Camille is doing her best to disappear. She barely eats, works at night as a cleaner and lives in a tiny attic room. Philibert Marquet de La Durbelliere is a stammering, erudite aristocrat who sells postcards outside a museum. One evening he overcomes his own excruciating reticence to rescue Camille, unconscious, from her freezing garret, and install her in the large, ornate apartment he is caretaking downstairs. He already has an unlikely flatmate, the foul-mouthed, talented working-class young chef, Franck, who is made more obnoxious by guilt about the beloved grandmother he's had to put in a home. Together, this curious, damaged little quartet may be able to face the world. Gorgeously original, full of wry humour and razor-sharp observation, redolent of Paris, its foibles, its food and its neglected corners, "Hunting and Gathering" is a universal story about despair, love and the virtues of ensemble-playing in a naughty world. It's a big novel that you will not want to put down.

Hunting and Gathering

Literature & Fiction

Anna Gavalda

Contemporary

Vintage Books USA

Following the publication of Anna Gavalda's international bestseller, "Hunting and Gathering", this book introduces us to Anna Gavalda's witty and dazzling collection of stories, "I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere", together with her heartbreaking and poignant novella, "Someone I Loved" - both published in the UK for the first time. "I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere" explores how a life can be changed irrevocably in just one fateful moment. A pregnant mother's plans for the future unravel at the hospital; a travelling salesman learns the consequences of an almost-missed exit on the motorway in the newspaper the next morning; while a perfect date is spoilt by a single act of thoughtlessness. In those crucial moments, Gavalda demonstrates her almost magical skill in conveying love, lust, longing, and loneliness."Someone I Loved" is a hauntingly intimate look at the intolerably painful, yet sometimes valuable consequences that adultery can have on a marriage and the individuals involved. A simple tale, yet long in substance, "Someone I Loved" ends like most great love affairs, forever leaving you wanting just one more moment.

I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere

"Consolation" ("La Consolante" (this French title is what players of boules call the consolation play-off match between the losers)) was the bestselling French novel in 2008, with sales of over half a million copies and translations into thirty-two languages. Darker and more complex than "Hunting and Gathering" ("Ensemble, c'est tout"), but just as dazzling, the second novel by the enchantress Anna Gavalda tells a heartbreaking, unusual story about one man, two remarkable women and an unforgettable transvestite. A 47-year-old successful architect hears about the death of a woman, whom he once loved - Anouk, the tragically big-hearted mother of a childhood friend - and his life starts to unravel. Charles seems to have everything, but turns his back on the present to go in search of her past and his childhood, falling a long way down. One day he finds himself on a Paris pavement covered in his own blood. But, as the title suggests, fate holds out a final chance of consolation - when, far from his Parisian milieu, he meets Kate, an enchanting young woman, herself damaged but fearless and in love with life. Alive with wit and vivid observation, sparkling dialogue and brilliant characters, this is a triumphant, spellbinding, finally consoling novel about life, love and second chances.

Consolation

Chatto&Windus

Je Voudrais Que Quelq'un M'attende Quelque Part (French edition of I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me)

Short Stories & Anthologies

French & European Pubns

Abandoned by her husband, a young woman forms a profound and life-changing relationship with her father-in-law, in a new novel--featuring both the English translation and original French text--by the author of I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere. Original.

Someone I Loved (Je l'aimais) (English and French Edition)

Literary

Riverhead Trade

A bestselling novel in Europe with over half a million copies sold, published in over twenty-six languages, Anna Gavalda's French Leave is a charming adventure that tells the story of four siblings in search of the happiness they knew as children and the bonds that once united them. Simon, Garance and Lola flee a dull family wedding (and Simon's uptight and judgemental wife) to visit their younger brother, Vincent, who is working as a guide at a château in the heart of the enchanting Tours countryside. For a few hours, they forget about kids, spouses, work, and the many demands adulthood makes upon them and lose themselves in a day of laughter, teasing, and memories. As simply and as spontaneously as the adventure began, it ends. All four return to their everyday lives, carrying with them the magic of their brief reunion. They are stronger now, and happier, for having rediscovered the ties that bind them. Lighthearted, tender and funny, a parable on escaping the past to find the future, French Leave is a tribute to sibling relationships, local Loire wines, and the art of being together.

French Leave: A Novel

Europa Editions

Every minute Gregory spends in school is torture. The only time he feels really happy is when he's messing around with tools. His Grandpa Leon understands and eventually persuades Gregory to stop blaming other people for his frustration and to apply to technical college. But to do this, Gregory has to take an exam. He is constantly on the verge of giving up, until he hears Grandpa Leon encouraging him. When he gets home, his grandfather is very ill and Gregory realizes how precious he is and that he wants to make him proud. With this new incentive, Gregory discovers he has made the grade for technical college.

35 Kilos of Hope

Walker Childrens Paperbacks

Breaking Away

I hadn't even sat down yet, one buttock still hovering, my hand on the car door, and already my sister-in-law was on the attack: "At last! Didn't you hear the horn? We've been waiting here for ten minutes!" "Good morning," I replied. On the car journey to a family wedding, Garance reflects on how adult life, with its disappointments and responsibilities, has not always gone to plan for herself or her three siblings. But just around the corner lies the chance for them to revisit their younger, carefree selves in a delightfully unplanned escapade.

Gallic Books

Someone I Loved

Catherine Evans

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Anna Gavalda. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Anna Gavalda

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Anna Gavalda. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Hunting and Gathering

I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere

Consolation

Je Voudrais Que Quelq'un M'attende Quelque Part (French edition of I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me)

Someone I Loved (Je l'aimais) (English and French Edition)

French Leave: A Novel

35 Kilos of Hope

Breaking Away

Breaking Away

Someone I Loved