It’s an exciting year ahead at Gallic Books and Aardvark Bureau.

At Gallic, we are delighted to bring you great reads from our bestselling authors, including new novels by Muriel Barbery, Antoine Laurain, Michel Déon, Yasmina Khadra and not one, but two noirs from acclaimed author

Pascal Garnier. We also introduce a great new talent, Miguel Bonnefoy, whose exuberant fable set in Venezuela, Octavio’s Journey, was shortlisted for

the Goncourt first novel award.

Fans of Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog have eagerly anticipated Muriel’s next book, and here it is – The Life of Elves. Described by the New York Times as ‘an enigmatic and beguiling fairy tale’, The Life

of Elves is the enchanting story of two talented twelve-year-old girls, one in Burgundy, the other in Abruzzo. They are unaware of their connection until

they must take on the forces of evil together.

Yasmina Khadra and Michel Déon delve into the past with their new novels, set in between-the-wars Algeria and 1950s America respectively. Antoine Laurain’s third novel, French Rhapsody, also looks back on lost

youth and the music of the 1980s, whilst painting a powerful picture of the current state of the French nation.

Meanwhile, the Aardvark Bureau presents an eclectic selection of fiction from Australia and New Zealand. Australian Robert Edeson’s intriguing

debut The Weaver Fish is part thriller, part puzzle. Our two books from New Zealand are both from well-established authors. Damien Wilkins, author

of Max Gate, has been described by The Guardian as ‘an Antipodean A. M. Homes’, whilst New Zealand Books said of Fiona Kidman, ‘We cannot talk

about writing in New Zealand without acknowledging her’.

We hope you will enjoy our selection of books from both hemispheres, from favourite authors and writers yet to be discovered.

April 2016ISBN: 9781910477250 / e-ISBN: 9781910477267Format: B-Format pb / Extent: 144pp / Price: £7.99 Rights: WEL

Too Close to the EdgePascal Garnier

Recently widowed grandmother Éliette is returning to her home in the mountains when her car breaks down. A stranger comes to her aid on foot. Éliette offers him a lift, glad of the interruption to her humdrum routine.

That night, her neighbours’ son is killed in a road accident. Could the tragedy be linked to the arrival of her good Samaritan?

Translated by Emily Boyce

Praise for Pascal Garnier:

‘A mixture of Albert Camus and J.G. Ballard’ Financial Times

‘Bleak, often funny and never predictable’ The Observer

‘A brilliant exercise in grim and gripping irony, it makes you grin as well as wince.’ Sunday Telegraph

The Author:

Pascal Garnier was a leading figure in contemporary French literature. He lived in a village in the Ardèche. He died in March 2010.

The Weaver FishRobert Edeson

When Edvard Tøssentern, the missing author of studies of the mysterious flesh-eating weaver fish, staggers in from a remote swamp, his colleagues at the research station on the island of Ferendes are overjoyed. But Edvard’s discovery about a rare giant bird throws them all into the path of a dangerous international crime ring.

Part-thriller, part-literary and mathematical puzzle, this unique, bold and playful debut engages the reader in an exhilarating game, challenging everything we know – or think we know – about language, morality and truth.

Praise for The Weaver Fish:‘Evocative writing, in which the science is an essential character. The ideas stimulate and mesmerise.’ ABC Radio National’s The Science Show

‘Unique ... The Weaver Fish is not merely ambitious but unclassifiable.’ Australian Book Review

The Author:Robert Edeson was born in Perth and studied medicine at the University of Western Australia and the University of Cambridge.

April 2016ISBN: 9781910709146 / e-ISBN: 9781910709221Format: B-Format pb / Extent: 272pp / Price: £8.99Rights: WEL ex AUS & NZ

The Life of ElvesMuriel Barbery

The villagers had never seen anything like it: dense white curtains of snow that instantly transformed the landscape. Not in autumn, not here in Burgundy. And on the same night a baby was discovered, dark-eyed little Maria, who would transform all their lives.

Hundreds of miles away in the mountains of Abruzzo, another foundling, Clara, astonishes everyone with her extraordinary talent for piano-playing. But her gifts go far beyond simple musicianship.As a time of great danger looms, though the girls know nothing of each other, it is the bond that unites them and others like them which will ultimately offer the only chance for good to prevail in the world.

