'One of the finest writers of psychological fiction in France today' FRANCE MAGAZINE'The latest literary sensation' DAILY TELEGRAPH'A cult sensation' i'Dark, smart, strange, compelling - and tremendously French' HARRIET LANEMarie owes Michka more than she can say - but Michka is getting older, and can't look after herself any more. So Marie has moved her to a home where she'll be safe. But Michka doesn't feel any safer; she is haunted by strange figures who threaten to unearth her most secret, buried guilt, guilt that she's carried since she was a little girl. And she is losing her words – grasping more desperately day by day for what once came easily to her. Jérôme is a speech therapist, dispatched to help the home's ageing population snatch and hold tight onto the speech still afforded to them. But Michka is no ordinary client.Michka has been carrying an old debt she does not know how to...

Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160 and a good friend called Lucas, who gets her through the school day. At home her father cries in secret in the bathroom and her mother hasn't been out of the house properly for years. But Lou is about to change her life - and that of her parents - for good, all because of a school project she decides to do about the homeless. Through the project Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their friendship grows, Lou cannot bear that No is still on the streets when she goes back home - even if it is to a home that is saddened and desolate. So she asks her parents if No can come to live with them. To her astonishment, her parents - eventually - agree. No's presence forces Lou and her parents to finally face the sadness that has enveloped them. But No has disruptive as well as positive effects. Can this shaky newfound family continue to live together? A tense, brilliant novel tackling the true meaning of home and homelessness.

Adults are as lost as the children they should be protecting, as the lives of four people trapped in a conspiracy of silence hurtle toward a desperate and devastating act.Twelve-year-old Théo and his friend Mathis have a secret. Their teacher, Hélène, suspects something is not right with Théo and becomes obsessed with rescuing him, casting aside her professionalism to the point of no return.Cécile, mother of Mathis, discovers something horrifying on her husband's computer that makes her question whether she has ever truly known him.Respectable facades are peeled away as the lives of these four characters collide, moving rapidly toward a shocking conclusion. Delphine de Vigan has crafted a lean, darkly gripping, and compulsively readable novel about lies, loneliness, and loyalties.

From the author of the Richard and Judy Book Club Pick No and Me. Adults are as lost as the children they should be protecting, in this compelling exploration of the destructive secrets and loyalties that are kept behind closed doors'Packs a hefty emotional punch. It reminded me of Leila Slimani's terrific Lullaby' Bookseller'Narrated with punch and pace. You're kept reading helplessly to the desperate cliffhanger finish' Daily MailThirteen-year-old Théo and his friend Mathis have a secret.Their teacher, Hélène, suspects something is not right with Théo and becomes obsessed with rescuing him, casting aside her professionalism to the point of no return. Cécile, mother of Mathis, discovers something horrifying on her husband's computer that makes her question whether she has ever truly known him.Respectable facades are peeled away as the four stories...

What would you do if your closest friend tried to steal your life? A chilling new novel from the prize-winning author of No & Me – a Richard & Judy Bookclub selectionToday I know that L. is the sole reason for my powerlessness. And that the two years that we were friends almost made me stop writing for ever.Overwhelmed by the huge success of her latest novel, exhausted and unable to begin writing her next book, Delphine meets L. L. is the kind of impeccable, sophisticated woman who fascinates Delphine; a woman with smooth hair and perfectly filed nails, and a gift for saying the right thing. Delphine finds herself irresistibly drawn to her, their friendship growing as their meetings, notes and texts increase. But as L. begins to dress like Delphine, and, in the face of Delphine's crippling inability to write, L. even offers to answer her emails, and their relationship rapidly intensifies. L....

Everyday Mathilde takes the Metro, then the commuter train to the office of a large multi-national where she works in the marketing department. Every day, the same routine, the same trains. But something happened a while ago - she dared to voice a different opinion from her moody boss, Jacques. Bit by bit she finds herself frozen out of everything, with no work to do.Thibault is a paramedic. Every day he drives to the addresses he receives from his controller. The city spares him no grief: traffic jams, elusive parking spaces, delivery trucks blocking his route. He is well aware that he may be the only human being many of the people he visits will see for the entire day and is well acquainted with the symptomatic illnesses, the major disasters, the hustle and bustle and, of course, the immense, pervading loneliness of the city.Before one day in May, Mathilde and Thibault had never met. They were just two anonymous figures in a crowd, pushed and shoved and pressured...