Welcome to a very exciting season for Gallic. From the greats of the past – a new translation of The Vatican Cellars by Nobel-prizewinner André Gide - to the greats of the present – The African Equation by contemporary phenomenon Yasmina Khadra – every title is a highlight. Spring sees the publication of the eagerly-awaited follow-up to The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain: The Red Notebook is sure to delight his fans. And the many who enjoyed Michel Déon’s modern classic, The Foundling Boy, will welcome its marvellous sequel, The Foundling’s War. Gallic continues to build its noir output with the latest extraordinary offering from Pascal Garnier, The Islanders. Equally dark is Jean Teulé’s historical tale of a female serial-killer, The Poisoning Angel. A list with something for everyone – enjoy!
The Poisoning Angel Jean Teulé
Translated by Melanie Florence Based on the story of real-life poisoner Hélène Jégado, one of the most notorious serial killers of all time. Schooled in the ancient beliefs of the Breton people by her mother, the beautiful Hélène grows up feeling detached from the nineteenthcentury world around her and yet destined for a terrible vocation: to do the work of l’Ankou, death’s henchman. Beginning with the demise of her very own maman, she leaves a trail of devastation with the special soups and cakes she makes – those who taste them never recover. July 2014 ISBN: 9781908313683 e-ISBN: 9781908313850 Format: B-Format paperback Extent: tbc/Price: £8.99 WEL
Jean Teulé brings his unique blend of imagination and historical insight to a novel that is both a vivid portrait of nineteenth-century provincial French life and a startling chronicle of a decades-long killing spree.
Praise for Jean Teulé: ‘Teulé’s milieu is centred on the “merriment of vice and cruelty”. His novels are bawdy, full of rollicking sex and roiling violence. However, he undercuts this with a graphic humour born of his earlier career as an illustrator ... The result is exceptionally cinematic prose.’ Independent on Sunday The Author: Jean Teulé lives in the Marais with the actress Miou-Miou. An illustrator, filmmaker and television presenter, he is also a prize-winning author.
The Vatican Cellars André Gide
Translated by Julian Evans Centenary edition “Well! That’s the most singular story I ever heard in my life!” Set in the 1890s, André Gide’s famous satire centres around a group of ingenious fraudsters (“The Millipede”) who convince their wealthy victims that the pontiff has been imprisoned in the Vatican cellars, and a false Pope has been enthroned in his place. Posing as clergy, they con money by promising to obtain the true Pope’s release and restoration. August 2014 ISBN: 9781908313690 e-ISBN: 9781908313843 Format: B-Format paperback Extent: tbc/Price: £9.99 UK&Commonwealth
The book features one of Gide’s most memorable creations: the amoral Lafcadio, who in pushing a man from a moving train commits the ultimate motiveless crime. Unavailable in the UK for 25 years, this scandalous, funny and highly original novel has been re-translated to mark the centenary of its publication.
The Author: André Gide was a giant of twentieth-century French literature. An innovator of the novelistic form, he undertook a life-long exploration of morality in his work, and was a major influence on the writing of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Gide was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947.
The Foundling’s War Michel Déon
Translated by Julian Evans In this sequel to the acclaimed novel The Foundling Boy, Michel Déon’s hero comes to manhood not through combat but by discovering truths about desire and possession, sex and love, and the nuances that lie between crudely drawn battle lines. In the aftermath of French defeat in July 1940, twentyyear-old Jean Arnaud and his ally, the charming conman Palfy, are hiding out at a brothel in Clermont-Ferrand, having narrowly escaped a firing squad. At a military parade, Jean falls for a beautiful stranger, Claude, who will help him forget his adolescent heartbreak but bring far more serious troubles of her own.
