (Mlad inska Zalozba) Sw ed en (Bazar Förlag AB) Czech Republic (Brana) Turkey (Erko Yayincilik) Taiw an (Aquarius Publishing) Vietnam (Cong ty co phan Van Viet) 4
Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Literature
HOLD ME TIGHT Marie FRYDMAN 180 pages
The journey of a modern young w oman w ho is determined to break free, to grow and to love. An art student, Laura seeks inspiration for her life in dreams and romance novels; she imagines having the perfect father and meeting Prince Charming. But the day of her twenty-third birthday, she finds herself alone, collapsed on the couch in her Paris studio apartment. The truth of her situation is glaringly obvious: a phone that never rings, a father who is never there, and no boyfriend. Despite the shadows of a painful past, still vivid in her memory, Laura makes a solemn vow to find her way out of this loneliness that has invaded her life for too long… Between hopes and encounters, disappointments and joys, Laura makes us laugh and cry. We all can relate to this young woman of today, determined to break free, to grow and to love: there is a bit of her in each of us.
Born in 1983, Mary Frydman is a psychologist. She lives in Paris. Tiens-moi fort is her first novel.
• The author is a psychologist and her descriptions of the vulnerabilities, shortcomings and ambitions of her heroine are skillful and subtle. • A sincere and intelligent “feel-good book”, whose endearing heroine we enjoy identifying with.
5 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Literature
A SEASON OF GRANITE Florian FERRIER 288 pages
1943, on a French island of the Atlantic Ocean occupied by the German. Léonie, 16 years old, explores the island, unveiling her family’s secrets… France, 1943, Saint-Kristen island. Daughter of innkeepers, Léonie lives off the coast of Bretagne, on an island occupied by the Germans. She had to leave her boarding school in Brest when the Germans bombed the city. For her, this return is a nightmare: her mother hates her. Every day, she has to suffer through the bullying of this haughty woman, who despises both her daughter and her husband, a shy man who came back crippled from the war. Léonie knows that the reason of this hatred is hidden somewhere on Saint-Kristen island… To escape her, she starts investigating, wandering alone around the island. But it is not without risk: England is close, and sends more and more spies on the French ground, arousing the suspicion of the Germans. She meets Andrew, an English paratrooper fallen on the island. Determined to hide him, Léonie will explore the island from top to bottom, discover which side each inhabitant is on… and unveil many secrets.
Florian Ferrier lived in eastern France before he left for Bora Bora at the age of 16. He then worked at Gaumont television’s animation studios in 1993. Author of several television series, he also published youth novels in 2004: L’ombre du corbeau and Complot à Lexington (Magnard), L’ange de Saint Privat and Île fantôme pour âmes perdues in 2006 and 2008 (Seuil jeunesse). He wrote the scenario of Hôtel étrange, a youth comic strip published by Sarbacane in 2010, winner of an award at the Angoulême comic strip festival. Currently director of storyboards at Toonfactory, his fantasy novel, Créatures, was published by Plon in June 2011.
6 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Literature
6,000 copies sold
MONSIEUR IS DEAD Karine SILLA 229 pages
D oes the death of one’s father mean that it is time for the end of the secrets, time for forgiveness? Or is it the time for resurgent guilt? The narrator of this unusual novel is Vincent, the second of four sons of the Rambaldi family. Fifteen years ago, he conquered his addiction to heroin by himself, thanks to an energetic plunge into Pascal’s Pensées, and left for Calcutta, where he became a foreman in Mr Kumar’s workshop. There, he tried to find a simple kind of happiness. But once again, destiny comes knocking at his door, in a phone call from his mother: “Your father is dead…” Once in Paris, Vincent is incapable of going up to the apartment. He is suddenly flooded with too many painful memories, all of which come back to him during his distraught and solitary flight from the scene. His father, Louis Rambaldi, was the heir of a family of Italian industrialists. He once owned the entire parisian building, which he turned into a fabulous museum to his own ego. A monster who insisted that everyone call him “Monsieur”, he gave his four sons a traumatic, perverse education. Why did Gabriel, the eldest brother, commit suicide? Since he took off in order to save himself, what if Vincent were to just turn around and go back to India, without seeing anyone? Finally, he decides to go upstairs, to go “home”, for a reunion dinner that turns into a free-for-all…
Karine Silla is a playwright, screenwriter, and director, and one can sense all three in this restrained first novel, in monologues, in flashbacks, an original and well-plotted work. A true story that has become fiction – one that Mauriac would have adored.
7 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Literature
IF I WERE RICH Sophie TALNEAU 200 pages
A social comedy about the clash of cultures, family, money and love In less than two years, Franck Marcou finds himself unemployed, poor and a widower, cast out with his three daughters to a gloomy little apartment in the center of the provincial city of Nantes. Still, he refuses to accept failure and continues to believe his luck – with a lot of willpower – can change. He starts a small computer business and the first clients he finds are the Baroness Elisabeth Vaugrenard and her daughter, Julia. What can the Marcous’ warm, noisy, modern but poverty-stricken household possibly have in common with the opulent but tragic solitude of his wealthy clients? Franck, who tends to be ill-at-ease in the world in general and in high society in particular, can’t yet imagine to what degree these two women with strong personalities will transform his way of life. Bildungsroman, social comedy about the clash of cultures, family, money and love, this novel cheerfully tackles such existential issues as abandonment, resilience, choices, success in life and last but not least, the possibility of happiness. Sophie Talneau, a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Nantes, worked in the marketing department of a laboratory before becoming a corporate journalist. She now writes screenplays and lives in Nantes. She has published On vous rappelera (We’ll call you back) (Hachette Littératures, 2005) and La working girl (Stock, 2007). • A subtle and on-target social comedy that captures the zeitgeist, rooted in the tribulations of daily life but sustained by hope and humor. • The success of Sophie Talneau’s previous books (On vous rappelera sold 12,000 copies, La working girl 32,000 copies.)
