Bøger udgivet af Gallic Books

Renee is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society's expectations of what a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real Renee: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives. Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renee lives resigned to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

From little beginnings: the extraordinary story of a singular, diminutive crumb of a servant girl turned entertainment mogul.

Can we learn how to be happy? Hector is a successful young psychiatrist. He's very good at treating patients in real need of his help. But many people he sees have no health problems: they're just deeply dissatisfied with their lives. Hector can't do much for them, and it's beginning to depress him. So when a patient tells him he looks in need of a holiday, Hector decides to set off round the world to find out what makes people everywhere happy (and sad), and whether there is such a thing as the secret of true happiness...

A fresh, provocative history that renews our understanding of France in the world through short, incisive essays ranging from prehistoric frescoes to Coco Chanel to the terrorist attacks of 2015. 'A major work, exhaustive, controversial and fresh' The GuardianBringing together an impressive group of established and up-and-coming historians, this bestselling history conceives of France not as a fixed, rooted entity, but instead as a place and an idea in flux, moving beyond all borders and frontiers, shaped by exchanges and mixtures. Presented in chronological order from 34,000 BC to 2015, each chapter covers a significant year from its own particular angle – the marriage of a Viking leader to a Carolingian princess proposed by Charles the Fat in 882, the Persian embassy's reception at the court of Louis XIV in 1715, the Chilean coup d'état against President Salvador Allende in 1973 that mobilised a generation of French left-wing activists. France in the World combines the intellectual rigour of an academic work with the liveliness and readability of popular history. With a brand-new preface aimed at an international audience, this English-language edition will inspire Francophiles and scholars alike.

Myths, fairy tales and biblical stories are turned on their head in this powerful collection of short stories by sapphic poet Renee Vivien.

From a master of suspense comes this classic tale of lust and revenge set in the French countryside.

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. 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?

This graphic adaptation reveals the fundamental architecture of Proust's work while displaying a remarkable fidelity to his language as well as the novel's themes of time, art, and the elusiveness of memory.

Dressed by Chanel and Yves St Laurent, painted by Salvador Dali and Picasso and mingling with Colette and Proust, Helena Rubinstein not only enjoyed unbelievable success, but was also instrumental in empowering and liberating women. This is her story.

A funny and moving novel exalting the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.

LONGLISTED FOR THE PRIX GONCOURT 2022 From the bestselling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog comes the story of one man's promise to keep a secret that may hold him from the greatest joy possible. Haru, a successful Japanese art dealer, appreciates beauty, harmony, balance, and good sake. A few months after an affair with Maud, a mysterious Frenchwoman, he learns that she is pregnant with his child. But she issues him a heartbreaking warning: if he ever tries to see her or the child, she will kill herself. Quietly devastated, Haru respects Maud's wishes. And Rose grows up on the other side of the world, without ever knowing her father. Is it too late to change things?From international bestseller Muriel Barbery comes a stunning tale of friendship, family secrets, and the enduring love of a father forced to live in the shadows.

Edward Carey's witty and entrancing story of a young woman trapped in a ramshackle English playhouse – and the mysterious figure who threatens its very survival.Norwich, 1901. Edith Holler spends her days among the eccentric denizens of the Holler Theatre, warned by her domineering father that the playhouse will literally tumble down if she should ever leave.Fascinated by tales of the city she knows only from afar, young Edith decides to write a play of her own about Mawther Meg, a monstrous figure said to have used the blood of countless children to make the local delicacy, Beetle Spread. But when her father suddenly announces his engagement to a peculiar woman named Margaret Unthank, Edith scrambles to protect her father, the theatre, and her play – the one thing that’s truly hers – from the newcomer’s sinister designs. Teeming with unforgettable characters and illuminated by Carey’s trademark illustrations, Edith Holler is a surprisingly modern fable of one young woman’s struggle to escape her family’s control and craft her own creative destiny.

A tender and witty coming-of-age story about the power of literature to inspire new beginnings, peppered with a cast of quirky characters and a unique heroine. Clara is a hairdresser at Cindy Coiffure, a sleepy French salon with an identity crisis. Her relationship is fizzling out. Her tanoholic boss Madame Habib worships Jacques Chirac and talks longingly of her days in Paris. And now Madame Lévy-Leroyer wants to go blonde. Clara can't help but wonder if there's more to life than this . . . Everything changes when a customer leaves behind the first volume of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. As Clara reads, she discovers a new world. And slowly but surely, she will work out who she wants to be.

LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2024SHORLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD VIKING AWARD FOR FICTION 2024‘Perfect for the poolside or sitting outside a café with a pastis and olives’ The TimesPart swashbuckling adventure on the high seas and part modern-day love story set in the heart of Paris, An Astronomer in Love is an enchanting tale of destiny and the power of love from bestselling author Antoine Laurain.In 1760, Guillaume le Gentil, real-life astronomer to King Louis XV, sets out for the oceans of India to document the transit of Venus. The weather is turbulent, the seas are rough and his quest may be more complicated than initially thought. 250 years later, estate agent Xavier Lemercier chances upon Guillaume’s telescope in a property he's sold. As he looks out across the rooftops of Paris, he discovers an intriguing woman with a zebra in her apartment. Then the woman walks through the doors of his office, and his life changes forever . . .

'Gripping' Daily Mail'Chloe Lane's writing continues to astound me' Clare Fuller, author of The Memory of AnimalsA searingly intimate exploration of marriage, motherhood and desire from a bold New Zealand talent. Georgie's marriage has stagnated. But in a Florida almost claustrophobic with life, there's no room to attend to it: forests burn, termites abound, teeth break, and there's something in her husband's eye. Then she finds a body in the woods. As the repercussions of her discovery and a doomed affair come to land, Georgie is forced to confront her past, examining the often heartbreaking power of the things we witness and the scars they leave behind.

A memoir and manifesto from the worldâEUR(TM)s most Michelin starred chef, Alain Ducasse, with introductions by internationally renowned writer Jay McInerney and chef Clare Smyth. At twelve years old, Alain Ducasse had never been to a restaurant. Less than fifteen years later, he received his first Michelin star. Today he is one of just two chefs to have been awarded twenty-one stars. Now, for the very first time, Ducasse shares a lifetime of culinary inspirations and passions in a book that is part memoir and part manifesto. Good Taste takes us on a journey from his childhood, where he picked mushrooms with his grandfather on a farm in Les Landes, to setting up groundbreaking schools and restaurants across the world. He is now taking off his chefâEUR(TM)s whites and passing on what he knows to the next generation. Ducasse writes a poignant ode to the humble vegetables that have inspired his entire cuisine and to the masters that guided him along the way, from Paris to New York to Tokyo. As he looks to the future, he reflects on just what âEUR¿good tasteâEUR(TM) means.

'Bold, sinister and debate-provoking Kirsty Logan, author ofThings We Say in the DarkGabriela has met a monster. He stole her sister.When social unrest forces their family from their home in Cuba to Key West, Florida, sisters Gabriela and Luciana are suddenly immigrants. While the elder is quiet and cautious, the younger a fiery tearaway, in this unfamiliar place they are vulnerable and uncertain, and turn to one another.When Luciana suddenly falls ill, she is taken to a doctor, Wilhelm von Tore, whose immediate obsession with her drives a wedge between the family. Gabriela can only watch as her desperate parents grant Wilhelm unlimited access to their younger daughter, hoping for a cure. He fills their home with the stench of flowers and treats Luci as a plaything.When illness finally claims Luciana, Gabriela thinks they are free of this controlling man. But Wilhelm knows Luci is his destiny, and for him death is only the beginning.Wilhelm creates a narrative of great love and all-consuming passion, but through the cracks in his account there appears another. Gabriela will not let Wilhelms version of events go unchallenged. She tells the story of her sister Luciana, fearless and full of life, and of the delusional man who robbed her from her grave.Based on a chilling true story Heather Parrys debut tale is terrifyingly brilliant. She is one of the most interesting and talented British writers to emerge in recent memory.Orpheus Builds a Girlis a sinister dark flower of a book, both intoxicating and beautiful (Camilla Grudova)

A powerful collection of stories exploring love and longing from the award-winning author of This Mortal Boy.

A sublime psychological thriller from Polari Prize-shortlisted Charles Lambert.Sixteen-year-old Fiona inhabits a privileged world ofEnglish affluence, though her relationship with her widowed mother is strained. When she discovers an old newspaper clipping of a woman and her daughter the little girl a mirror image of her own younger self she becomes convincedshe has a true family elsewhere.Four years later, with the help of charming fraudster Patrick, Fiona drops everything to seek out her doppelgnger in Italy.Fiona arrives in Rome to find Maddy living hand to mouth with her alcoholic mother. Spooked by the appearance of this strange girl wearing her face and stalking her every move, Maddy wants nothing to do with her. Caught in a surreal push-and-pull, the two are both fascinated and repulsed by the oddly familiar other, each coveting a different life. But they arent the only ones trying to control their fate, and the two women will soon learn that people arent always what they seem though blood may still prove thicker than water.Birthright is a dark, gripping literary thriller for fans of Ian McEwan, Rupert Thomson and Edward St Aubyn