October 2014 ISBN: 9781908313713 e-ISBN: 9781908313836 Format: B-Format paperback Extent: 352pp/Price: £9.99 WEL
Having safely reached occupied Paris, the friends mingle with art smugglers and forgers, social climbers, showbiz starlets, bluffers, swindlers and profiteers, French and German, as Jean learns to make his way in a world of murky allegiances. But beyond the social whirl, the war cannot stay away forever... Praise for The Foundling Boy:
‘Our lives would be all the richer if we read a Michel Déon novel – a modern classic’ William Boyd ‘Quiet, wryly funny prose ... a delight’ Independent on Sunday ‘Remarkable ... deserves a place alongside Flaubert’s Sentimental Education and Le Grand Meaulnes’ New Statesman ‘I loved this book’ Paul Theroux The Author: Michel Déon is a member of the Académie française. Born in Paris in 1919, he is the author of more than fifty works. He lives in Ireland.
The Islanders Pascal Garnier Translated by Emily Boyce All is not well in the cradle of liberty. It’s a few days before Christmas in Versailles. Olivier has come to bury his mother, but the impending holidays and icy conditions have delayed the funeral. While trapped in limbo at his mother’s flat, a chance encounter brings Olivier back in touch with childhood friend Jeanne and her blind brother, Rodolphe. Rodolphe suggests they have dinner together, along with a homeless man he’s taken in. As the wine flows, dark secrets are spilled, and there’s more than just the washing up and hangovers to deal with the next morning... November 2014 ISBN: 9781908313720 e-ISBN: 9781908313881 Format: B-Format paperback Extent: tbc/Price: £7.99 WEL
Praise for Pascal Garnier: ‘Bleak, often funny and never predictable.’ The Observer His mordant literary edge makes these succinct novels stimulating and rewarding.’ Sunday Times ‘Action-packed and full of gallows humour.’ Sunday Telegraph
The Author: Pascal Garnier died in March 2010. From his home in the mountains of the Ardèche, he wrote fiction in a noir palette with a cast of characters drawn from ordinary provincial life. Though his writing is often very dark in tone, it sparkles with quirkily beautiful imagery and dry wit. Garnier’s work has been likened to the great thriller writer, Georges Simenon.
The African Equation Yasmina Khadra
Translated by Howard Curtis
One of the giants of francophone writing of our time, Algerian author Yasmina Khadra explores opposing views of Africa and the West to deliver a powerful message of friendship, resilience and redemption. Kurt Krausmann, a recently bereaved Frankfurt doctor, is persuaded to join his friend, wealthy benefactor Hans Makkenroth, on a humanitarian mission to the Comoros. The journey helps him begin to confront his loss, but soon misfortune strikes again: the boat he and Hans are travelling in is hijacked in the Gulf of Aden and the men are taken hostage.
February 2015 ISBN: 9781908313706 e-ISBN: 9781908313829 Format: B-Format paperback Extent: tbc/Price: £8.99 WEL
Praise for Yasmina Khadra:
Held in a remote hideout, the prisoners suffer harsh conditions and the brutality of their guards, who are self-styled warriors, ex-army captains and even poets drawn to banditry through poverty or opportunism. When the group decamps to a lawless desert region and Hans is taken away, Kurt sinks deeper into despair. But fellow inmate Bruno, a French ethnologist who has been travelling Africa for 40 years, attempts to show Kurt another side to the wounded yet defiant continent he has taken to his heart.
‘Khadra brings us deep into the hearts and minds of people living in unspeakable mental anguish.’ L A Times ‘A skilled storyteller working at the height of his powers.’ TLS ‘Like all the great storytellers of history, [Khadra] espouses the contradictions of his characters, who carry in themselves the entirety of the human condition.’ Le Point The Author: Yasmina Khadra is the pen name of award-winning Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul. He became director of the Algerian Cultural Centre in Paris in November 2007 and in November 2013 announced his candidacy for the presidency of Algeria.
The Red Notebook Antoine Laurain
Translated by Emily Boyce and Jane Aitken A sparkling new novel from Antoine Laurain, for fans of The President’s Hat. Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner. The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet.
