celestine du bac

Tatiana de Rosnay

(Robert Laffont, 342 pages, 2021)

***TRANSLATION SAMPLE AVAILABLE HERE***

Tatiana de Rosnay, best-selling author of Sarah’s Key, comes up with a riveting novel depicting an introverted eighteen-year-old boy, Martin DuJeu, who bafflingly befriends Célestine du Bac, an elderly homeless woman who panhandles on the Rue du Bac in Paris. Against all odds, the boy with webbed feet and the alcohol-reeking woman who keeps insulting passers-by forge a bond over their shared interest in writing.

 As their friendship grows stronger, the motherless boy soon becomes more and more obsessed with her: Martin wants to know everything about her life and is utterly devoted to her. He loves her like a mother and, similarly, she loves him like a son.

 One day, Célestine goes missing. As Martin gives way to panic, he finds out that she is in the hospital. On her deathbed, Célestine gives Martin three wishes. His first wish is to win the lottery. Later that day, his wish comes true. His second wish is to get rid of his webbed feet. A few hours later, his wish is granted. For his third and final wish, he tells her that he wants to know whether his mother is still alive. She advises him to seek “where there is no sound.”

 After she passes away, Martin believes that Célestine had magical powers, and ends up going with his best friend on a trip to Morocco to find out the truth about his mother. As his initiatory trip goes, Martin opens himself up to others and eventually finds love.

 This feel-good, intergenerational novel will certainly appeal to both adults and younger readers.

 Tatiana de Rosnay is a bilingual best-selling author who writes in French and English. Her novels have been translated and adapted into films all over the world. In 2007, she published the New York Times best-seller Sarah’s Key (St Martin’s Press) with over eleven million copies sold in forty-four countries. A film adaptation was released in 2010. Along with Stephenie Meyer, Dan Brown, and Stieg Larsson, she has been named one of the top European fiction writers. Her wildly popular works include A Secret Kept (St Martin’s Press, 2010), The House I Loved (St Martin’s Press, 2012), and The Rain Watcher (St Martin’s Press, 2018).