THE RED NOTEBOOK
‘He was about to commit a forbidden act. A transgression. For no man should rummage through a woman’s handbag.’
Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street and feels impelled to return it to its owner.
The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet.
Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?
‘He was about to commit a forbidden act. A transgression. For no man should rummage through a woman’s handbag.’
Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street and feels impelled to return it to its owner.
The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet.
Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?
Read our interview with the author on the Reading Group Choices blog!
- Gallic Books
- Paperback
- April 2015
- 160 Pages
- 9781908313867
Buy the Book
$15.95
About Antoine Laurain
Antoine Laurain is a novelist, screenwriter, journalist, director and collector of antique keys. He is the author of the best-selling novels The President’s Hat and The Red Notebook.
A truly born and bred Parisian, after studying film, he began his career directing short films and writing screenplays. His passion for art led him to take a job assisting an antiques dealer in Paris. The experience provided the inspiration for his first novel, The Portrait, winner of the Prix Drouot.
Published on the eve of the French presidential elections of 2012, Antoine’s, fairytale-like novel The President’s Hat was acclaimed by critics, readers and booksellers, who awarded it the Prix Landerneau Découvertes. In the UK, it was a Waterstones Book Club and ABA Indies Introduce pick. Unsurprisingly, the novel quickly climbed into a Kindle Top 5 bestseller. This novel, full of Parisian charm, was the winner of the Prix Relay des Voyageurs, a prize which celebrates the enjoyment of reading. Since then, The President’s Hat has been adapted for television in France.
Antoine’s novels have been translated into 14 languages, including Arabic and Korean. Sales of his books across all formats in English have surpassed 155,000 copies.
Praise
“Laurain presents the story as if it were reportage, but with the confidence of an age-old storyteller.”—San Francisco Book Review
“Laurain’s gentle, satirical humor remind this reviewer of Jacques Tati’s classic films, and, no, you don’t have to know French politics to enjoy this charming novel. Fans of Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog will want this.”—Library Journal
“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
Interviews
Read our interview with Antoine Laurain on the Reading Group Choices blog!