8 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Literature
THE JUDGE Christophe LAMBERT
In jail for avenging the murder of his w ife and daughter, Christophe Keller studies to become a law yer, then sets out relentlessly to hunt dow n evildoers. Convicted for taking revenge on the men who murdered his wife and daughter, Christophe Keller studies law in prison. Realizing how often the legal system is flawed or powerless, Keller turns into a bringer of justice, settling conflicts among his fellow inmates using his rare charisma and exceptional physical strength. When he comes out, he decides to become “The Judge”. He walks the streets, stalking villains and righting wrongs. It all starts with an incident in the subway. He stops a gang of delinquents from attacking a woman. When the brief fight is over, he forces the last surviving thug to transmit his message: “The Judge is here”. Keller then disappears behind his mysterious vigilante role. Who is this elusive avenger? The media want to know. The police try to stop him: no one has the right to take the law into his own hands. But the Judge is wily, with an infuriating knack for slipping through their net. Then one day a woman tips him off about all the corruption in the city, making a mockery of law and order. Now both organized crime and the police are after the Judge. Only one way out: Attack. This is the second novel written by Christophe Lambert, actor who starred in Greystoke and Subway. His first, La fille porte-bonheur (The girl who brings luck) was well-received (10,000 copies sold).
The second novel written by a well-known actor
A television series based on the book is planned
A mesmerizing hero, in the style of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry or Charles Bronson
9 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Historical Novels
THE WOLF AND THE LION D enis LÉPEE 408 p ages
In 1588, France is torn betw een the w olves – King Henry and his circle – and the lions – the D uke of Guise and the Catholic League. Young Gabriel is caught up betw een conspiracies, betrayals, kidnappings and assassinations. 1588. H enry III is abou t to top ple and w ith it the kingd om of France: the next king cou ld be a Protestant, H enry of N avarre. The Du ke of Gu ise, head of the Catholic Leagu e, is fighting to avert this intolerable prosp ect and to prevent another civil w ar from engulfing tow ns and cou ntrysid e. Meanw hile the qu een m other, Catherine d e Med ici, is scheming to protect both her son and the kingd om , relying on the influ ential sorcerer Cosimo Ru ggieri. N ot to m ention the strange N au ssac, a mysteriou s ad venturer w hose influ ence seem s limitless. In these trou bled tim es, Gabriel Lespéron , a you ng squ ire from the p rovince of Au vergne, has only one d ream : to leave his fam ily’s estate, rid e to the capital and take part in shap ing the fu tu re of France. By chance, along the road , he m eets the child ren of the Duke of Guise, Marie and François, and saves their lives. H e is engaged as m aster of arm s to François, a close friend of the Gu ise fam ily. Secret negotiations, consp iracies, betrayals, kid nap p ings and assassinations… Gabriel is cau ght u p in the fast-m oving d ram a of French history in the m aking. Forced to choose betw een his am bitions and his loyalties, he learns as m u ch about him self as he d oes abou t p ow er. An exciting coming-of-age novel along w ith a gripping reflection on pow er. After stu d ying history, p hilosop hy and p olitical science in Paris, D enis Lépée w orked for ten years in the p u blic sector before joining Veolia Environnem ent and then EDF. H e has p u blished fou r novels, reissu ed in p ap erback (Pocket) and translated in m ore than ten cou ntries, as w ell as several biograp hical essays. H is p reviou s novel, Le Chemin des fauxserments (The w ay of false oaths) w as p u blished by Plon in 2010.
• Som ew here betw een Robert Merle for its historical su bstance and Game of Thrones for its p ow er gam es and violent intrigu es • A classic and effective style, a w ell-d ocu m ented narrative, a su sp ensefu l p lot, likeable characters and the imaginative tw ists Denis Lép ée is know n for
Lépée’s books are translated into Spanish, D utch, German, Chinese, Korean, Romanian, Russian, Greek, Turkish…
10 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Historical Novels
EUGENE AND MATHILDE Michel SETAN 350 pages
Set in the period after N apoleon’s fall, a saga of starcrossed lovers.
A graduate of the Ecole du Louvre, Michel Setan has worked successively as a journalist, lecturer, docent for the French culture ministry, and director of the cultural coaching department of a communications agency. He is now an independent cultural coach for private clients. Eugène et Mathilde is his first novel.
1814. Following the fall of Napoleon, Louis XVIII holds court at the Tuileries. Two families on complete opposite sides, the Saint-Ivys and the Goulards, meet by chance at a ball. The former, old aristocrats just returned from exile, have one obsession: the return of their property, confiscated during the Revolution; the latter, rich commoners ennobled under the Empire, will resort to any ruse to keep their fortune and title. Baron Goulard does his utmost to arrange a marriage between his son Eugene, and naïve Mathilde de Saint-Ivy. After many ups and downs, the marriage is finally concluded. But when it comes to love, Eugene is the shallowest character and continues his scandalous adventures. He patronizes Joséphine, a prostitute from the Palais Royal. He takes advantage of a peasant girl, who bears him a child. And out of sheer bravado, he conspires against the King. When the plot is discovered, Eugene is forced into exile, just when his wife has become pregnant. At sea, his ship is captured by Barbary pirates… All the ingredients of a great family saga: thwarted love, trials and tribulations, plot twists, in a fascinating period in the history of France.
