Hunting and Gathering

Description

A bestseller in several countries, this enchanting novel about a collection of misfits in Paris is quirky, poignant and unputdownable. Now also made a French film starring Audrey Tautou. Camille is doing her best to disappear. She barely eats, works at night as a cleaner and lives in a tiny attic room. Downstairs in a beautiful, ornate apartment, lives Philibert Marquet de la Durbelli re, a shy, erudite, upper-class man with an unlikely flatmate in the shape of the foul-mouthed but talented chef, Franck. One freezing evening Philibert overcomes his excruciating reitcence to rescue Camille, unconscious, from her garret and bring her into his home. As she recovers Camille learns more about Philibert; about Franck and his guilt for his beloved but fragile grandmother Paulette, who is all he has left in the world; and about herself. And slowly, this curious quartet of misfits all discover the importance of food, friendship and love.

Born in 1970, Anna Gavalda was a teacher whose collection of stories, I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere, shot her to fame (published in the UK with her novella Someone I Loved). Her novel Hunting and Gathering (Ensemble c'est tout) was a bestseller in several countries, selling over two million copies, and was made into a film; this was followed by Consolation. Her books have been translated into thirty-six languages. The mother of two children, she lives and writes just outside Paris.

Enjoyable, well-paced and engaging -- Lucille Houston * Times Literary Supplement * Like Amelie, Hunting and Gathering stops at nothing to make the reader feel good. Reading it reminded me of tucking into one of those beautifully constructed little cakes that you see in the windows of elegant French patisseries * Sunday Telegraph * A charming, romantic - and very French - novel -- Rev'd Amber Pearson * Daily Mail * An elegant, ironic tale.. this will be a classic * Cosmopolitan * Gavalda's ability to reinvent the will-they-won't-they love story makes this a refreshing five-star read with real bite * Eve *