THE SPOTTED ZEBRA BAZAAR

Raphaëlle Giordano

(Plon, 272 pages, 2021)

***TRANSLATION SAMPLE AVAILABLE HERE***

When The Spotted Zebra opens on an unassuming street corner in Mont-Venus, the townspeople hardly know what to make of it. The proprietor, Basile, a gifted but odd inventor who has managed to escape the rat race of his former position with an AI corporation based in Tokyo, has a new mission in life: to create a space that cultivates the imagination. The curious objects he invents invite both young and old to tap into the playful sides of themselves, to reengage with the world without fear of failure, and, most important, to escape (if only for just a moment!) their roles as either producer or consumer in a world that ceaselessly demands we assume one of the two. With her signature fusion of self-help and fiction, Raphaëlle Giordano challenges readers to incorporate the wisdom in The Spotted Zebra Bazaar into their own lives.

The shop, a “temple for the curious,” as Basile calls it, does indeed change the lives of many who walk through its doors: Arthur, a young graffiti artist; his workaholic mother, Giulia; Louise, a merciless editor-in-chief of the town’s principal newspaper; Audrey, a journalist who struggles to find her voice under Louise’s dictatorship; and Opus, Louise’s dachshund, whose joie de vivre is in stark contrast with Louise’s cloudier demeanor. Basile, with a winning zaniness of a certain beloved chocolate maker, or even Walt Disney’s The Absent-Minded Professor, inspires his customers to face their lives more fearlessly, more poetically, and more honestly.

In turn, Arthur and Giulia inspire Basile to love, and he begins to see his lonely bachelor’s life—which he had been more than happy to continue leading—as something worth leaving behind. As he habitually (even obsessively) thinks of nothing else but his inventions, Basile hardly catches himself falling for Giulia . . . until he realizes what a joy it is to realize that the same poetry and creativity he cultivates in his atelier can translate to matters of the heart!

The Spotted Zebra Bazaar, in addition to being a charming story, is a book sprinkled with wisdom for the reader. Through Basile, and the others who frequent The Spotted Zebra, we learn to embrace fearlessness, play, and patience. With whip-smart psychological insights, Raphaëlle Giordano reframes life’s questions in a way that can be universally applied and enjoyed. Her humor and lightness-of-being are apparent from page one, truly a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down!

Raphaëlle Giordano is a best-selling author, artist, and expert in personal development. Her first novel, Your Second Life Begins When You Realize You Only Have One (Putnam Press, 2015), has sold more than three million copies worldwide. Her writing combines personal development with imaginative worlds of fiction to great effect; her subsequent novels (Le jour où les lions mangeront de la salade verte and Cupidon a des ailles en carton) quickly became best-sellers, as well. The Best Is Yet to Come is her fourth novel.