Tips from the editorial staff

10 books that make summer shine

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This year we offer you readings with multiple emotions always full of good vibes that will not leave you indifferent. Artists are honored here. Mystery, adventure, History also invite themselves. Finally, you will taste the escape thanks to the most beautiful texts of French and foreign literature. Special mention to the translators!

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Robert Redford, biography, Michael Feeney Callan, translated by Muriel Levet, La Trace editions

After Sean Connery, it is to Robert Redford, aged 85, that journalist Michael Feeney Callan devotes a very detailed biography of 765 pages. The result of more than ten years of investigation, interviews with the American star and testimonies. This book-document returns with meticulousness to the professional and private spheres of the artist, detailing, among other things, his bohemian stay in Paris when he was a student. Noticed in the cinema at the end of the 50s, Robert Redford quickly became an actor with undeniable talent and charisma for Hollywood. Picky about the choice of his roles, he is also as a director receiving in 1981 an Oscar for his film People like the others. Creator of the Sundance film festival in favor of independent cinema, politically committed, fervent defender of the planet, Robert Redford is also a committed man.

Nothing of this exceptional destiny has escaped Michael Feeney Callan. In fact, next September he will receive the Lucien Barrière Prize from the Deauville American Film Festival for this first biography of the star translated into French. Exciting !

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The night diary, Marie Laurencin, La Cooperative editions

Marie Laurencin, iconic painter of the cubist movement and great love of Guillaume Apollinaire wrote her life. The night diary is a mixed collection of poems and prose accompanied by 3 drawings. The artist talks about his childhood as well as learning his art in the exuberance of the Roaring Twenties. First published in 1956, the book won over the publishing house La Coopérative. This year it is republishing the little-known writings of Marie Laurencin to the delight of collectors! We can't resist!

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The Office of Occult Affairsthe vicar's ghost, Eric Fouassier, Albin Michel editions

Find Inspector Valentin Verne in XNUMXth century Paris with this second volume, just as mysterious as the previous one. Emulator of François Vidocq, the policeman – with a personality no less intriguing than his business – investigates murders using unusual methods for the time because they are linked to the occult. This new plot related to spiritualism and alchemy worries Verne all the more as it brings him back to his past... Thrilling!

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The taste of vacation, collective, texts chosen and presented by Virginie Le Gallo, Mercure de France editions

This title full of promises evokes since Antiquity the period synonymous with relaxation, pleasure, escape that holidays represent. It is also an immersion in the heart of the most beautiful holiday stories of great authors such as Balzac, Victor Hugo, Marcel Proust, Agatha Christie among others. We will not deprive ourselves of it!

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Without law or master, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, translated from Spanish by Gabriel Laculli, Seuil editions

 It is at the bar l'Abreuvoir run by the fierce Margot from Argentina that the neighborhood dogs meet. All know each other. However, the sudden disappearance of two of them alerts Negro, the former wrestler with deep sequelae who decides to go to the aid of his friends.

It is the dogs who lead the dance at the heart of this madly touching humorous narration!

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Every oath you break Peter Swanson, translated from the American by Christophe Cuq, Gallmeister editions

Nothing disposed Abigail to marry a millionaire. However, when she meets the handsome Bruce, the young woman is sensitive to his romantic attentions. The wedding is quickly scheduled. Everything seems idyllic until that famous Californian night when, intoxicated, she wanders into the arms of a stranger, Scottie. A one-night stand, she thinks. Nevertheless, back in New York, Abigail sees him in a cafe. Disturbing. The same evening Scottie sends him an email. He cannot forget her, begging her to come find him. How did he get his email address? Strange even scary. Will the wedding take place? This is the beginning of an infernal intrigue with Hitchcockian accents. A breathless favorite with numerous literary and cinematographic references! 

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 The coffee suspended, Amanda Sthers, Grasset editions

Jacques Madelin, portrait painter, has lived in Naples for over 40 years. He has his little habits at the Nube café which is not lacking in anecdotes. In addition, the old man is moved by this tradition that in Naples you can pay for two coffees, one of which will be offered to anyone in a bar who cannot afford a cup. This is called “a hanging coffee”.

Through seven chronicles, Jacques Madelin tells us about his endearing encounters with sometimes chaotic characters in the theater of the generous Neapolitan city.

Amanda Sthers excels in delivering humanist work imbued with poetry. WE love !

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Chateaubriand in Saint Tropez, Judith Housez, Ecuador editions

Saint-Tropez under the burning rays of summer. Academics and novelists gathered at the Villa Horatia for a literary symposium entitled “Chateaubriand and love”. We know the romanticism of the author. An essential participation for fans of the writer. A joyful invitation to the emblematic parties of the seaside town for others! Comical tensions and seduction intertwine according to Chateaubriand's work. Irresistible !

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brigantessa, Giuseppe Catozzella, translated from Italian by Nathalie Bauer, Buchet-Chastel editions

1848. Born into a poor family in Calabria and then brought up under the tyrannical yoke of her older sister, Maria is in love with freedom. Italy is then in full revolt, divided between wealth in the North and poverty in the South. Falling madly in love with the rebel Pietro, the young woman flees his family and follows him in his frantic quest for justice. Alongside Garibaldi, Maria leads a group of brigands. Ciccilla, the “brigantessa” was born. Outlaw, her destiny will lead her on irrevocable roads.

A historical novel based on the authentic journey of Maria Oliverio, heroine of the First Italian Civil War whose exploits fascinated the whole country even beyond. Hectic !

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At the beginning, Antoine Audouard, Phébus editions

Son of journalists, grandson of writers and booksellers, Antoine Audouard has always been rocked by books. Hence a very early inclination to devour all genres of classical and popular literature, including reviews. Later, he refined his preferences, approaching Balzac, Flaubert, Zola. Becoming a publisher and then a writer, he offers us incipits – beginnings of novels – of his favorite works. Selected extracts from the most beautiful texts of French and foreign literature with a predilection for Chekhov. All over the snippets of his family history, his professional encounters around the book; music and movies that carry it. A literary nugget that lacks neither humor nor passion. We love !


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