'[A] page-turner of a novel . . . I couldn't put the book down' - New York Times'A multi-viewpoint panorama of thwarted aspirations, spiced with breathy sex scenes and nostalgic detail**.' - Mail on Sunday**August 1992. Fourteen-year-old Anthony and his cousin decide to steal a canoe to fight their all-consuming boredom on a lazy summer afternoon. Their simple act of defiance will lead to Anthony's first love and his first...

From the Goncourt Prize–winning author of And Their Children After Them, a devilishly smart noir novella that finds uncomfortable truths in the everyday about romance, violence, and women’s desire and desirability.Nearing fifty, with a divorce and a string of other failed relationships behind her, Rose has given up on the idea of love, if not sex—though that always comes with risks. Determined not to let another man hurt her, she even ordered a .38 caliber...

A breathtaking story of unfulfilled dreams, unexpected second chances, and love in a present-day France turning against itself, from the Goncourt Prize–winning author of And Their Children After Them.Hélène is approaching 40. Born in a small town in the east of France, she worked hard to leave it behind and achieve a life worthy of the glossy magazines she pored over as a teen. But now that she seemingly has it all—a husband and two daughters, a successful...

August 1992. One afternoon during a heat wave in a lost valley somewhere in eastern France, with its dormant blast furnaces and its lake, fourteen-year-old Anthony and his cousin decide to steal a canoe to find out what it’s like on the other side at the famous nudist beach. The trip ultimately takes Anthony to his first love and a first summer that will determine everything that happens afterwards.Nicolas Mathieu conjures up a valley, an era, adolescence, and the political journey...

Powerful and compelling' Guardian'Mathieu, a wonderful writer, echoes the grittiness and compassion of Émile Zola in Germinal' Sunday TimesAfter the closure of a small-town factory is announced, the local community is hit by the prospect of mass unemployment. With nothing left to lose, the desperate workers take matters into their own hands. Martel, a former trade union rep, and Bruce, a bodybuilder on steroids, resort to ...