April 2015 ISBN: 9781908313867 e-ISBN: 9781908313874 Format: B-Format paperback Extent: tbc/Price: £8.99 WEL
Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions? Praise for The President’s Hat: ‘A hymn to la vie Parisienne...enjoy it for its fabulistic narrative, and the way it teeters pleasantly on the edge of Gallic whimsy.’ The Guardian
‘As entertaining as it is original, this is a story to enjoy like a chocolate with a surprise centre.’ Marie France ‘Its gentle satirical humour reminded me of Jacques Tati’s classic films’ Library Journal The Author: Antoine Laurain was born in Paris and is a screenwriter, antiques collector and the author of six novels.
GUILLAUME
MUSSO The
Paper on
She fell out of a book and into his life...
‘An irresistible tale’ Glamour
e-book
Simon Pegg has been cast in the lead role in Peter Chelsom’s globe-trotting feel-good-movie HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS. Also starring Rosamund Pike, Stellan Skarsgård, Toni Collette, Jean Reno and Christopher Plummer. Adapted for the screen by Peter Chelsom and Tinker Lindsay from the bestselling novel by François Lelord, the film is a German/Canadian co-production produced by Egoli Tossell Film and Screen Siren Pictures.
Released Autumn 2014
Gallic Books 59 Ebury Street London SW1W 0NZ t: 0207 259 9336 w: gallicbooks.com
UK Sales: Compass Limited t: 020 8996 5764 w: compassdsa.co.uk
UK Distribution: Macmillan Distribution (MDL) t: 01256 302 692 e: orders@macmillan.co.uk
e-book 9781908313584
Elegance of the Hedgehog
Barbery, M
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Gourmet
Barbery, M
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Clisson & Eugénie
Bonaparte, N
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Baker Street Phantom
Bourland, F
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Dream Killer of Paris
Bourland, F
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Officer’s Prey
Cabasson, A
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Wolf Hunt
Cabasson, A
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Memory of Flames
Cabasson, A
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Carnage
Chattam, M
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Foundling Boy
Déon, M
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Foundling’s War
Déon, M
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Nagasaki
Faye, É
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Helena Rubinstein
Fitoussi, M
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Moon in a Dead Eye
Garnier, P
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Panda Theory
Garnier, P
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A26
Garnier, P
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Front Seat Passenger
Garnier, P
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How’s the Pain?
Garnier, P
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Islanders
Garnier, P
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Someone I Loved
Gavalda, A
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Breaking Away
Gavalda, A
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People in the Photo
Gestern, H
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Vatican Cellars
Gide, A
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Confidant
Grémillon, H
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Murder on the Eiffel Tower
Izner, C
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Père-Lachaise Mystery
Izner, C
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Montmartre Investigation
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Marais Assassin
Izner, C
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Predator of Batignolles
Izner, C
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Strangled in Paris
Izner, C
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Season of the Beast
Japp, A.H.
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Breath of the Rose
Japp, A.H.
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Divine Blood
Japp, A.H.
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Sun King Rises
Jégo & Lépée
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African Equation
Khadra, Y
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President’s Hat
Laurain, A
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Red Notebook
Laurain, A
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Hector & the Search for Happiness
Lelord, F
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Hector and the Secrets of Love
Lelord, F
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Hector Finds Time
Lelord, F
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Where Would I Be Without You?
Musso, G
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Girl on Paper
Musso, G
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Châtelet Apprentice
Parot, J.F.
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Man with the Lead Stomach
Parot, J.F.
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Phantom of Rue Royale
Parot, J.F.
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Nicolas le Floch Affair
Parot, J.F.
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Saint-Florentin Murders
Parot, J.F.
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Baker’s Blood
Parot, J.F.
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Under the Channel
Pétel, G
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Freedom Fries and Café Crème
Rapinac, J
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Checkout
Sam, A
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Monsieur Le Commandant
Slocombe, R
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Poisoning Angel
Teulé, J
9781908313683
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Suicide Shop
Teulé, J
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Eat Him if you Like
Teulé, J
9781906040390
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Hurlyburly’s Husband
Teulé, J
9781906040659
9781906040796