Vanda

Vanda follows on from the success of last year’s The Summer of Reckoning: winner of the prestigious French mystery prize Grand Prix de Littérature policière, shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger in the UK, The Times Book of the Month. The Guardian said: “concise and beautifully written”. This new novel cements her position as one of France’s leading noir novelists.

"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remoresely all that stands in its path." Agatha Christie

Set in Marseilles, this is the story of Vanda, a beautiful woman in her thirties, arms covered in tattoos, skin so dark that some take her for a North African. Vanda dreamt of being an artist; she became a cleaner in a psychiatric hospital. Devoted to her six-year-old son Noé, she lives with him in a derelict shed by the beach. "You and me against the rest of the world," as she says.  But when Noé’s father Simon shows up after a seven-year absence, threatening the delicate balance of their lives, her suppressed rage finally explodes. The tension becomes unbearable, escalating to inevitable violence.

 “Beautifully etched portrait of a woman who knows only extreme love. Wild, ferocious, she is capable of suffocating her son in her arms rather than see him leave her.” Figaro