Translated by Alison Anderson

Praise for Muriel Barbery:‘Barbery makes her characters come to life’ The Guardian

‘Clever, informative and moving ... admirable’ The Observer

The Author:Muriel Barbery is the author of two previous novels published by Gallic, including The Elegance of the Hedgehog, shortlisted for the 2010 IMPAC award. A former philosophy lecturer, she has lived in Japan and the Netherlands.

May 2016ISBN: 9781910477212 / e-ISBN: 9781910477274Format: Paperback demy (216 x 138) with flaps / Extent: 288pp / Price: £12.99Rights: UK / E / India excl

Max GateDamien Wilkins

1928. As Thomas Hardy lies on his death bed at his Dorset home, Max Gate, a tug-of-war is taking place over his legacy ... and the eventual fate of his mortal remains.

Narrated with wit and brutal honesty by housemaid Nellie Titterington, Max Gate is both an entertaining insight into the eccentricities of

a writer’s life, and a raw, intriguing tale of torn loyalty, ownership and jealousy.

Praise for Damien Wilkins:‘Wilkins is brilliant at character ... the writing is full of verve. Wilkins has an eye for telling detail, a great ear for dialogue and a dark sense of humour.’ The Guardian

‘Wilkins can command a breathtakingly supple literary style.’ New York Times

‘Wilkins’s characters are individual, unpredictable and real.’ Independent on Sunday

The Author:Damien Wilkins is one of New Zealand’s leading writers. He is the author of seven novels, including the New Zealand Book Award-winning The Miserables and The Fainter, which was shortlisted for both the Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. June 2016ISBN: 9781910709139 / e-ISBN: 9781910709214Format: B-Format pb / Extent: 224 pp / Price: £8.99Rights: WEL ex NZ

The Angels DieYasmina Khadra

Even as a child living hand-to-mouth in a ghetto, Turambo dreamt of a better future. So when his family find a decent home in the city of Oran anything seems possible. But colonial Algeria is no place to be ambitious for those of Arab-Berber ethnicity. Through a succession of menial jobs, the constants for Turambo are his rage at the injustice surrounding him, and a reliable left hook. This last opens the door to a boxing apprenticeship,which

Translated by Howard Curtis

Praise for Yasmina Khadra:‘World-class’ Rosie Goldsmith, The Independent

‘A skilled storyteller working at the height of his powers’ Times Literary Supplement

The Author:Yasmina Khadra is the author of more than 20 novels, including The Swallows of Kabul and The Attack, both shortlisted for the IMPAC literary award. Khadra’s work has been published in 45 countries. He has twice been honoured by the Académie française.

August 2016ISBN: 9781908313911 / e-ISBN: 9781910477236Format: B-format pb / Extent: tbc / Price: £8.99Rights: WEL

will ultimately offer Turambo a choice: to take his chance at sporting greatness or choose a simpler life beside the woman he loves.

The Eskimo SolutionPascal Garnier

‘It’s the story of forty-something Louis – a nice guy, but broke – who kills his mother for the inheritance.’

A crime writer uses the modest advance on his latest novel to rent a house on the Normandy coast. There should be little to distract him from his work besides walks on the windswept beach, but as he begins to tell the tale of Louis – who,

after dispatching his own mother, goes on to relieve others of their burdensome elderly relations – events in his own life begin to overlap with the work of his imagination.

Translated by Emily Boyce & Jane Aitken

Praise for Pascal Garnier:‘Horribly funny ... appalling and bracing in equal measure’ John Banville

‘Deliciously dark … painfully funny’ New York Times

The Author:Pascal Garnier was a leading figure in contemporary French literature. He lived in a village in the Ardèche. He died in March 2010.

September 2016ISBN: 9781910477229 / e-ISBN: 9781910477397Format: B-Format pb / Extent: tbc / Price: £7.99Rights: WEL

French RhapsodyAntoine Laurain

Middle-aged doctor Alain Massoulier has received a life-changing letter – thirty-three years too late. Lost in the Paris postal system for decades, the letter from Polydor, dated 1983, offers a recording contract to The Holograms, in which Alain played lead guitar.

Overcome by nostalgia, Alain is tempted to trackdown the members of the group. But in a world where everything and everyone has changed, where could his quest possibly take him?

