Reading list

4 French Fiction Must-Reads Out This Fall

by Miriam Bridenne | October 5, 2021

With the French rentrée littéraire in full swing, here’s our first selection of not-to-be missed new French fiction: Angot’s magnificent Le Voyage de l’Est; Le Voyant d’Etampes, Abel Quentin’s irresistible and tender satire of our “cancel culture” era; Mon Mari, Maud Ventura’s hilarously funny take on women, passion and mariage; and Estelle-Sarah Bulle’s enthrallling Les Etoiles les plus filantes, inspired by the shooting of Marcel Camus’s Orfeu Negro.

Reading List

Le Voyage dans l'Est by Christine Angot

If you haven’t read Angot, read Le Voyage dans l’Est. And if you’ve already read her previous books, read Le Voyage dans l’Est. Don’t miss out on maybe the greatest work of fiction published this season. Read more.

Le Voyage dans l’Est, Christine Angot, Flammarion

Le Voyant d'Etampes by Abel Quentin

Quentin perfectly sets the comical and burlesque tone of the novel, and Roscoff’s series of misadventures leave the reader howling with laughter. Many have compared his novel to Philip Roth’s The Humain Stain. Yet, Le Voyant d’Etampes is written in a particularly French fashion that is reminiscent of François Weyergans’ novels. Read more

Le Voyant d’Etampes, by Abel Quentin, L’Observatoire

Mon Mari by Maud Ventura

Beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect life (think Bree from Desperate Housewives), the protagonist of Mon Mari – English translator, mother of two, and married for 15 years – secretly holds an exclusive, all-consuming, and guilty passion for her husband. Like Phèdre and Marguerite Duras’ heroines, her love is beyond excessive. Her situation varies greatly from her illustrous predecessors though : she loves and is loved in return, and this is specifically what makes her life a living hell! Read more.

Mon mari, a debut novel by Maud Ventura, L’Iconoclaste.

Les Etoiles les plus filantes by Esther-Sarah Bulle

Rio de Janeiro, Summer 1958, Aurèle Marquant is preparing to shoot Black Orpheus with a cast made entirely of black amateur actors – which was unheard of at the time. Off-set, romances come and go to the rhythm of bossa nova and to an unprecedented boiling point. Read more.

Les Etoiles les plus filantes, a novel by Estelle-Sarah Bulle, Liana Levi

Miriam Bridenne
After almost two decades of working in publishing, and a few round trips between Paris and New York, Miriam has decided to settle down at Albertine to do what she enjoys most: recommending books she loves. Somehow this also includes taking bizarre pictures for Albertine's social media outlets.
Other recommendations by Miriam Bridenne
SHARE ON