Consolation

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.

"Too often the best European literature doesn't reach this island; here we have a little consolation" Waterstone's Books Quarterly "An absorbing tale... a gripping story that gallops along with un-put-downable speed" Mslexia "Despite an awkward start, it makes an uncomplicated, easily digestible, cheering read: so it's perhaps unsurprising that it became the best-selling French novel of 2008, moving over half a million copies and being translated into 32 languages" -- James Urquhart Independent "It is a confident author who works with a large cast of characters, and in many instances - notably the children - Gavalda nails it" -- Lee Randall The Scotsman "Gavalda's touching writing makes what could have been a melancholy text into a beautifully insightful novel." -- Eve Middleton Living France