Translated by Emily Boyce & Jane Aitken

Praise for The President’s Hat:‘A hymn to la vie Parisienne … enjoy it for its fabulistic narrative, and the way it teeters pleasantly on the edge of Gallic whimsy.’ The Guardian

Praise for The Red Notebook:‘Resist this novel if you can; it’s the very quintessence of French romance’ The Times

The Author:Antoine Laurain lives in Paris and is a screenwriter, antiques collector and the author of several prize-winning novels.

October 2016ISBN: 9781910477304 / e-ISBN: 9781910477380Format: B-Format pb / Extent: tbc / Price: £8.99Rights: WEL

The Great and the GoodMichel Déon

Arthur Morgan is aboard the Queen Mary bound for the United States, where a scholarship at an Ivy League university awaits him, along with the promise of a glittering future.

But the few days spent on the ship will have a defining effect on the young Frenchman,when he encounters the love of his life.

Translated by Julian Evans Praise for the Foundling novels:‘Quiet, wryly funny prose … a delight’ Independent on Sunday

‘It is shamefully parochial of us that this eminent writer has been so ignored by the anglophone world’ Sunday Times

‘A big-hearted coming-of-age shaggy-dog story’ The Spectator

‘Deserves a place alongside Flaubert’s Sentimental Education and Le Grand Meaulnes’ New Statesman

‘Déon is an outrageous storyteller’ TLS

The Author:Michel Déon is a member of the Académie française. Born in Paris in 1919, he is the author of more than fifty works. He lives in Ireland.

December 2016ISBN: 9781910477281 / e-ISBN: 9781910477403Format: B-Format pb / Extent: tbc / Price: £9.99Rights: WEL

Songs from the Violet CaféFiona Kidman

1943. Violet Trench crosses Lake Rotorua with a small boy, Wing Lee, but rows back without him. On Bonfire Night sixty years later, a boat is set alight on the same body of water in a ritual burning of cast-off possessions.

The intervening years see Violet return to New Zealand to open a café on the shores of the lake – the scene of an event in the summer of 1963 thatwill have lasting repercussions for Violet and her young employees. Their lives will diverge, but Violet’s influence on them all – and on runaway Jessie Sandle in particular – will linger like the scent of the truffles with which she infuses her dishes.

Praise for Songs from the Violet Café:‘A work of vision and maturity that tells a compelling story with a lightness of touch and a delight in the sensuous things of life – food, clothes, sex – that help the reader to assimilate its larger, more sombre purpose.’ Weekend Herald

‘Like a maker of fine lace, Kidman twists each thread of her plot – leaving some dangling while she gathers up others, weaving and criss-crossing each other until they meet to create a superbly crafted centre piece’ Daily Post

The Author:Dame Fiona Kidman OBE is a leading contemporary novelist, short story writer and poet. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

January 2017ISBN: 9781910709177 / e-ISBN: 9781910709191Format: B-Format pb / Extent: tbc / Price: £8.99Rights: WEL ex AUS & NZ

Octavio’s JourneyMiguel Bonnefoy

“His body might have been hewn from a tree trunk; his heart would last for a hundred years. And, like a tree, he was one of those men who die standing up.”

A chance meeting in the local pharmacy transforms the life of lonely, illiterate Octavio. He begins reading lessons and finds love and happiness for the very first time. But Octavio’s

destiny lies elsewhere, as he will discover on a journey into the Venezuelan rainforest.

Shortlisted for the Goncourt first novel award, this short but epic fable is both a hymn to Venezuela and the magical story of an extraordinary hero.

Translated by Howard Curtis

Praise for Octavio’s Journey:‘A wonderful debut’ Libération

‘Simply magical’ Elle

‘A masterfully composed poetic and picaresque fable’ Le Figaro

The Author:Miguel Bonnefoy was born in France in 1986 to a Venezuelan mother and a Chilean father. In 2013, he was awarded the prestigious Prix du Jeune Ecrivain. Octavio’s Journey is his first novel, written in French.March 2017ISBN: 9781910477311 / e-ISBN: 9781910477410Format: B-Format pb / Extent: tbc / Price: £7.99Rights: WEL