11 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Historical Novels
THE LITTLE PEST AND PUSS IN BOOTS Juliette BEN ZON I 400 pages
A gripping novel by the Queen of Historical Fiction. The D uchess of Abrantès, famed for her beauty and extravagance, w as nicknamed “the little pest” by N apoleon. Sum m er, 1807. Close to the Bonaparte fam ily since her child hood , Laure Martin d e Perm on, w hose origins are Corsican and Greek, can’t m ake up her m ind : d oes she love or hate the m an she first m et as an apprentice general, w hose boots w ere too big for his thin legs but w hose largerthan-life d estiny transform ed into the Emperor Napoleon? At sixteen, out of true and reciprocal love, she m arried General And oche-Alexand re Junot, a m agnificent m an of exceptional bravery. But Junot’s d evotion and ad m iration for his em peror are close to id olatry. Junot is governor of Paris, covered w ith honors and riches, soon to be Duke of Abrantès, but he’d glad ly throw it all aw ay to be his m ajesty’s hum ble aid e de cam p, at his beck and call night and d ay – a d ed ication that greatly irritates his w ife. She only occasionally fulfills her function as lad y -in-w aiting to N apoleon’s m other, but N apoleon, since his last cam paign, has grad ually pushed Junot out of his im m ed iate entourage, a torm ent for the poor man.
Juliette Benzoni’s books have a w id e and loyal follow ing. She is now established as the queen of French historical fiction, her novels includ ing notably the Ad ventures of Ald o Morosini, a series launched in 1994: The limping man from W arsaw, The emperor’s pearl, The tears of M arieA ntoinette, The gold chimera of the Borgias and The Talisman of Charles the Bold as w ell as the series Dance of daggers and W ar of the duchesses.
• The latest novel by the best-seller queen of French Historical Fiction. • Readers are alw ays fascinated by N apoleon and his intimacy
Juliette Benzoni’s w orks are translated in Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, Slovakia, Portugal, Spain, Korea…
12 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Historical Novels
LETIZIA R. BONAPARTE MOTHER OF ALL SORROWS
35,000 copies sold!
Patrick D E CAROLIS 330 pages
After his tw o best-sellers, Les Demoiselles de Prov ence and La Dame du Palat in, Patrick de Carolis presents the fictionalized diary of N apoleon’s mother, based upon original archives. « Who could have foreseen such a glorious future? How can one imagine giving birth to so many kings and queens, princes and princesses, and to this demi-god who made all of Europe tremble? The flight of the eagle. The Battle of Italy and the 18th of Brumaire, the Consulat and then the Empire, and we, his family, caught up in the wake of his fabulous destiny. Named Imperial Highness by the grace of my son, I shall never forget, despite all the wealth and glory, that the initials of my title were limited to L.R.B (Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte). I never allowed myself to be impressed by the finery of the Empire, the only thing that mattered to me was the future of my children. Mater Napoleonis I have been, to the point of exhaustion. I’ve seen it all—the farewells of Fontainebleau, the retreat to the Island of Elba, the Hundred Days and the final fall, and exile to Saint Helena. I wanted to join him there, but he refused. In desperation, I wrote to all the crowned heads of Europe. Nothing. Not even an answer. Am I not the mother of all sorrows? » Letizia R. Bonaparte.
Patrick de Carolis was the president of France television. His two historical novels Les Demoiselles de Provence (2005) and La Dame du Palatin (2011) have both been best-sellers in France and abroad.
500,000 copies sold.
100,000 copies sold.
Sold in Czech Rep. and Hungary
13 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Non-Fiction
RASHID AL GHANNUSHI: ABOUT ISLAM EVEN T Olivier RAVAN ELLO
For the first time, Rashid al-Ghannushi, THE leading thinker of political Islam, answ ers all the questions w e have today about Islam. A groundbreaking, game-changing book. Rashid al-Ghannushi, whose supporters call the Sheikh as a sign of respect for an elder who speaks words of wisdom, has been a political leader of the Islamist movement in Tunisia for 50 years. But his aura spreads far beyond his country’s borders. Throughout the Arab world people listen when he speaks. And his words have historical impact.
A foreign policy commentator for the French TV channel I-Télé, Olivier Ravanello has been a war correspondent for over a decade in the Middle East: Iraq, Syria, the Gaza Strip, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia. He has witnessed the transformation of these Islamist groups from clandestine underground movements to ruling parties.
Olivier Ravanello has interviewed him extensively, hours of dialogues without taboos or restrictions, about Islam and its relations with Europe, democracy, secularism, and other sensitive topics. Is Islam compatible with democracy? With secularism? Freedom? Respect for women? Is Islam itself a threat? How can we coexist with Muslims who want to live their religion fully and claim the right to do so? Is it true, for them, that the Muslim community’s rules are above the law? Is Europe in danger? What exactly is “moderate” Islam, and do moderate Islamists really exist? The simplest way to form an opinion is to start by questioning these “moderate Islamists”. That’s what this ground-breaking book sets out to do. A landmark book that must be read!
