International bestseller Leïla Slimani's elegant meditation on life and death, art and beauty, translated by Sam Taylor
'A revelation - I have never felt more seen by a book, nor have I been so gripped'
KATY HESSEL
'An engaging meditation'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
In 2019, Leïla Slimani was commissioned by her editor to spend a sleepless night alone in a museum and to document the experience. Here, we find her grappling with the thoughts and ideas that emerge from her solitude as she walks the halls of the Punta della Dogana in Venice, interrogating her life as a woman, a writer and a daughter. In a space where old meets new, she beholds her past and present; surrounded by art, she explores what it means to behold and clasp beauty; enveloped by night, she confronts the meaning of life and death.
Autorentext
Leïla Slimani is the first Moroccan woman to win France's most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, which she won for Lullaby. A journalist and frequent commentator on women's and human rights, she is French president Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture. Born in Rabat, Morocco, in 1981, she lives in Lisbon.
Author photograph: Francesca Mantovani 2022 © Éditions Gallimard.