Leïla Slimani

The book Adèle is about a woman's conflict: on the outside, Adèle leads a life that lacks nothing. She works for a Parisian daily newspaper, is independent. With her husband, a surgeon, and her young son, she lives in a chic neighbourhood, very close to Montmartre. They travel, they go to the sea for the weekend. Yet Adèle is not happy in this life. Bored, she hurries through the grey streets, meets men, has sex with strangers. She knows that control is slipping away from her. She knows she could lose her family. Still, she puts everything on the line.

"No one writes more interestingly about the abysses of our time than Goncourt Prize winner Leila Slimani. In her novel Adèle, she revolutionises female writing about sexuality." (Die Welt).

At the festival, the Prix Goncourt winner presents her brilliant debut novel Adèle, as well as her lates novel In the Country of Others.

Leïla Slimani, born in Rabat in 1981, is the new voice of French literature. She grew up in Morocco and studied at the elite Sciences Po University in Paris. Her books are international bestsellers. She was awarded the prestigious Prix Goncourt for the novel Lullaby/The perfect nanny.