14 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Biography
GENEVIEVE DE GAULLE ANTHONIOZ Caroline GLORION 228 pages
A splendid biography of Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz . A member of the French Resistance w ho survived her deportation, she devoted her w hole life to the fight for human dignity. “Heroism – I don’t like the word. People need role models, so we invent heroes for them. But life isn’t like that. I don’t think we should seek a great life or a great destiny… We have to try to be just.” Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz rarely raised her voice, but she never hesitated to speak up, with firm determination, to be heard in political debate. In this book, she reveals her deepest beliefs and commitments. Niece of General de Gaulle, she joined the Resistance at the age of 18. Deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, she fought tirelessly against annihilation. This same “rejection of the intolerable” led her to join the organization ATD Quart Monde in 1958 to combat extreme poverty.
“Resistant” was the only adjective that Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz allowed to be attached to her name. Caroline Glorion, former journalist specializing in human rights, is a film director and author.
• The niece of General de Gaulle, Geneviève w ill have the honor of entering the Pantheon – the Paris mausoleum reserved to French national heroes - in May 2015. • The first edition of this biography has sold over 20,000 copies.
15 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Biography
DIALOGUES Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz & Germaine Tillion Introduced by Isabelle ANTHONIOZ-GAGGINI 192 pages
Previously unpublished conversations between two exceptional women, both deported for having joined the French Resistance. An exclusive document. “My mother, Geneviève de Gaulle, was part of the ‘convoy of 27,000’ with Germaine Tillion’s mother; they became friends during their transport to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in February 1944. There they joined Germaine Tillion, imprisoned several months earlier. The two younger women survived; Mrs Tillion was gassed. Geneviève and Germaine were never apart from then on, having become more than friends, more than sisters. As a daughter of Geneviève, I witnessed their endless and passionate conversations, part of their tireless work on consciousness and memory and their joint commitment to defend what is true and right and to fight the intolerable.” This book is a fragment of their dialogues. Laughter alternates with painful silences. The stories precise, detailed, terrible reveal a lucid but also fraternal vision of humanity. In an atmosphere of trust and affection, at Germaine’s home, they speak to Isabelle, daughter of Geneviève. Filmmaker Jacques Kébadian recorded these interviews in 2000. Isabelle has transcribed the words and adds her own memories.
Isabelle Anthonioz-Gaggini, daughter of Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz, worked with filmmaker Jacques Kébadian on the documentary “Germaine Tillion and Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz”. • A powerful lesson in humanity and courage. • Geneviève de Gaulle and Germaine Tillion will have the honor of entering the Pantheon – the Paris mausoleum reserved to French national heroes – in May 2015. • An exclusive text that complements the documentary by Jacques Kebadian, which will be released on 22 April.
16 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Biography
ALICE GUY FIRST WOMAN FILMMAKER IN HISTORY Emmanuelle GAUME 180 pages
“Alice Guy was an exceptional director” Martin Scorcese Alice Guy was born in 1873, an illegitimate child of mixed race. She spent her childhood between Chile, Switzerland and France, where she was placed in a convent school. In Paris, she was hired as an assistant by Léon Gaumont. Having quickly made herself indispensable, she was named, at age 22, the head of production of Gaumont studios, a unique status in the nascent history of the motion picture industry. In 1907, after making over a hundred films, Alice left France for the United States with her husband, Herbert Blaché. Four years later, the mother of two children, she was the richest director and producer in the country! The American press, fascinated by this self-made woman, treated her like a star. But behind the brilliant success story, Alice Guy’s personal life was worthy of a melodrama. Herbert, envious of his wife’s achievements, openly cheated on her and managed her business affairs against her wishes, forcing her to join the trusts when she wanted to devote herself to independent production, and then to move to Hollywood. In 1920, after a heated argument, Alice tried to shoot Herbert and to turn the gun on herself. Her husband and the Hollywood machine finally defeated her: in 1922, she took the boat back to France, alone with her two children. She died at the age of 94, in France, far from America and from the cinema that owed her so much. A journalist and radio and television host, Emmanuelle Gaume heads the production company “68 Productions”. She has written a novel, Déshabille-toi (Take off your clothes) (Plon, 2006).
A moving fictionalized biography that gives Alice Guy the place she deserves in the history of cinema and of women’s liberation. Emmanuelle Gaume is planning to produce a film about Alice Guy 17 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Document
JIHADISM GETTING TO KNOW IT, THE BETTER TO FIGHT IT D avid BEN ICHOU (judge), Farhad KHOSROKHAVAR (sociologist), Philippe MIGAUX (D efense Expert) 300 pages. Launching: 30 April 2015
A geopolitical, legal and sociological assessment of Jihad by three leading experts on Islamic terrorism. A must-have book. Rad ical Islam m ad e itself publicly visible m ore than thirty years ago d uring the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and again on 11 Septem ber 2001 w ith the attack against the United States. The phenom enon has since becom e global: w ith the exception of Latin Am erica, no continent is now spared . - Who are its actors? H ow d o they d efine them selves? - What is their id eological configuration? - H ow d o they manage to attract recruits not only in the Muslim w orld , but also in the West, and not only am ong Muslim m inorities but also w ithin a w hole new generation of converts? - Why are w om en attracted to this vision, w hich m arginalizes them ? Exam ining jihad ism from its geopolitical, legal and sociological angles, three leading experts on Islamic terrorism provid e answ ers to all these questions and open avenues for further thought on the future of this terrifying m ovem ent ad vocating end less holy w ar.
