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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
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THE MARGOT AFFAIR

Sanaë Lemoine

Set in contemporary Paris and centered on the hidden teenage daughter of an illicit affair between an actress and a politician, this is an intimate and dark novel of betrayal. It pokes at the edges of relationships - within families and female friendships, and between the bonds of mothers and daughters - from a new voice that Karen Russell calls "absolutely sensuous".
"There were so many of us, children of these double families who dreamed of the other side. That night, I fantasized about the separate spheres of our lives colliding..."

Margot's mother is a charismatic and prominent stage actress who has created a private, shimmering world of secrecy around their hidden family in their tiny Parisian apartment on the Left Bank. It is a carefully constructed house of cards that Margot decides to set tumbling. At the opening night of one of her mother's plays, Margot meets a powerful journalist with whom she shares their family secret.

When the front pages of the morning papers are emblazoned with news of the affair, and Margot finds herself drawn into the story of another marriage - that of the journalist and his beguiling wife Brigitte. Each of them want more from Margot than she is willing to give up. In just one stunning revelation, Margot discovers how her impulsive decision changed the contours of everyone's life around her in ways she could never have imagined.

In this simmering debut, Sanaë Lemoine exposes the seams between private and public faces, truth and deceit, love and persuasion. Insightful and moving, woven in sensuous prose, THE MARGOT AFFAIR explores razor-sharp turns between women - from the bone-deep bond between mothers and daughters to the devotion and betrayal of friendship - and the dangers of pushing beyond the boundaries of a life lived in the shadows.
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Book

Published 2020-06-16 by Hogarth

Book

Published 2020-06-16 by Hogarth

Comments

Subtle, beautiful, serious.

UK/Commonw.: Sceptre/Hodder ; French: Eyrolles

A brave portrayal of love in all of its complexities.

Visually and emotionally precise ... an engrossing, impressive debut novel that skillfully charts a young Frenchwoman's coming-of-age. Read more...

Sumptuous ... enthralling ... [a] dramatic exploration of family and the trials of early adulthood. [A]nyone who appreciates an emotionally rewarding story will enjoy Lemoine's lush, well-crafted tale. Read more...

[A] perfect mix of literary and entertaining ... This is one of those books that you didn't know you needed until you read the first few pages and you go: oh, I'm home.

Poised, coolly beguiling, and deeply compelling, Lemoine's debut casts a powerful spell.

A deeply immersive novel about the ways in which your family may fail you... Written in graceful prose carrying clairvoyant insights, its wisdom stayed with me.

Powerful and affecting ... truly exceptional.

A stunning debut, simmering with tension and sensuality. This jewel of a novel examines the in-between spaces in life... A mesmerizing story by an important new voice.

Sanaë Lemoine is an extraordinary new talent. One who makes an intergenerational story of loneliness and intrigue read like a diary and a page-turner and a masterful debut, all at once.

Gorgeous ... very French ... in lush, lyrical prose that perfectly captures the heightened emotion and confusion of being a young woman with a bruised heart and limited experience. Though the book seems to be about an absent father, it's more about a tricky mother, and about motherhood in general. It asks the ultimate question about this most complicated of relationships: What will a mother do for her child? Read more...

An extraordinary, gorgeous novel. With exquisite precision and insight, The Margot Affair builds to an unexpected heat.

Astonishing... Sanaë Lemoine is fearless and almost unbearably tender in her exploration of all the ways we both exalt and wound one another.

Drumming with tension, The Margot Affair grapples with the complexity of familial love.