An elderly man gives virtuoso piano performances in airports and train stations. To the incredulity of the passers-by, he refuses their offers to play in concert halls, or at prestigious gatherings. He is waiting for someone, he tells them.Joseph was just sixteen when he was sent to a religious boarding school in the Pyrenees: les Confins, a dumping ground for waifs, strays, and other abandoned souls. His days were filled with routine and drudgery, and he thought longingly of the solace he found through music in his former life.Joe dreams constantly of escape, but it seems impossible. That is, until a chance encounter with the orphanages benefactor leads him to Rose, and a plan begins to formHumorous even in its darkest moments, Devils and Saints tells a daring tale of camaraderie, love, and good triumphing over evil.

For the first time, he found himself alone at the farm, with no sound whatever from the livestock, nor from anyone else, not the least sign of life. And yet, within these walls, life had always won through.An outstanding, big, compassionate novel' Le Figaro1999. As France prepares to see in a new millennium, the country is battered by apocalyptic storms. But holed up on the farm where he and his three sisters grew up, Alexandre seems less afraid of the weather than of the police turning up. Alone in the darkness, he reflects on the end of a rural way of life he once thought could never change. And his thoughts return to the baking hot summer of 1976, when he met Constanze, an environmental activist who fell for the beauty of the countryside, and was prepared to use any means to save it.Serge Joncours impassioned, ambitious novel charts three decades of political, social, and environmental upheaval through the lives of a French farming family, as the delicate bond between the human and natural worlds threatens to snap.

'Historical crime fiction at its most beguiling.' Financial Times'Not to be missed' SJ BENNETTIn the hotly anticipated follow-up to The Tumbling Girl, Minnie and Albert take on a new crime-solving quest in the world of a Victorian music hall. The Variety Palace Music Hall is in trouble, due in no small part to a gruesome spate of murders that unfolded around it a few months previously. Between writing, managing the music hall and trying to dissuade her boss from installing a water tank in the building, Minnie Ward has her hands full. Her complicated relationship with detective Albert Easterbrook doesn't even bear thinking about. But when a new string of murders tears through London, Minnie and Albert are thrown together once more. Strangely, the crimes seem to link back to a tragedy that took place fourteen years ago, leaving 183 children dead. And given that the incident touched so many people's lives, everyone is a suspect . . .

From the author of The Red Notebook, described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Red is My Heart is a stunning collection of words and images in collaboration with Parisian street artist, Le Sonneur, about how to mend a broken heart.'Enchanting' Washington PostHow can you mend a broken heart? Do you write a letter to the woman who left you and post it to an imaginary address? Buy a new watch, to reset your life? Or get rid of the jacket you wore every time you argued, because it was in some way responsible?Combining the wry musings of a rejected lover with playful drawings in just three colours red, black and white bestselling author ofThe Red Notebook, Antoine Laurain, and renowned street artist Le Sonneur have created a striking addition to the literature of unrequited love.Sharp, yet warm, whimsical and deeply Parisian, this is a must for all Antoine Laurain fans.

On the pretence of researching her latest project, a New Zealand writer leaves her life and bolts to Berlin when she discovers her late mother may have passed on the gene for Huntington's disease.

A young woman wakes in a hospital room. What happened to her and why is a mystery. Is she victim or murderer?The young woman has been badly injured in a fire and has amnesia. But what happened to her? Is she Mi, Micky or Michle, or Do, Dominique? As she struggles to rebuild her identity, she starts to recall the crime that was committed and the house on the French Riviera. She remembers the rich heiress and the faithful friend but which is she?

From prize-winning author Serge Joncour, Lean on Me is an unconventional love story of two Parisian neighbours who find human connection among the isolation of the city.'A terrific love story' Livres HebdoWhen a flock of crows invades their apartment block, Parisian neighbours Aurore and Ludovic speak for the first time. Outwardly the fashion designer and debt collector share little in common, but they both lead isolated lives, she in a loveless marriage, he recently widowed and new to Paris. There is an immediate spark between them, and when Aurore is threatened by her business partner it is Ludovic she turns to for help. As events begin to spiral out of control, they begin a passionate affair...Winner of the prestigious Prix Interalli, Lean on Me is both a touching love story, an insightful look at the alienating effect of contemporary urban life.