A magistrate in the anti-terrorist division of the Paris regional court, David Benichou is involved in training judges, investigators and lawyers in France and abroad. Farhad Khosrokhavar is a director of studies in the social sciences and a sociologist. He has published numerous books including Radicalization, Being twenty years old in the land of the ayatollahs with Amir Nikpey and Islam in prisons. Doctor of Ethnology and researcher on asymmetric conflicts, Philippe Migaux has been a lecturer at Sciences-Po in Paris on international security threats. He is the author of Al-Qaeda, are we threatened, Terrorism in the name of jihad and History of terrorism, from antiquity to Al Qaeda.
Recognized specialists on Islamist terrorism, the authors form a unique association that pools the resources of an anti-terrorist judge, a sociologist and an ethnologist.
18 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Document
AMAZING AND UNEXPLAINED STORIES D idier VAN CAUWELAERT 500 pages
After the success of the first volume, D idier van Cauw elaert presents a new collection of even more amazing phenomena. Realities that appear impossible at first, and yet can be explained.
“This new book is primarily the product of the reactions, revelations and extraordinary events triggered by Volume 1 among dozens of readers, eyewitnesses of phenomena and scientists. I couldn’t keep to myself the amazing experiences they told me about – and sometimes invited me to share.” – D.V.C. We discover incredible cases, both from the history of science and from very recent events, supported by solid evidence. These include unexplained distant healings; ‘impossible’ achievements by plants, animals and humans; audiovisual communications from beyond (or from our own psychic faculties); apparent contact with extraterrestrials, analyzed scientifically. And we also learn about elaborate deceptions staged by military groups, gurus, mediums and other charlatans. From A to Z, each example shakes up our worldview, for the better and (sometimes) for the worse.
Didier van Cauwelaert accumulates literary prizes along with public acclaim. He won the “Prix Del Duca” for his first novel in 1982 and the “Prix Goncourt” and “Prix Nimier” for Un aller simple (Oneway ticket) in 1994. He also received the “Prix Science de la Vulgarisation Scientifique” for his book L’apparition (The apparition) in 2002. He recently published Le principe de Pauline (Pauline’s principle) (Albin Michel, 2014).
The first volume of the Dict ionnaire de l’impossible sold 50,000 copies. The paperback edition already sold 16,000 copies. Translated in Romanian and Italian.
The book w ill provide the topics for 35 daily radio show s aired in summer 2015.
19 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Sociology
GODLESS AND LAWLESS Monique CANTO-SPERBER 224 pages
Human relationships fall mainly into the categories of love and friendship. Monique Canto-Sperber, philosopher, provides answ ers to our most vital questions on these eternal issues. Human relations are not lawless. When two people share a bond, certain behaviors and commitments are expected of them, and if they display certain forms of indifference or disdain we are shocked. In a friendship, what are these implicit norms of behavior that cause certain actions or words to be considered objectionable? How do we become friends? What is it that we are pledging to do? Can we stay friends if the other person changes? When we engage in a romantic relationship, is adultery a form of betrayal? Can we continue to be in love with someone we cheat on? Can we love two people at the same time? Are we in love with an individual person or a set of qualities? Can we continue to love when the person has lost everything that made us love them? The philosopher Monique Canto-Sperber answers all these questions, deciphering the expectations that nourish the range of human bonds as soon as they begin to be projected into the future, laden with hopes and with representations of the self and the other. A book that takes up themes dear to Stendhal in his On Love and to Roland Barthes in A Lover's Discourse: Fragments ‒ ageless questions. Philosopher Monique Canto-Sperber, 60, is the former director of the Ecole normale supérieur-rue d’Ulm and the CNRS-EHESS’s Centre Raymond Aron for political research, as well as the producer of a radio show on ethics for France Culture. Head of a collection for the publisher Presses Universitaires de France, she is the author of several books on ancient philosophy and moral and political thought, including, published by Plon, Les Règles de la liberté, Le Bien, la Guerre et la Terreur : pour une morale internationale, and Naissance et libertés : la procréation, quelles limites?