PRINT E-BOOKElegance of the Hedgehog Barbery, M 9781906040185 9781908313584Gourmet Barbery, M 9781906040314Life of Elves Barbery, M 9781910477212 9781910477274Sagan, Paris 1954 Berest, A 9781908313898 9781910477151Clisson & Eugénie Bonaparte, N 9781906040277 9781906040611Baker Street Phantom Bourland, F 9781906040284 9781908313423Dream Killer of Paris Bourland, F 9781906040321 9781908313447Memory of Flames Cabasson, A 9781906040840 9781908313409Officer’s Prey Cabasson, A 9781906040826 9781908313065Wolf Hunt Cabasson, A 9781906040833 9781908313386Carnage Chattam, M 9781906040413 9781908313218Foundling Boy Déon, M 9781908313560 9781908313591Foundling's War Déon, M 9781908313713 9781908313836Weaver Fish Edeson, R 9781910709146 9781910709221Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt Farr, T 9781910709054 9781910709108Nagasaki Faye, É 9781908313652 9781908313751Helena Rubinstein Fitoussi, M 9781908313461 9781908313553Panda eory Garnier, P 9781906040420 9781908313232How’s the Pain? Garnier, P 9781908313034 9781908313300A26 Garnier, P 9781908313164 9781908313539Moon in a Dead Eye Garnier, P 9781908313492 9781908313621Front Seat Passenger Garnier, P 9781908313638 9781908313744Islanders Garnier, P 9781908313720 9781908313881Boxes Garnier, P 9781910477045 9781910477144Too Close to the Edge Garnier, P 9781910477250 9781910477267Someone I Loved Gavalda, A 9781908313485Breaking Away Gavalda, A 9781908313614 9781908313096People in the Photo Gestern, H 9781908313546 9781908313607Vatican Cellars Gide, A 9781908313690 9781908313843Confidant Grémillon, H 9781908313294 9781908313515Murder on the Eiffel Tower Izner, C 9781906040017 9781906040642Père-Lachaise Mystery Izner, C 9781906040048 9781906040673Montmartre Investigation Izner, C 9781906040055 9781906040703Marais Assassin Izner, C 9781906040147 9781906040734Predator of Batignolles Izner, C 9781906040253 9781906040765Strangled in Paris Izner, C 9781906040376 9781906040741

PRINT E-BOOKLady Agnès Mystery: Volume 1 Japp, A 9781910477168 9781910477199Lady Agnès Mystery: Volume 2 Japp, A 9781910477175 9781910477205Sun King Conspiracy Jégo & Lépée 9781910477359 9781910477366African Equation Khadra, Y 9781908313706 9781910477182Dictator's Last Night Khadra, Y 9781910477137 9781910477243Angels Die Khadra, Y 9781908313911 9781910477236Infinite Air Kidman, F 9781910709085 9781910709115Songs from the Violet Café Kidman, F 9781910709177 9781910709191Children's Home Lambert, C 9781910709009 9781910709047President’s Hat Laurain, A 9781908313478 9781908313577Red Notebook Laurain, A 9781908313867 9781908313874French Rhapsody Laurain, A 9781910477304 9781910477380Hector and the Search for Happiness Lelord, F 9781906040239 9781906040994Hector and the Secrets of Love Lelord, F 9781906040338 9781906040437Hector Finds Time Lelord, F 9781906040895 9781908313195Where Would I Be Without You? Musso, G 9781906040345Girl on Paper Musso, G 9781906040888Châtelet Apprentice Parot, J-F 9781906040062 9781906040468Man with the Lead Stomach Parot, J-F 9781906040123 9781906040499Phantom of Rue Royale Parot, J-F 9781906040154 9781906040529Nicolas le Floch Affair Parot, J-F 9781906040222 9781906040550Saint-Florentin Murders Parot, J-F 9781906040246 9781906040581Baker’s Blood Parot, J-F 9781906040369 9781908313270Under the Channel Pétel, G 9781908313669 9781908313829Swann's Way (graphic novel) Proust, M 9781908313904Freedom Fries and Café Crème Rapinac, J 9781908313003 9781908313256When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow Rhodes, D 9781910709016 9781910709092

Checkout Sam, A 9781906040291 9781906040932Monsieur Le Commandant Slocombe, R 9781908313508 9781908313645Miner Soseki, N 9781910709023 9781910709061Last Pier Tearne, R 9781910709306 9781910709313Suicide Shop Teulé, J 9781906040093 9781906040901Eat Him if you Like Teulé, J 9781906040390 9781908313171Poisoning Angel Teulé, J 9781908313683 9781908313850Hurlyburly's Husband Teulé, J 9781906040659 9781906040796George's Grand Tour Vermalle, C 9781908313737 9781910477052Max Gate Wilkins, D 9781910709139 9781910709214

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