• A pow erful and timeless subject, tackled by a prominent author. 20 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Sociology
THE NEW CLASH OF GENERATIONS Marie-France CASTAREDE, Samuel DOCK 384 pages
The divide between generations has never seemed so wide. Two authors of different ages invite the reader to take part in a new social experiment. In 1969, the American anthropologist Margaret Mead published “Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap”. She described the profound upheaval caused by the technological revolution and noted how our ways of apprehending the world and our means of socio-cultural transmission had changed. Above all, she stressed the need to restore dialogue between old and new generations. More than thirty years later, what is left of her message when the rift between age groups has never seemed so deep? This is the essential question Marie-France Castarède and Samuel Dock took as the starting point for their study. The authors, both clinical psychologists but belonging by age to two very different generations, compare viewpoints on their era and combine their theoretical but also emotional knowledge to describe intergenerational conflict and analyze its components social, cultural and particularly psychological. In today’s world of socially accelerated time, scientific discoveries and their technological implications, and environmental crisis, the authors’ main objective is to use their knowledge of humanity to open a dialogue between age groups. The body, images, time, the couple, the family, art, science, our planet Earth, spirituality….The authors consider a wide spectrum of significant issues to define what separates Generation Y, also known as the Millennials, from its predecessors. Marie-France Castarède, a professor of psychopathology and a psychoanalyst, was born in 1940. Among her many publications, her Introduction à la psychologie clinique (Introduction to clinical psychology) has become one of the most widely-read academic reference books. Samuel Dock, 28, a clinical psychologist, belongs to Generation Y. His first novel, L’Apocalypse de Jonathan (Jonathan’s apocalypse) (2012), was received enthusiastically by readers and critics. He began writing a column for the Huffington Post France in April 2012, and later for the Huffington Post Quebec. • A new approach to a crucial social issue by Marie-France Castarède, w hose w ork is
authoritative. • Samuel D ock is follow ed by the press and a large blogging community. 21 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Sociology
WHAT UNITES US? Roger-Pol DROIT 140 pages
In a w orld more and more divided, w hat unites us still as human beings? The world is more and more divided. The oppositions between rich and poor, urban and rural, nationals and migrants, young and old are intensifying. The landscape of our time seems more and more patchy, fragmented and conflictual. This is the front of the stage. In reality, we still have everything that unites human beings. But this background seems to be forgotten, ignored, misunderstood. The book’s purpose is to light it up again - in its most simple aspects as well as in its complexity. To get a clear view of this unity within diversity, the best guiding principle is to question what we mean when we say “we”. Is this the “we” of a family? Of one language? Of a nation? Or of a civilization? Are we referring more generally to all humans? Even more broadly, to all living things? The entire planet? Depending on which “we” is meant, what unites us is not defined or conceptualized in the same way. This essay does not intend to deliver a comforting message, or to make us believe that all we need is a bit of goodwill, and we can end conflict and settle our disputes. Rather, it seeks to show the double face of today’s world and the human condition: always simultaneously linked and divided, caught between the forces that bring together and those that disperse – Eros and Thanatos. Roger-Pol Droit is a philosopher, writer and journalist. He is a columnist for Le Monde, Le Point, Les Echos and Clés. An alumnus of the École normale supérieure, he has been a researcher at the CNRS, seminar director at Sciences-Po. He is the author of some thirty books, several of which have been translated into multiple languages; they include, published by Plon, Les héros de la sagesse (Heroes of wisdom) (2009) and Petites expériences de philosophie entre amis (Small philosophy experiments with friends) (2012).
• Leading contributor to Plon’s “philosophie” line w ith Luc Ferry, Roger-Pol D roit receives extensive media coverage. • A philosophy book targeting the general reader 22 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Sociology
THE KEYS TO THE FUTURE REINVENTING TOGETHER SOCIETY, THE ECONOMY AND SCIENCE Jean STAUN E 300 pages
Incredible changes – economic, scientific, religious – are shaking up our w orld. This essay provides the keys to understand them and take advantage of the opportunities they w ill bring. The successive crises occurring today have a significance that few of our contemporaries have grasped: they show we are in a process of change comparable to the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity. The economy, business, politics, science and religion have been, are, and will continue to be profoundly transformed by a movement affecting society as a whole, and leading to a postmodernity whose outlines are only just beginning to emerge. With a concern for synthesis and simplicity, Jean Staune reveals the often-overlooked links between a series of revolutions that are changing the way we live, work and think as well as affecting our environment. He provides us with all the guidelines we need to navigate through the turbulence of the present and to make the most of the opportunities that such changes will inevitably generate. The result of fifteen years of research and discussion with hundreds of leading experts in the fields of economics, politics, science, business and religion, this book is essential for understanding the world of today and preparing for the future.
Jean Staune has been teaching at the HEC MBA Paris business school since 1995. He works as an expert with the Association pour le progrès du management. For Presses de la Renaissance, he has written Does our existence have meaning? (2007) and Science taken hostage (2010), and edited the collection La Science, l’Homme et le Monde (Science, humanity and the world), which brought together thirty-five authors including eleven Nobel Prize winners. By the same author, Not re exist ence a-t -elle un sens ? (D oes our existence have meaning?): 32,000 copies sold to date. Preface by Jacques Attali, France’s most influential economist
23 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Sociology
WHY ARE OUR CHILDREN SO UNEDUCATED? 20,000 copies already sold!
François-Xavier Bellamy (240 pages)
François-Xavier Bellamy describes the rupture betw een generations, the one refusing to transmit its know ledge and its heritage to the other, thus compromising the foundations and the future of our society. Fifty years after Pierre Bourdieu, François-Xavier Bellamy acknowledges the following state of affairs: we still wish to educate, but we no longer wish to pass on. This crisis of culture is not the result of a problem of means, financing, or management. A unique phenomenon has occurred in Western Society, a break never before experienced, in which one generation refuses to transmit to the following all it has to offer, the whole of its knowledge, its reference points, the human experience that constitutes its heritage. In this work, the author seeks the means to reconstruct this dialogue of generations and traces the path that will avoid the destitution of a generation that cries out its will to live.
François-Xavier Bellamy holds an agrégation in philosophy and is a frequent commentator in the French press with a regular column in Le Figaro.
24 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Sociology
AND GOD CREATED SEX SEXUALITY, LOVE AND THE BIBLE Patrick BANON 300 pages
How did the Bible shaped our way of thinking sexuality? A playful examination of love and eroticism in the Bible. Desire, pleasure, love, marriage, virginity, homosexuality, incest, masturbation and prostitution: all aspects of sexuality can be found in the Bible! Evoked in a variety of mythical stories – the daughters of Lot, Samson and Delilah, David and Bathsheba, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, or Judith, Salome and Suzanne – they take on extraordinary importance. The interpretations and commentaries linked to them represent a continual attempt to define rules of relationship, to redefine masculine and feminine and to find rituals to bring them together. But what influence do these texts have on our modern behavior? By restaging each story and replacing it in its historical, social and religious context, Patrick Banon, a specialist in religious studies, links the great biblical texts and today’s reality. Writing in an accessible style for a wide audience, he reveals the Bible’s surprising eroticism and reframes the themes - divorce, gay marriage, orgasm, celibacy - that have been driving social debate for almost three millennia. A specialist in the science of religions and systems of thought, Patrick Banon heads the Institut des sciences de la diversité (Institute of diversity sciences). He organizes a variety of training courses and advises large corporations and institutions on managing cultural and religious diversity. He is the author of Flavius Josèphe (Flavius Josephus) and Bethsabée (Bathsheba) (Presses de la Renaissance) as well as Réinventons les diversités (Let us reinvent diversities) (First). Patrick Banon’s success is w ell-established since Flav ius Josèphe (more than 15,000 copies sold, sold in Argentinia and Spain) and Jésus (Michel Lafon, more than 7,000 sold)
25 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Philosophy
SNOBBERY Adèle VAN REETH, Raphaël ENTHOVEN 140 pages
Snobbery is a w ay of behaving tow ards others that starts w ith the assumption that our tastes are superior to theirs. Thus, no one is more snobbish than someone w ho despises snobs… Snobbery does not designate a type of person, but a way of behaving towards others that starts with the assumption that our tastes are superior to theirs. Thus, no one is more snobbish than someone who despises snobs. It has nothing to do with wealth or education: if snobbery resides in wanting to distinguish ourselves from others, in the act of showing off our singularity to escape the masses, then nothing is more natural and necessary for human survival in a democratic society. Snobbery is not a cosmetic artifice, nor an incurable disease. And only philosophy can talk about snobbery objectively, with neither praise nor condemnation.
A philosopher who specializes in the ordinary and in films, Adele Van Reeth produces and hosts “Nouveaux chemins de la connaissance” (New paths of knowledge), a daily philosophy program broadcast. Raphaël Enthoven is a professor of philosophy. He produces the broadcast “Le gai savoir” (The joy of learning) on France Culture radio, and hosts “Philosophie” on Arte television. He has written several books including In front of the stage, Philosopher on duty and other writings for Gallimard, and Child’s play for Fayard. He received the 2013 Prix Femina for his Dictionary for lovers of Marcel Proust. Tw o fam ou s au thors, w ho are in the vangu ard of a you ng generation of p hilosop hers: • Professor of p hilosop hy, rad io and television host, Raphaël Enthoven is one of France’s m ost highp rofile intellectuals • Adele Van Reeth’s rad io show w as pod casted 800,000 times in 2013
Other titles from the “Questions de caractère” series
26 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
True Life Stories
ROSE Thierry LEVY 400 pages
Reader, I envy you. This little girl crossing the Rue SaintSauveur, a cobbled street of Verdun, in August 1914, you will know her better than I do, and I’m her son.
The story of Rose, born in Verdun in 1906 into a Jewish family long established in the Lorraine region. It is intertwined with the events of the war of 1914, in which her three brothers fought. Nothing distinguished Rose and her siblings from others of their generation, with one exception. Because they were Jews, they had to prove their patriotism was even more intransigent. During the short period between Rose’s reaching the age of reason (1913) and the birth of her third child (1945), Europe had thrust the world into two wars of mass destruction. During the same period, two totalitarian regimes with shared characteristics clashed. Today, these regimes are dead. Did the ideas that conceived them and inspired the people living at the time disappear with them? The massacres of 1914-1918 dislocated the members of this family without opening their eyes. In Verdun, conscripts of the two populations at war learned about extermination and accepted it. Mass killings perpetrated by the belligerents of 1940 can be understood in the continuity of the crimes committed between 1914 and 1918. Before they were manufactured and used, the weapons used to carry out those crimes existed in the form of ideas shared by both perpetrators and victims. Rose and her relatives, saved by chance but also by love, lived through these events without escaping the collective blindness. French criminal lawyer Thierry Levy is a former chairman of the International Prisons Observatory and the author of Convaincre, dialogue sur l’éloquence (Convincing, a dialogue on eloquence) and Nos têtes sont plus dures que les murs des prisons (Our heads are harder than prison walls) (Odile Jacob, 1997).
27 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
True Life Stories
DEFYING CHAOS My battle against poverty among youth Sister Sophie de Jésus 252 pages
An exclusive memoir. For twenty years, Sister Sophie de Jésus fought poverty among young people in the Philippines, with unfailing energy. Sister Sophie de Jésus, a 47-year-old French nun, has spent the last twenty years in the Philippines leading young people out of poverty. She founded a “school for life” in Manila that rescues young girls from dire situations and helps them rebuild their lives. Her rehabilitation program for young prison inmates – with a 90% success rate! – will soon be replicated in Marseille, as the “programme seconde chance” (second chance program). This exceptional woman, with a strong personality and iron will – she left her community when it refused to allow her to be a missionary, and created her own, the Missionaries of Mary! combines the compassion of Mother Teresa with the activism of Sister Emmanuelle. Her fight against poverty and exclusion is also conducted through Acay (Association Compassion Asian Youth), the non-profit organization she founded in 1997. This is the testimony full of passion and sensitivity of a woman who experiences, day after day, “holiness in chaos” her motto.
Sophie Renoux, known as Sister Sophie de Jésus since she took her vows, was born in 1967 and became a nun in 1992. She spent four years as a missionary in New Caledonia before moving to the Philippines in 1997, where she founded the Association Compassion Youth Asia (Acay) and then, in 2007, the Missionaries of Mary. She received the insignia of Chevalier of the French National Order of Merit in 2013. Défier le chaos is her first book.
• The exclusive testimony of a w oman w ho combines the compassion of Mother Teresa w ith the activism of Sister Emmanuelle • This exceptional character’s great popularity w ith the public and catholic media
28 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
True Life Stories
THE MASTER’S BREATH Blanche de RICHEMONT 252 pages
An enlightening initiatory journey w ith an Indian spiritual teacher, an exceptional being w hose w isdom and humor bring liberation and salvation. “I dreamed of looking into someone’s eyes and seeing the light of the desert, pure, powerful and mystical. For years, this land had put me on the path. Now I was looking for a guide.” Blanche de Richemont found him in a small village in India, at the foot of the Himalayas. Her quest for the absolute found refuge in a glance that turned her life upside down. Vijayananda, ascetic who was a disciple of M. A. Andandamayi (one of the greatest saints India has ever known), accepted her at his side to teach her how to turn her life towards joy. To help her make this radical choice. In spite of everything. These pages relate her journey with the man regarded in India as a Rishi, a master of humanity. An initiatory path strewn with tears and laughter; anger and relief; doubt and certainty. These pages that read like a novel tell the story of a quest. They testify to the power of a being who lives in the heart of the mystery, to the magic of words that save, to the reality of joy at the heart of life. To the possibility of light.
A student of philosophy and tireless traveler, Blanche de Richemont, 35, is the author of In praise of the desert and In praise of desire (Presses de la Renaissance, 2004 and 2007); Harmony (Plon, 2011); and Vagabond manifesto (Plon, 2012; new edition Presses de la Renaissance, 2015).
The author’s previous w orks published by Presses de la Renaissance w ere very w ell -received: Éloge du désert and Éloge du désir both sold 5,000 copies.
29 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Dictionary for lovers of…
DICTIONARY FOR LOVERS OF JOURNALISM - Serge JULY - 864 pages From “C” for “Curiosity” to “Z” for “Zola”, including Albert Londres, Herodote and the Dreyfus Affair, Serge July expresses his passion for “the best job in the world”. “It’s a job for the curious, consisting of telling true stories. Since ancient tim es, the w ord story has signified sim ultaneously narrative, investigation and d irect vision. Often one or tw o of these d im ensions is m issing, som etim es all three. This d efinition , how ever, d ates back to H erod otus, our great ancestor. The best job in the w orld : being paid to travel, historians of the present, professional w itnesses, em otion sensors, seism ographs and m irrors of opinion, w ord provid ers and inventors of catch phrases, w e d ip our pens, our keyboard s, our phones and our m icrophones in the w ounds and d ysfunctions of the w orld . This exploration , w hen all the m ed ia are going through the w ash cycle of the d igital revolution , five centuries after Gutenberg, is a w ond erful opportunity, as a w orld end s and a new w orld begins. This highly subjective d ictionary of contem porary journalism is a kind of show case for m y passion.” S. J. Co-founder of the newspaper Libération and its head from 1973 to 2006, Serge July is a news commentator at RTL since 2006 and at the newspaper Les Inrockuptibles since 2011.
DICTIONNARY FOR LOVERS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN Richard MILLET - 800 pages
In his meanderings often personal and even intimate Richard Millet reminds us that we are all children of the Mediterranean. It’s a sea w ith tw o banks, three religions and tw enty-three countries along its coasts, w ith d ifferent nam es in various languages: Mare N ostrum for the Rom ans, Mid d le White Sea for the Arabs, etc. The Med iterranean is also subd ivid ed into several seas: Ad riatic, Tyrrhenian, Aegean, Ionian. Form erly the center of the w orld , the Med iterranean continues to represent an im portant geographical and political space and the cradle of our civilization because of Phoenicia, Jerusalem , Athens and of course Rom e. The d ivision betw een East and West is now d isappearing, as a result of migrations and the Am ericanization of the w orld . This is w hy the author prefers to speak of the Med iterranean in the singular, consid ering it in its civilizational rather than political d im ension, and in its still-active d iversity. Richard Millet was born in the south of France and spent his childhood in Lebanon. He is the author of some 75 books, novels, stories, essays, including Un balcon à Beyrouth, Cité perdue, Ma vie parmi les ombres and Le Sentiment de la langue, which received the French Academy’s essay award. 30 Foreign Rights Manager: Florence Maletrez. Florence.maletrez@editions-plon.com Plon & Presses de la Renaissance, 12 , avenue d’Italie, 75013 PARIS. www.plon.fr
Plon and Presses d e la Renaissance are an im print of Ed i8 12, avenue d ’Italie 75013 PARIS Rights Sales Manager Florence Maletrez Florence.maletrez@ed itions-plon.com